Georgia state Rep. Joseph Gullett (R–Dallas) has sponsored a bill that would limit police body camera and dashcam videos from open records laws when they capture someone’s death. Gullet says the bill is meant to protect the dignity of people’s final moments and stop others from using the videos to get web traffic or views on social media. But critics worry it could reduce public transparency, keeping important evidence from the public and making it harder to hold police accountable when there are questions about their actions.
*** partial government shutdown is not inevitable at this point. Lawmakers are still negotiating. Immigration enforcement, however, has emerged as the flashpoint in these talks with Minnesota driving the standoff. White House border czar Tom Homan spoke for the first time since taking over immigration operations in Minnesota after federal agents killed two Americans. I’m not here because of The federal government has carried its mission out perfectly, Homan said. The administration will continue its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, but also said federal immigration authorities are working on *** plan that would remove agents from the state if local officials agree to cooperate with immigration enforcement. This is common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down. On the number of people we have here. Following those remarks, Minneapolis’ mayor pressed for the immigration operation to end immediately. It is less safe when we have roving bands of agents marching down the street just looking for somebody who might be concerned, and I’ve got to tell you, everybody is concerned when you have that kind of occupation on Capitol Hill, *** partial government shutdown inches closer, and Senate Democrats are making their own demands of immigration enforcement. What ICE is doing. Outside the law is state sanctioned thuggery, and it must stop. The Senate has until Friday to pass 6 spending bills, including for Homeland Security. The motion is not agreed to. *** failed vote on the package Thursday sets up *** potential last minute effort before the weekend. The president says his administration is speaking with lawmakers. Hopefully we won’t have *** shutdown. We’re working on that right now. I think we’re getting close. The Democrats, I don’t believe, want to see it either. Senator Schumer says they may vote to pass the other appropriations bills that do not include funding for Homeland Security. In Washington, I’m Christopher Sales.
Border czar says ICE could drawdown in Minnesota as shutdown deadline looms
Immigration enforcement in Minnesota has become a focal point in the ongoing negotiations to prevent a partial government shutdown, with Democrats demanding changes following recent deaths.
White House border czar Tom Homan spoke for the first time since taking over immigration operations in Minnesota after two Americans were killed by federal agents.”I’m not here because the federal government has carried its mission out perfectly,” Homan said. “I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here has been perfect. Nothing’s ever perfect.”He stated that the administration will continue its immigration crackdown in Minnesota but is working on a plan to remove agents if state and local officials agree to cooperate with immigration enforcement.”This is common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here,” Homan said.Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for an immediate end to the immigration operation. “It is less safe when we have roving bands of agents marching down the street just looking for somebody who might be concerned. And I got to tell you, everybody is concerned when you have that kind of occupation,” Frey said.On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are making demands regarding immigration enforcement. “What ICE is doing, outside the law, is state-sanctioned thuggery and it must stop,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader. As Congress faces a deadline to pass six appropriations bills, including funding for Homeland Security, immigration enforcement in Minnesota has become a central issue in the negotiations to prevent a partial government shutdown.The Senate has until Friday to pass six spending bills, including one for Homeland Security. A failed vote on the package Thursday sets up a potential last-minute vote before the weekend.Democrats have stated they will not support Homeland Security funding unless immigration enforcement changes, including requiring agents to identify themselves, obtain warrants for arrests, coordinate more closely with local law enforcement, and face stricter accountability when rules are violated. They argue these changes are necessary following the deaths in Minnesota.President Donald Trump expressed optimism about avoiding a shutdown. “Hopefully we won’t have a shutdown. We’re working on that right now, I think we’re getting close,” Trump said.Even a partial shutdown could have immediate impacts, with travelers potentially facing airport delays, hundreds of thousands of federal workers missing paychecks or working without pay, some federal loans being delayed, and key economic data like the monthly jobs report being put on hold.
“I’m not here because the federal government has carried its mission out perfectly,” Homan said. “I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here has been perfect. Nothing’s ever perfect.”
He stated that the administration will continue its immigration crackdown in Minnesota but is working on a plan to remove agents if state and local officials agree to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
“This is common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here,” Homan said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for an immediate end to the immigration operation. “It is less safe when we have roving bands of agents marching down the street just looking for somebody who might be concerned. And I got to tell you, everybody is concerned when you have that kind of occupation,” Frey said.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are making demands regarding immigration enforcement. “What ICE is doing, outside the law, is state-sanctioned thuggery and it must stop,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader.
As Congress faces a deadline to pass six appropriations bills, including funding for Homeland Security, immigration enforcement in Minnesota has become a central issue in the negotiations to prevent a partial government shutdown.
The Senate has until Friday to pass six spending bills, including one for Homeland Security. A failed vote on the package Thursday sets up a potential last-minute vote before the weekend.
Democrats have stated they will not support Homeland Security funding unless immigration enforcement changes, including requiring agents to identify themselves, obtain warrants for arrests, coordinate more closely with local law enforcement, and face stricter accountability when rules are violated. They argue these changes are necessary following the deaths in Minnesota.
President Donald Trump expressed optimism about avoiding a shutdown. “Hopefully we won’t have a shutdown. We’re working on that right now, I think we’re getting close,” Trump said.
Even a partial shutdown could have immediate impacts, with travelers potentially facing airport delays, hundreds of thousands of federal workers missing paychecks or working without pay, some federal loans being delayed, and key economic data like the monthly jobs report being put on hold.
Senate Democrats are threatening to block legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies Thursday, potentially bringing the government a step closer to a partial shutdown if Republicans and the White House do not agree to new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement.As the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, irate Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands ahead of a Thursday morning test vote, including that officers take off their masks and identify themselves and obtain warrants for arrest. If those are not met, Democrats say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and triggering a shutdown at midnight on Friday.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Democrats won’t provide needed votes until U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “reined in and overhauled.”“The American people support law enforcement, they support border security, they do not support ICE terrorizing our streets and killing American citizens,” Schumer said.There were some signs of possible progress as the White House has appeared open to trying to strike a deal with Democrats to avert a shutdown. The two sides were talking as of Wednesday evening, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who requested anonymity to speak about the private talks. One possible option discussed would be to strip the funding for the Homeland Security Department from the larger bill, as Schumer has requested, and extend it for a short period to allow time for negotiations, the person said. The rest of the bill would fund government agencies until September.Still, with no agreement yet and an uncertain path ahead, the standoff threatened to plunge the country into another shutdown just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies, a dispute that closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to negotiate.That shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to strike a deal with Republicans, but Democrats are more unified this time after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents.Democrats lay out their demandsThere’s a lot of “unanimity and shared purpose” within the Democratic caucus, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said after a lunch meeting Wednesday.“Boil it all down, what we are talking about is that these lawless ICE agents should be following the same rules that your local police department does,” Smith said. “There has to be accountability.”Amid the administration’s immigration crackdown, Schumer said Democrats are asking the White House to “end roving patrols” in cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests, including requiring tighter rules for warrants.Democrats also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held accountable when they violate rules. Schumer said agents should be required to have “masks off, body cameras on” and carry proper identification, as is common practice in most law enforcement agencies.The Democratic caucus is united in those “common sense reforms” and the burden is on Republicans to accept them, Schumer said, as he has pushed for the Homeland spending to be separated out to avoid a broader shutdown.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has indicated that he might be open to considering some of the Democrats’ demands, but he encouraged Democrats and the White House to talk and find agreement.Many obstacles to a dealAs the two sides negotiated, it was still unclear whether they could agree on anything that would satisfy Democrats who want Trump’s aggressive crackdown to end.The White House had invited some Democrats for a discussion to better understand their positions and avoid a partial government shutdown, a senior White House official said, but the meeting did not happen. The official requested anonymity to discuss the private invitation.The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them to the Senate as a package, making it more difficult to strip out the homeland security portion as Democrats have demanded. Republicans could break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators or through a series of votes that would extend past the Friday deadline.Even if the Senate can resolve the issue, House Republicans have said they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the president and ICE.“The package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” according to the letter.Republican oppositionSeveral Republican senators have said they would be fine with Democrats’ request to separate the Homeland Security funds for further debate and pass the other bills in the package. But it might be more difficult to for Democrats to find broad GOP support for their demands on ICE.North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he’s OK with separating the bills, but is opposed to the Democrats’ proposal to require the immigration enforcement officers to unmask and show their faces, even as he blamed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions that he said are “tarnishing” the agency’s reputation.“You know, there’s a lot of vicious people out there, and they’ll take a picture of your face, and the next thing you know, your children or your wife or your husband are being threatened at home,” Tillis said. “And that’s just the reality of the world that we’re in.”Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said that “what happened over the weekend is a tragedy,” but Democrats shouldn’t punish Americans with a shutdown and a “political stunt.”Democrats say they won’t back down.“It is truly a moral moment,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I think we need to take a stand.”___Associated Press writer Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON —
Senate Democrats are threatening to block legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies Thursday, potentially bringing the government a step closer to a partial shutdown if Republicans and the White House do not agree to new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement.
As the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, irate Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands ahead of a Thursday morning test vote, including that officers take off their masks and identify themselves and obtain warrants for arrest. If those are not met, Democrats say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and triggering a shutdown at midnight on Friday.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Democrats won’t provide needed votes until U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “reined in and overhauled.”
“The American people support law enforcement, they support border security, they do not support ICE terrorizing our streets and killing American citizens,” Schumer said.
There were some signs of possible progress as the White House has appeared open to trying to strike a deal with Democrats to avert a shutdown. The two sides were talking as of Wednesday evening, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who requested anonymity to speak about the private talks. One possible option discussed would be to strip the funding for the Homeland Security Department from the larger bill, as Schumer has requested, and extend it for a short period to allow time for negotiations, the person said. The rest of the bill would fund government agencies until September.
Still, with no agreement yet and an uncertain path ahead, the standoff threatened to plunge the country into another shutdown just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies, a dispute that closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to negotiate.
That shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to strike a deal with Republicans, but Democrats are more unified this time after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents.
Democrats lay out their demands
There’s a lot of “unanimity and shared purpose” within the Democratic caucus, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said after a lunch meeting Wednesday.
“Boil it all down, what we are talking about is that these lawless ICE agents should be following the same rules that your local police department does,” Smith said. “There has to be accountability.”
Amid the administration’s immigration crackdown, Schumer said Democrats are asking the White House to “end roving patrols” in cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests, including requiring tighter rules for warrants.
Democrats also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held accountable when they violate rules. Schumer said agents should be required to have “masks off, body cameras on” and carry proper identification, as is common practice in most law enforcement agencies.
The Democratic caucus is united in those “common sense reforms” and the burden is on Republicans to accept them, Schumer said, as he has pushed for the Homeland spending to be separated out to avoid a broader shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has indicated that he might be open to considering some of the Democrats’ demands, but he encouraged Democrats and the White House to talk and find agreement.
Many obstacles to a deal
As the two sides negotiated, it was still unclear whether they could agree on anything that would satisfy Democrats who want Trump’s aggressive crackdown to end.
The White House had invited some Democrats for a discussion to better understand their positions and avoid a partial government shutdown, a senior White House official said, but the meeting did not happen. The official requested anonymity to discuss the private invitation.
The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them to the Senate as a package, making it more difficult to strip out the homeland security portion as Democrats have demanded. Republicans could break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators or through a series of votes that would extend past the Friday deadline.
Even if the Senate can resolve the issue, House Republicans have said they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the president and ICE.
“The package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” according to the letter.
Republican opposition
Several Republican senators have said they would be fine with Democrats’ request to separate the Homeland Security funds for further debate and pass the other bills in the package. But it might be more difficult to for Democrats to find broad GOP support for their demands on ICE.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he’s OK with separating the bills, but is opposed to the Democrats’ proposal to require the immigration enforcement officers to unmask and show their faces, even as he blamed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions that he said are “tarnishing” the agency’s reputation.
“You know, there’s a lot of vicious people out there, and they’ll take a picture of your face, and the next thing you know, your children or your wife or your husband are being threatened at home,” Tillis said. “And that’s just the reality of the world that we’re in.”
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said that “what happened over the weekend is a tragedy,” but Democrats shouldn’t punish Americans with a shutdown and a “political stunt.”
Democrats say they won’t back down.
“It is truly a moral moment,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I think we need to take a stand.”
___
Associated Press writer Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.
There were suspicions, but nobody knew for sure whose side Eddie Villarreal was on until the night he pulled over the two FBI agents.
By day, Villarreal was a Dallas Police officer. By night, he had a different job — moonlighting as a security guard for Alfredo Hinojosa, a nightclub mogul who federal authorities suspected was involved in a cartel-connected drug ring.
Inside the restroom stalls of three of Hinojosa’s clubs, dealers sold hundreds of small bags of cocaine every weekend, according to federal court records. Agents suspected Villarreal was protecting the owner’s enterprise. To test him, they tailed one of the club’s leaders to see if he interfered.
When the blue and red lights of Villarreal’s black Chevy Tahoe flashed behind them, they had their answer. The moonlighting officer had chosen his other boss.
After being pulled over, the FBI agents fed Villarreal a few false details about their investigation.
Soon after, Villarreal called Hinojosa to relay what he had learned — unaware that the FBI was listening on a wiretap.
“You know there’s drugs in the bathroom. I know there’s drugs in the bathroom,” the police officer told the club owner.
In the years leading up to Villarreal’s nighttime stop, Dallas Police heard multiple warning signs about the officer’s off-duty behavior. Investigators found that he routinely broke one of the department’s moonlighting rules by working inside the club instead of the parking lot. Two patrons accused him of brutal assaults. And in 2002, a fellow officer worried that he might alert a different club owner before police vice raids.
Despite the repeated warnings, the department continued allowing him to moonlight.
Villarreal and his lawyers did not respond to repeated requests for comment from CBS News.
How a Dallas Police Officer wound up protecting a nightclub magnate
Click or use the buttons below to navigate this timeline of Eddie
Villarreal’s career and the warning signs along the way.
April 15, 2002
Senior Corporal Edward Anaya alleges that Villarreal tipped off the owners of another club to planned raids from the vice squad and state alcohol regulators. Dallas Police Department’s internal affairs unit investigates the complaint and eventually finds no violation of police policy.
Villarreal’s case exposes the potential oversight gaps and ethical hazards when police officers work off-duty security jobs. Moonlighting has long offered police officers a financial lifeline — extra income to help their families. But in some departments, the failure to adopt strong oversight rules for lucrative private side jobs can leave officers and the public vulnerable to corruption and danger. Loyalties may be tested in ways not seen on regular duty.
An investigation by CBS News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University found many U.S. police agencies rely on moonlighting rules that are vague, poorly enforced and vulnerable to abuse.
The investigation examined off-duty employment policies at more than 100 law enforcement agencies of various sizes across the country, finding that less than a quarter check officers’ disciplinary history before permitting them to moonlight. More than half don’t require body cameras for off-duty work and most fail to track officers’ off-duty hours.
Five departments, including Boston Police, permit officers suspended for misconduct to continue working off-duty — performing police-like duties for private businesses even while barred from regular shifts. That contradicts best practices recommended by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which suggest restricting off-duty work to officers who “are not the subject of ongoing disciplinary action that would be considered serious or egregious.”
Some departments, including the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office and the Michigan State Police, ban off-duty security work.
In Dallas, records show leaders largely failed to act after two city audits cited their lax oversight of off-duty employment — and warned of consequences.
Instead, a CBS News review of agency records shows Dallas Police loosened moonlighting rules and let more than 800 officers with red flags — criminal investigations, violations of the department’s off-duty policy and alerts from the agency’s early warning system — keep working off-duty jobs since 2010.
Dallas Police Department leadership declined to comment on the findings of this story.
The leader of the city’s largest police union, Jaime Castro, acknowledged the department previously struggled tracking officers’ moonlighting work, but said recent policy changes — including a new app to track the extra jobs — could help curb some of the problems.
Castro argued off-duty work boosts public safety and the extra cash incentivizes recruits to join the police force — and stay. News reports document moonlighting officers across the country earning between $45 to $175 an hour, far outpacing the median pay for officers, which was about $37.15 an hour in 2024.
“Once officers join the department they see the benefit. They see the freedom that it gives you and that sense of financial security it gives you,” said Castro, a 27-year Dallas Police veteran. “It’s a retention tool.”
But without proper oversight, experts and police groups warn off-duty work can enable abuse and erode public safety.
“If you do not track what your employees are doing, and if you do not supervise them as they do it, and if you do not provide that level of approval and administrative oversight, then what are you doing?” asked Seth Stoughton, a former Tallahassee, Fla., police officer who is now faculty director of the Excellence in Policing & Public Safety program at the University of South Carolina.
“You’re setting the stage for officers to sink to the lowest common denominator.”
Missed warnings
To examine the oversight gap in one city, CBS News reviewed Dallas Police documents and data spanning decades.
The department’s policy has long stated that off-duty work is a “privilege, not a right.” Until recently, supervisors were required to consider whether officers had a “high frequency level of complaints” before approving off-duty jobs.
Despite these rules, officers with disciplinary problems routinely got approval. Since 2011, nearly 400 Dallas officers investigated for crimes — including assault, theft, and sexual misconduct — were allowed to continue to moonlight. In at least 59 cases, officers were allowed to work off-duty jobs within a day of the start of their criminal investigations.
The department also approved side jobs for at least 396 officers even after alerts from its own early-warning system identified them as a potential threat to themselves or others.
“If you’re wearing your uniform performing a role as a police officer and the department has knowledge that you could be problematic, then the department is — or at least should be — liable for the outcome of whatever occurs,” said Dennis Kenney, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
In 2005, city auditors found Dallas Police’s oversight of moonlighting “not effective,” recommending stronger monitoring and charging businesses fees to recover costs. The department did not adopt most of their recommendations.
Thirteen years later, in 2018, auditors again found lax oversight and uncovered nearly 3,200 cases of officers moonlighting while on paid sick leave.
In 2023, auditors reported the department still hadn’t implemented many of the tracking reforms. Only last year did Dallas Police introduce a tool to prevent officers from working off-duty jobs while on sick or injury leave.
Few officers illustrate the breakdowns in Dallas more than Ray Cunningham.
Since 1987, Dallas Police records show that Cunningham has been accused of violating police policy at least 68 times, including 15 times for excessive force and five for breaking moonlighting rules.
In 1996, an anonymous complainant wrote a letter to Dallas Police alleging that Cunningham was double billing for the same hours at three different apartment complexes. Police investigators found that “sufficient evidence exists” to suggest that Cunningham had committed felony theft, but a grand jury did not indict him, according to the agency’s disciplinary records.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, multiple apartment complex residents alleged that Cunningham harassed and assaulted them — including one incident where the officer beat a handcuffed man and put him into a sleeper hold.
In 2017, city records show the department’s early warning system alerted supervisors that Cunningham had racked up five misconduct complaints in 12 months, indicating “the officer’s performance may need to be reviewed.”
Asked about his disciplinary history by CBS News, Cunningham wrote only, “No comment.”
Stoughton, the policing scholar, said Cunningham’s history opens the department up to potential legal liability.
“I don’t know how you look at that — at that officer, at that pattern — and justify not doing anything,” he said.
On May 28, 2021, investigators issued Cunningham a 10-day suspension after he failed to seek permission to work an off-duty job at an apartment complex 83 times in nine months.
The following night, records show the department allowed him to work off duty at the same apartments.
Accountability gaps nationwide
Dallas is not unique. In dozens of departments, reporters found accountability measures for officers working off duty are looser than when they’re on duty.
One example: body cameras.
Most agencies require cameras on duty, yet only 43% of the departments studied by CBS News and the Howard Center mandate them for moonlighting officers. Some agencies, including Chicago Police and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, ban them outright.
In some cities, moves to require cameras on off-duty jobs met resistance. After a federal attempt to mandate them in Cleveland, police asked a judge to make wearing body cameras on off-duty jobs optional. The reason: the police union opposed them. Cleveland still does not require cameras for its moonlighting officers.
After an off-duty Baltimore County officer shot a shoplifting suspect in 2018, Maryland lawmakers proposed mandatory body cameras for moonlighting. But the bill failed.
County police spokesperson Trae Corbin said the department believes cameras violate state wiretapping law. But nearby departments, including Baltimore City police, allow or require them for off-duty work.
Unregulated payments for moonlighting also can create problems.
In 2017, Dallas Police Officer Raphyael Tyson began coordinating fellow officers to work at a construction site. No one suspected anything wrong with the job until three years later.
The company intended to pay the officers $75 an hour for their security services. But Tyson had only been passing $45 an hour to the other officers.
Agency investigators said the difference totaled tens of thousands of dollars.
The department fired Tyson, but he told CBS News he broke no laws, only department rules about completing a few timecards, and he considered the arrangement his private business.
“I’m not in any obligation to also tell them what I make as a contractor,” he said.
Dallas, like many departments, allows officers to coordinate off-duty jobs with minimal oversight. The department does not track pay rates or payments. It even permits coordinators to distribute cash directly to other officers.
In Minneapolis, a 2023 Justice Department review found supervisors may avoid disciplining subordinates when they controlled lucrative off-duty jobs. That same year, Derek Chauvin —the Minneapolis officer convicted of the 2020 murder of George Floyd — pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion for failing to report nearly $96,000 in cash earned from moonlighting and coordinating off-duty gigs.
Many departments fail to track how much officers earn or how many hours they work off duty, according to the CBS News and Howard Center policy review.
Most agencies claim to cap off-duty hours to prevent fatigue, but only 50 out of more than 100 departments track those hours. Decades of research confirm excessive off-duty work contributes to fatigue and poor decision-making, threatening public safety.
In Texas, El Paso Police policy caps hours worked off duty each week at 25 hours. But reporters analyzed off-duty payroll data and found more than 250 officers exceeded that cap at least once between 2021 and 2024.
Auditors in Dallas, San Jose, Miami and Minneapolis found officers routinely worked beyond permitted limits — problems missed due to lack of tracking.
Failures in oversight have led to serious abuse. Jersey City suspended its off-duty program for two years after discovering officers were paid for off-duty jobs while they were supposed to be on duty. In New Orleans, investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice found officers skipped on-duty shifts for off-duty jobs. And Philadelphia Inquirer reporters uncovered city officers on sick leave working strenuous second jobs.
Not every city takes a hands-off approach. Some, like San Francisco, have adopted systems endorsed by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, where businesses pay the department, the city keeps a processing fee and then pays the officers — often at overtime rates.
In Delaware, the Newark Police ban direct payment from private employers to officers.
“Who are you working for in that capacity at that time?” Lieutenant Gregory D’Elia asked. “Are you working for the police department if you’re fully in uniform? Or are you working for the bar?”
Former Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall, now vice president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, insists tracking off-duty assignments is essential for accountability. Technology, such as a new early-warning system Hall tried to implement in Dallas, makes that possible.
“We need to know who an officer is working for, what establishment that is, what kind of work, and what kind of income that they’re bringing in,” she said.
Divided loyalties
It took a yearslong investigation — dubbed “Operation Closing Time” — to expose Villarreal’s corruption in Dallas despite the years of unheeded warning signs.
P.J. Meitl, the assistant U.S. Attorney who led the prosecutions, told CBS News that it takes strong oversight to deter lawless behavior from officers working off-duty jobs.
“If the DOJ doesn’t pursue cases like the one against Villarreal, he would have continued and his corruption would have continued to spread,” Meitl said.
After he pulled over the FBI agents, prosecutors confronted Villarreal and offered him a deal — resign and cooperate or face more serious charges.
But even after leaving the department and facing the possibility of years in prison, prosecutors presented evidence that he continued to help bar owners. An FBI agent testified at his sentencing hearing that agents were forced to abort an undercover operation at a bar after they were spotted by Villarreal.
Hinojosa was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 16 years. A year later, Villarreal got 30 months in prison — six times higher than sentencing guidelines.
“If you allow law enforcement officers at any level to break the law and not have consequences,” Sam Lindsay, the federal judge who heard his case, told CBS News, “then that only breeds contempt and disrespect for the law.”
About the data
CBS News investigative data journalist Ari Sen obtained and analyzed five datasets from the Dallas Police Department to produce the numbers in this story:
Internal Affairs data (1977–2024), showing officers accused of misconduct and case outcomes. “More than 800 officers with red flags” reflects only substantiated off-duty policy violations, filtered to cases received on or after Jan. 1, 2010.
Public Integrity Unit data (2010–2024), showing officers investigated for criminal conduct.
Early Warning System data (May 2011–Sep 2021), identifying potentially problematic officers.
Off-duty employment data (2009–2024, excluding 2014–2015).
Rosters of current and former Dallas Police officers, including demographics, hire date, and separation date when applicable.
The numbers in this story likely miss some instances of misconduct. All case records that could not be clearly linked to a unique badge number were excluded from the analysis and the department did not always supply complete records in response to CBS News’ records requests.
Journalists with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and CBS News obtained moonlighting and related policies from more than 100 police departments and worked to compare the policies against recommended best practices. For more details on the process of analyzing these policies, please refer to the methodology in Part 2.
UP NEXT
Part 2 of 3
How police track moonlighting cops, in charts
Credits
Reporting by Ari Sen, Brian New and Lexi Salazar for
CBS News and Tallulah Anne, Chad Bradley, Kaylin Cantu, Emma Croteau, Sam Ellefson, Aspen Ford, Naomi Jordan, Tag Lee, Christopher Lomahquahu, Nicole Macias Garibay, Isabelle Marceles, Shayla McKenzie, Anna Olp, Madison Perales, Eshaan Sarup for the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. Data analysis by Ari Sen for CBS News and Tallulah Anne and Emma Croteau for the Howard
Center. Field production by Laura Geller, Nicole Vap and Donald Leonard for CBS News and Tallulah Anne, Chad Bradley and Aspen Ford for the
Howard Center. Graphics, design and development by Taylor Johnston for CBS News. Photojournalism by Mike Lozano and Jose Sanchez for CBS News. Video editing by Scott Fralicks of CBS News. Editing
and project leadership by John Kelly, Scott Pham, Matt Mosk, Laura Geller and Nicole Vap for CBS News and Mark Greenblatt, Lauren Mucciolo and Angela M. Hill for the Howard Center.
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU is funded by the
The Scripps Howard Foundation.
A senior Border Patrol official who has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago is due in court Tuesday to take questions about the enforcement operation in the Chicago area, which has produced more than 1,800 arrests and complaints of excessive force.The hearing comes after a judge earlier this month ordered uniformed immigration agents to wear body cameras, the latest step in a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who say federal agents used excessive force, including using tear gas, during protests against immigration operations.Greg Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, one of nine sectors on the Mexican border, is himself accused of throwing tear gas canisters at protesters.U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis initially said agents must wear badges, and she banned them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. She later said she was concerned agents were not following her order after seeing footage of street confrontations involving tear gas during the administration’s Operation Midway Blitz, and she modified the order to also require body cameras.Ellis last week extended questioning of Bovino from two hours to five because she wants to hear about agents’ recent use of force in the city’s Mexican enclave of Little Village. During an enforcement operation last week in Little Village and the adjacent suburb of Cicero, at least eight people, including four U.S. citizens, were detained before protesters gathered at the scene, local officials said.The attorneys representing a coalition of news outlets and protesters claim Bovino himself violated the order in Little Village and filed a still image of video footage where he was allegedly “throwing tear gas into a crowd without justification.”Over the weekend, masked federal agents and unmarked SUVs were spotted on the city’s wealthier, predominantly white North side neighborhoods of Lakeview and Lincoln Park, where footage showed chemical agents deployed on a residential street. Federal agents have been seen and videotaped deploying tear gas in residential streets a number of times over the past few weeks.Bovino also led the immigration operation in Los Angeles in recent months, leading to thousands of arrests. Agents smashed car windows, blew open a door to a house and patrolled MacArthur Park on horseback. In Chicago, similar Border Patrol operations have led to viral footage of tense confrontations with protesters.At a previous hearing, Ellis questioned Kyle Harvick, deputy incident commander with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Shawn Byers, deputy field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, about their agencies’ use of force policies and the distribution of body cameras. Harvick said there are about 200 Border Patrol employees in the Chicago area, and those who are part of Operation Midway Blitz have cameras. But Byers said more money from Congress would be needed to expand camera use beyond two of that agency’s field offices.
CHICAGO —
A senior Border Patrol official who has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago is due in court Tuesday to take questions about the enforcement operation in the Chicago area, which has produced more than 1,800 arrests and complaints of excessive force.
The hearing comes after a judge earlier this month ordered uniformed immigration agents to wear body cameras, the latest step in a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who say federal agents used excessive force, including using tear gas, during protests against immigration operations.
Greg Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, one of nine sectors on the Mexican border, is himself accused of throwing tear gas canisters at protesters.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis initially said agents must wear badges, and she banned them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. She later said she was concerned agents were not following her order after seeing footage of street confrontations involving tear gas during the administration’s Operation Midway Blitz, and she modified the order to also require body cameras.
Ellis last week extended questioning of Bovino from two hours to five because she wants to hear about agents’ recent use of force in the city’s Mexican enclave of Little Village. During an enforcement operation last week in Little Village and the adjacent suburb of Cicero, at least eight people, including four U.S. citizens, were detained before protesters gathered at the scene, local officials said.
The attorneys representing a coalition of news outlets and protesters claim Bovino himself violated the order in Little Village and filed a still image of video footage where he was allegedly “throwing tear gas into a crowd without justification.”
Over the weekend, masked federal agents and unmarked SUVs were spotted on the city’s wealthier, predominantly white North side neighborhoods of Lakeview and Lincoln Park, where footage showed chemical agents deployed on a residential street. Federal agents have been seen and videotaped deploying tear gas in residential streets a number of times over the past few weeks.
Bovino also led the immigration operation in Los Angeles in recent months, leading to thousands of arrests. Agents smashed car windows, blew open a door to a house and patrolled MacArthur Park on horseback. In Chicago, similar Border Patrol operations have led to viral footage of tense confrontations with protesters.
At a previous hearing, Ellis questioned Kyle Harvick, deputy incident commander with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Shawn Byers, deputy field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, about their agencies’ use of force policies and the distribution of body cameras. Harvick said there are about 200 Border Patrol employees in the Chicago area, and those who are part of Operation Midway Blitz have cameras. But Byers said more money from Congress would be needed to expand camera use beyond two of that agency’s field offices.
DENVER — A new report shows Denver Sheriff Department (DSD) deputies ran into big problems amid their body camera rollout last year.
While many law enforcement agencies were required under state law to issue body cameras to their officers, as part of a state law passed in 2020, DSD wasn’t required to.
The state law exempted jail deputies if they worked in a facility already equipped with video cameras.
But Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins said his department voluntarily issued body cameras to its deputies as a way to increase transparency.
“We voluntarily wanted to implement body-worn cameras,” said Diggins. “I personally believe that it is the best technology that has been introduced to law enforcement in the 30 years that I have been with the Sheriff’s Department.”
As head of Denver’s Citizen Oversight Board, Julia Richman’s job is to help hold the city’s law enforcement agencies accountable.
She says body cameras are one way to do that.
“Body cams don’t change the behavior of deputies or officers, but they do provide a tool for the public to get firsthand insight with their own eyes into the behavior of commissioned officers in a city,” said Richman.
But a report from the Office of the Independent Monitor, the city’s civilian oversight agency, shows DSD deputies didn’t follow department policy when it came to their body cams.
“Unfortunately, the expectations, the training clarity around sort of the process for rolling these out was not particularly good,” said Richman.
The independent monitor says there was a 268 percent increase in internal complaints at DSD from 2022 to 2023.
The report said this was largely driven by deputies reporting other deputies for violating the department’s body camera policy.
“So maybe a manager or a leader of a group had asked a deputy to turn on the camera or noticed that a deputy didn’t have a camera on their body,” Richman explained.
Denver7 asked Diggins why his department had so many problems.
“There was a period of time where deputies had to get used to wearing this brand-new technology in our environment,” Diggins said. “I call it the learning curve that comes with introducing something like this.”
Report shows rocky body camera rollout for Denver deputies
Diggins said his jail deputies must turn on their body cameras more often than officers patrolling the streets.
“Activating their body-worn camera is higher than a police officer or a sheriff’s deputy on the street. Meaning they have a lot more interactions with people that require the launching of the body-worn camera,” said Diggins.
Despite the hiccups with the rollout, he says things have improved in recent months as deputies became more familiar with the rules.
“Deputies are now used to wearing their body-worn cameras,” said Diggins. “I believe that they believe that it is a technology that helps them to explain what happens to them on a daily basis.”
Richman agrees things have improved at DSD.
She hopes things will keep moving in the right direction.
“It remains to be seen how well that will go this year,” said Richman. “We’ll keep our eye out for that.”
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Last spring, a disabled Wyoming 8-year-old was assaulted by a school resource officer, who pinned the boy facedown on the floor of a school conference room seemingly unprovoked. According to a lawsuit filed by the boy’s family last week, after the incident, the resource officer deleted body camera footage showing the most egregious parts of the attack and even accessed the child’s private school records without his parents’ or school administrators’ knowledge.
Last February, an 8-year-old with a “diagnosed neurodivergent disability” was sitting in the principal’s office of Freedom Elementary School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, during the school’s lunch period. The boy, named in the suit as “J.D.,” had been doing this for days, in accordance with his Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The complaint states that Principal Chad Delbridge and another faculty member began to quietly speak to J.D. about comments he made to a school cafeteria cashier and whether he should apologize to the cashier. Deputy Benjamin Jacquot, the school resource officer, was standing nearby during the discussion. J.D. was calm during this period.
According to a report later filed by Delbridge, when J.D. stood up to return to class moments later, Jacquot grabbed J.D.’s arm. Delbridge had not asked for Jacquot’s assistance in any way.
“J.D. was not a threat to himself or to anyone else. There was no reason at all for Deputy Jacquot to become involved with J.D. during this interaction with Principal Delbridge,” the lawsuit notes. “Deputy Jacquot, nevertheless, forcibly wrestled J.D. into a nearby conference room using an armlock where the assault grew violent.”
The suit claims that Jacquot repeatedly “slammed” J.D.’s face into the conference room floor, causing numerous lacerations and bruises. The undeleted portion of Jacquot’s body camera footage shows the 250-pound Jacquot pinned on top of 68-pound J.D.
“At this point, J.D. is bleeding from wounds on his face, and his smeared blood is visible on the video,” the complaint reads. “As shown on the video, Deputy Jacquot is out of control, pinning J.D. by his arms face down to the ground in a prone restraint position and yelling threats at J.D. J.D., meanwhile, is struggling to breathe, and is coughing.”
According to the suit, Jacquot screamed at J.D.: “Do you understand me! I should be taking you to jail!”
Eventually, Delbridge called J.D.’s father, Ishmael DeJesus, to pick him up. When he arrived, DeJesus asked Jacquot why he grabbed J.D. even though the boy wasn’t causing a disruption.
“Because, as a law enforcement officer, that’s my primary function,” Jacquot replied.
The complaint further alleges that “immediately after his assault on J.D., Deputy Jacquot went to his vehicle, and, upon information and belief, destroyed evidence by deleting his body cam video which showed the most violent portion of the assault, as well as the footage of his improper intervention into and escalation of this situation.”
Later, Jacquot obtained J.D.’s “private and protected” school records and included excerpts of those records in the police report of the incident. An investigation from the school later concluded that Jacquot had “no need to access these records in his work with this situation.”
In addition to his physical injuries, the lawsuit says that the incident has led to long-term psychological consequences for J.D., including the need for psychological treatment and J.D.’s transfer to a school for children with emotional disturbances.
In all, the suit argues that Jacquot’s use of excessive force violated J.D.’s Fourth Amendment rights and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Deputy Jacquot failed to employ reasonable interventions with respect to J.D. such as crisis intervention, de-escalation, patience, and waiting, which would have been consistent with J.D’s status as a disabled child as well as his IEP,” the lawsuit reads. “J.D. suffered and continues to suffer physical pain, emotional pain, psychological injury, trauma, and suffering.”
