By Oulimata Ba
Alcohol is banned from police precincts- so when an NYPD
captain found empty beer cans in the trash at a Bronx precinct, an
investigation ensued.
Investigators are questioning police officers at the 47th
Precinct in the Bronx after a captain found four Budweiser cans on Friday in
the precinct's dormitory trash, the New York Daily News reported. The captain,
who was reportedly at the precinct looking for a lieutenant, also stumbled upon
a Budweiser six-pack in the refrigerator.
None of the 20 cops being questioned, who are mostly
detectives, were found incapable of duty. But an internal investigation is
underway.
"The matter is under review," NYPD spokeswoman
Deputy Chief Kim Royster told the Daily News.
Eleven of the police officers were questioned Friday, an
affair that shut down all other operations at the precinct located on Laconia
Avenue, the Daily News reported. The rest are expected to be questioned on
Saturday.
Some officials think all of the questioning and
investigating is unnecessary.
"Sounds like an awful lot of energy investigating four
empty beer cans in an empty squad room garbage can," Michael Palladino,
head of the Detectives Endowment Association, told the Daily News. No crime was
committed, no one was driving and no one was unfit for duty."
But other incidents involving cops and alcohol might explain
the scrutiny this time around.
A preacher's daughter was killed in 2009 after off-duty
officer Andrew Kelly struck the girl with his car in Brooklyn. Kelly pleaded
guilty to driving drunk, served 90 days in jail and went to rehab, the Daily
News reported.
Kevin Spellman, a detective who was also off duty, struck a
66-year-old woman in the Bronx. The woman died, and Spellman received
three-to-nine years in prison, the Daily News reported.
If the investigation into the 47th Precinct cops proves
drinking took place, they could receive either a written warning in their
records, or be suspended, sources told the Daily News.