Like a bad RENO 911

Topless photos of a local police officer causes her police chief boss to getcreepy, complaint charges

Chief Robert Pruett of the City of Galena Park Police Department has a specific oral policy: No dating in the workplace. According to one female police officer, however, the rule is not applied in an unbiased way.

Corrie Long began working for the Galena Park Police Department in August of 2009. Shortly after, she began a romantic relationship with fellow officer Terry Pena.

"I had trust in him and we were in a loving relationship," Long told My Fox Houston.

Once Pruett discovered the office romance in February 2011, things turned sour. Long immediately ended the relationship. The police chief suspended Long for five days (which she promptly served) and Pena for 10 (which he didn't).

According to a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:

Pena harassed, badgered, and threatened [Long] to continue their romantic relationship. Pena would incessantly call [Long] and bombard her with inappropriate text messages and threats of exploiting her with the pictures he had obtained during their relationship if she didn’t continue their relationship."

Long refused to give into his pleas, and even filed a lawsuit against him for harrasment and stalking. Pena resigned from the Galena Park Police Department in March 2011 and passed over to Pruett a handful of sexy, topless self portraits of Long, which (according to Long's attorney, David Tang) were taken before she was a member of the police force and the inter-office relationship had commenced.

What allegedly happened from there is most shocking. Pruett called Long into his office, where he had placed the printed photos of Long, topless and wearing thong underwear, on his desk. He and Sergeant John Rader questioned the female officer and according to the EEOC complaint demanded that Long

tell them everyplace that she and Pena had sexual intercourse. Pruett and Rader asked [Long] to describe the type of sex that she and Pena engaged in. Pruett and Rader wanted to know whether she performed oral sex on Pena."

The Equal Employment Opportunity complaint charges that by the end of this session Pruett forced Long to sign a pre-written resignation letter, effectively terminating her career with the police force.

Pruett has denied this version of the events, but Tang claims to have evidence that further incriminates the chief. Recorded proof that an officer admitted "to having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old DARE volunteer," but wasn't reprimanded. A separate lawsuit that involves age discrimination.

"This is a big mess," Pruett said.

But romance in the police force always seems to work out so well on screen.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”