Former Baytown Officer Indicted
On March 28th our agency was notified of allegations that one of our officers
had solicited sexually suggestive photos from a female, who he had issued a
citation to, in exchange for changing the citation to a warning. Based on this
allegation our Internal Affairs Division was notified and an administrative
investigation was initiated. Internal Affairs Investigators later identified the
officer as Officer Michael Coppock, a 9 year veteran of the department. On
April 11th Mr. Coppock was served with a Notice of Investigation, advising
him of the complaint and ensuing administrative investigation.
During the course of that administrative investigation, it was determined the
conduct of Mr. Coppock may be criminal in nature and therefore, on April
17th, our Criminal Investigations Division was notified and a criminal
investigation was initiated, which ran concurrent with the administrative
investigation.
As these two investigations unfolded, evidence was uncovered substantiating
the allegations against Mr. Coppock. Therefore on May 1st, upon being
informed of this evidence, Chief Dougherty took the swift and necessary step
of requiring Mr. Coppock to surrender his badge and duty weapon as he was
placed on non-enforcement status and reassigned to the station while the
investigations continued.
On May 17th, after being presented with all the facts from the investigations,
Chief Dougherty indefinitely suspended Mr. Coppock from the Baytown
Police Department. This is the equivalent of a dismissal from the department.
On May 23rd Detectives with our Criminal Investigations Division presented
their findings, which included evidence supporting the allegations against
Mr. Coppock, to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Today those
facts were presented to a Harris County Grand Jury and as a result Mr.
Coppock has been indicted on the offense of BRIBERY.
The Baytown Police Department takes allegations of wrongdoing or
misconduct by our officers very seriously. The trust and confidence of our
community is paramount and as such we hold our officers to the highest
levels of integrity as well as moral, ethical and professional standards. Failure
to adhere to those standards will not be tolerated and will be dealt with
swiftly and in accordance with the law. We ask that the community continue
to place its trust and confidence in our organization as the actions of Mr.
Coppock are not reflective of the other men and women of the Baytown
Police Department who don the badge and uniform every day and proudly
serve with integrity and honor.
