Sex incident forces Pasadena police to halt ride-alongs

Pasadena police said they have shut down their ride-along program after video footage showed an officer having “sexual contact” with a participant.

Officer Jeffery Mubarak was suspended for 30 days without pay Wednesday for the incident, which police say occurred last August.

Police spokesman Vance Mitchell said he did not know whether more than one incident occurred. He said the officer and the woman were “willing participants.”

Mitchell said there was no indication that any crime occurred. He said the female participant had taken part in several ride-alongs, which allow anyone to observe how officers do their jobs. He said no other officers or partici- pants are believed to have been involved.

“The fact is, the officer, when he was confronted with this, he openly admitted it, confessed, told the chief what he needed to know,” Mitchell said.

It’s not the first time that an officer has been disciplined for similar misconduct.

In 2013, the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office fired three deputies after an internal investigation found they had engaged in sexual activity with a woman in the department’s Citizens Police Academy.

In 2008, Houston police Officer Ernest Walker was given a 15-day suspension for misconduct for taking a criminal justice student from Texas Southern University to his apartment during a ride-along, leaving his beat without authorization. He was cited for dropping the student off at her apartment instead of bringing her to the police station.

Mubarak was not immediately available for comment.

Meanwhile, Mitchell said the department was reviewing how it operates its ride-along program, which he said the agency has run for years.

Under the previous rules, any resident could request a ride along, Mitchell said. He said police typically conduct a background check on participants.

Mitchell said it’s unclear when police would start the program back up or how it would operate.

“I wouldn’t be able to give any details at this point,” Mitchell said.

Pasadena Police Chief Michael Thaler said in a statement Thursday that he would allow Mubarak to return to duty after his suspension.

“While the theory of discipline is to set an expectation as to appropriate conduct and to prevent recurrences of misconduct, another objective is to return an employee to the work force as a productive member when possible,” Thaler said in the statement. “In this instance, Officer Mubarak was extremely forthcoming and willingly disclosed information that would not likely have been uncovered by the Internal Affairs investigation into the matter.”