1 April 2025, El Paso, Texas, Steven Zimmerman – In Texas, a police officer working as private security in their police uniform without permission from their Department is a Class A misdemeanor offense, according to Section 1702.130(a) of the Occupations Code.
As the El Paso Times reported on 17 September 2023, El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas spoke about transparency and the need for open communication.
“My primary goal as police chief is to ensure that our community relations (are) strong and that we can have a dialogue no matter how hard it is,” Pacillas said. “We have to have that open communication so that we can speak clearly and understand each other’s issues.”
Pacillas, likewise, expressed a commitment to transparency and accountability, saying none of the City’s officers are above the law. Pacillas uses a sliding scale to measure openness and accountability and ignores his promise to the people of El Paso.
Under the auspices of transparency, I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking the off-duty work of three officers: Christopher Jones, badge # 2199; Jerome Hinojos, badge #1848; and Lt. Robert Yadouga, badge # 2598.
When an officer is going to work security at Sam’s Club or Walmart, they have to file a form with the Department indicating where they will be working and how many hours they will work at that particular job. What they must file is an Outside Employment Application Form. This form must be renewed every two years, or if they change outside employment.
When submitting an FOIA to the El Paso Police Department, you expect some transparency. The Chief of Police said, again, “My primary goal as police chief is to ensure that our community relations (are) strong and that we can have a dialogue no matter how hard it is.” There can be no dialogue.
Why did we request information on the three officers named above? We learned that some officers fail to show up for work; they are AWOL. Or they have not filed a new Outside Employment Application. Our first FOIA requested just days these officers failed to report to work.
We would like to know the number of days in 2025 that the following officers failed to show up for work: CHRISTOPHER JONES BADGE #2199 JEROME HINOJOS BADGE #1848 LT ROBERT YADOUGA BADGE #2598
The response was “No Responsive Documents.”
We have learned that there is little to no accountability once you reach a certain rank within the Department. Lt. Jones is an example.
We’ve learned that Christoper Jones doesn’t always show up for work or will show up late. When we’ve tracked the days Jones has not worked over the last year, there are far too many times we’ve called just to be told he’s not in that day. Yet, his PTO, vacation, and sick days do not match the days he wasn’t there. Additionally, he had zero court appearances that would take him out of the Northeast Regional Command Center.
Click below to see what the El Paso Police Department has recorded as days off for the above officers.
EPPD Work Hours by Steven Zimmerman
“Jones,” says a fellow Lieutenant, “wants to be PAR [Police Area Representative] so bad that he is cosplaying PAR. His job is patrol Lieutenant.”
Others have told us that Jones wants to be PAR so desperately that he took the better part of a day off hunting for a bunny suit. Why? He plans to bring four patrol officers, pulling them off the street and responding to calls, to work an Easter event at Sam’s Club in Northeast El Paso. It’s great public relations but nothing to do with petrol or his job with the Department.
When he secured the bunny suite, he reported back to the Northeast Regional Command Cernter wearing that suit.
“Is he traffic, is he PAR, is he PR, is he PIO, recutiment, or is he patrol,” asked another officer.
These officers are working outside their employment while wearing police uniforms. Such work, like Jones at Sam’s Club or Hinojos with the El Paso Housing Authority, gives the community a sense of safety and security. Overall, it is a good thing. The problem comes when officers fail to follow policy and procedure.
When working outside employment, an officer has to file the Outside Employment Application Form every two years and should renew it if they change from Sam’s Club to the Apple Store. Of the three officers above, only one has up-to-date paperwork. Below is the current application of Lt. Robert Yadouga.
Jones and Hinojos have yet to update their applications. Jones’s expired on 26 August 2024, while Hinojos’s expired on 5 May 2024. Images of both applications are at the bottom of this article.
The fact that these applications have expired and officers are still working at Sam’s and the El Paso Housing Authority makes us wonder who else is operating under out-of-date applications and why it appears there is no Departmental oversight.
In Texas, a police officer working as private security in their police uniform without permission from their Department is a Class A misdemeanor offense, according to Section 1702.130(a) of the Occupations Code.
Section 1702.130(a) of the Texas Occupations Code prohibits the use of certain titles, uniforms, insignia, or identification cards, or making statements that give the impression of being connected with the federal, state, or political subdivisions of the state government, or using a title, insignia, or identification card or wearing a uniform containing the designation “police” by private security personnel.
The Texas Occupations Code prohibits a person, including a peace officer, from wearing a police uniform while performing private security work under a license from the Private Security Board. However, there are exceptions.
The limited exceptions outlined in Section 1702.322 of the Occupations Code allow full-time Texas peace officers to provide private security services as security guards, patrolmen, watchmen, or extra job coordinators without a private security license under certain conditions. Those conditions? Approval of the Department they are working for.
Police departments typically have rules and regulations regarding off-duty employment, including wearing uniforms, and require approval for such activities. Thus, officers must file that Outside Employment Application Form every two years.
That commitment to transparency and accountability Pacillas promised, saying none of the City’s officers are above the law, is selectively applied. Jones, Hinojos, and others are behind on their paperwork, and nothing seems to be done about it. Yet, other Officers are punished, suspened, and fired for much less than this.
