Fox News Flash top headlines for July 27
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.
Tampa police officers working undercover allegedly treated themselves to lap dances – plus drinks for themselves and dancers – during an undercover operation last year at a strip club in the city, an internal investigation found, according to a report on Tuesday.
Details of the undercover operation at the Gold Club in Tampa were discussed during a Citizens Review Board hearing Tuesday. The panel was tasked with taking a second look at the department's internal affairs investigation into the incident.
Sgt. Daniel Rhodes, supervisor of the operation, – which cost the department’s investigatory fund $421 – said the goal was to locate drug suspects and gather intelligence on a shooting suspect who had ties to one of the dancers, according to FOX 13 of Tampa.
FLORIDA COUPLE TEACHES HOMESCHOOLED KIDS THROUGH ACTION SPORTS
The Gold Club Gentlemans' Club in Tampa (Google Maps)
But over the course of three hours, an unspecified number of officers spent the money on cover charges, along with drinks for themselves, dancers, and the dancers’ friends. Each officer also bought a own lap dance, according to the station.
The internal affairs report stated that officers who went to the strip club got to know the dancers but failed to generate any new leads. No arrests were made and officers gave conflicting reports as to why they were at the club conducting the undercover operation, according to internal investigators.
The Tampa Police Department released a statement to FOX 13 saying that "discovering misconduct of any of our officers is always disheartening and unacceptable and the department will not tolerate this behavior."
"There is a check and balance. The accountability was there and that was one of the things the community asked for, was accountability," added board member Carolyn Collins.
The official plan of the operation was to investigate prostitution and drug complaints, according to the station.
The internal affairs report said Rhodes allowed officers to write operational plans without proper oversight, leading to a misunderstanding of the objective.
Rhodes was found to have violated his supervisory responsibilities, FOX 13 reported. He was suspended for one day, and removed from the Tampa Police Street Anti-Crime Squad
The internal review findings were signed off at the board hearing Tuesday, but Collins questioned why Rhodes – who remains with the force as a sergeant – wasn't given a harsher punishment.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"The penalty, or the violation of a one-day suspension and moving him around does not look like it is enough for what he did," Collins said.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
