In a story about changes to Midtown’s weekend police/security patrols, the Chronicle‘s Jennifer Friedberg provides an update on the status of HPD Captain Dwayne Ready:
The Midtown Management District is looking to fill a void in its weekend bike patrol after Houston Police Department Captain Dwayne Ready resigned his position of coordinating patrols for the district on June 1 after questions arose about billing issues.
Ready did not resign from HPD.
For about three years, the Midtown Management District has paid Ready $1,300 monthly to coordinate the bicycle patrols of two off-duty HPD officers who ride through the area three times a week — mainly on weekends — for a fee of $4,000 per month.
Ready also coordinated four Harris Precinct 7 Constable officers who operate under a separate contract with Midtown and Metro and Houston Community College police, who operate within the district’s boundaries, but do not have a contract with the district.
Ready also resigned from his position with the Greater Southeast Management District on June 1, said district executive director Jason McLemore.
In that position, he coordinated two bike patrol officers, crime reporting and graffiti control for the district since October 2004 for $1,000 per month.
The two off-duty HPD officers are paid $25 per hour for the bike patrol with a cap of $1,600 per week.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is investigating whether officers under Ready’s supervision double-billed, saying they were working shifts for HPD and as bike patrol officers for the Midtown and Greater Southeast districts at the same time.
HPD has also launched an internal affairs investigation according to HPD Public Affairs Officer Gabe Ortiz.
“It is not a criminal investigation and he (Ready) is still currently on duty,” Ortiz said.
Readers may recall that KTRK-13’s Wayne Dolcefino first raised questions about Captain Ready’s “private” security/police deals back in May.
