Complaint Review: College Station Police Officers Association - College Station Texas

College Station Police Officers Association President and College Station Police Department Sergeant Kyle Zulkowski is the subject of an internal affairs complaint citing violations of departmental policy and state law.

The complaint concerns several dishonest and disparaging statements that Zulkowski published online concerning a Brazos Reporter journalist.

The complaint lists the offending statements which were contained in facebook comments that the CSPD Sergeant had posted. Zulkowski's supervisor, Danny Junek, confirmed in an email that the statements "had been deleted [by Zulkowski] prior to the notice [of a complaint and cease and desist] being given."

Dishonest statements that constitute “conduct unbecoming,” while thematic in Zulkowski’s misconduct episode detailed in the complaint, are not the only violations of policy and law that the conduct highlighted in the complaint entail. The complaint, filed earlier this year, requests that the department fully investigate the violations of both CSPD policy and Texas Criminal Code that are evident in actions and fact pattern it details, including the following:

• Dishonesty: “Actions that reflect discredit upon the employee as a member of the department or negatively impacts the standing of the individual within the profession or in the eyes of the public are also considered unbecoming conduct. Examples may include but are not limited to…. Dishonesty” CSPD Policy Manual (ch. 9, p. 1)

• Disclosure of Confidential or Sensitive Information: “Confidential Information includes any information that is confidential by law, information obtained through the use of computer files, TCIC, NCIC, and/or College Station Police Records, and any information obtained by or through employment with the College Station Police Department… Consistent with the public trust, employees may not disclose without proper authorization confidential or sensitive information … nor directly or indirectly use any information for … the private interest of others.” (ch. 9, p. 8)

• Social Media Policy Violations: “Employees are cautioned that when using social media their statements, activities, and images become part of the worldwide electronic domain, regardless of privacy filters or propriety site settings. Speech, on or off-duty, made pursuant to one’s official duties or that owes its existence to the employee’s professional duties and responsibilities, is not protected speech under the First Amendment. Such speech, if harmful, may form the basis for discipline if deemed detrimental to the good order of the department by: (1) Tarnishing the department’s reputation or the good reputation of another; (2) Diminishing the public’s trust and/or confidence in the department or its employees; or (3) Causing any action that negatively reflects upon one’s status as a public servant or member of the department.” (ch. 9, p. 9)

• Criminal Disregard of a Court Order: “A person who acquires knowledge of an arrest while an officer or employee of the state or of any agency or other entity of the state or any political subdivision of the state and who knows of an order expunging the records and files relating to that arrest commits an offense if he knowingly releases, disseminates, or otherwise uses the records or files… An offense under this article is a Class B misdemeanor.” (Texas Criminal Code, Art. 55.04.)