SOUTHPORT, N.C. (WSET) -- An entire police department in North Carolina was put on leave after the department's chief and lieutenant were arrested.
WECT reported that the Southport Police Department's police chief and lieutenant were arrested for allegedly moonlighting as truck drivers while on the clock.
All police operations in the city were suspended after the arrests.
The whole police force is on paid administrative leave.
Chief Gary Smith, 46, and Lt. Michael Christian Simmons, 48, are charged with conspiracy to obtain property by false pretenses, willful failure to discharge duties, and obstruction of justice.
The District Attorney said Smith and Simmons drove overnight shifts for a trucking company while on the clock.
Allegations show the trucking jobs took them out of the city and county while they were supposed to be on patrol in Southport.
The mayor and city’s board of alderman request the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office to lead law enforcement in Southport until further notice.
blahskii on July 30th, 2018 at 09:09 UTC »
I was expecting corruption and they had to make changes to the whole department to make sure things were running right.
bloatedplutocrat on July 30th, 2018 at 04:01 UTC »
The department has eight officers for a town of about 4,000.
http://southportnc.org/police/
Captain_Clark on July 30th, 2018 at 03:17 UTC »
That’s odd. Is the pay for being the police chief and lieutenant so low in that town that one would moonlight as a truck driver while on duty, in such roles?