TSU police chief sues university to keep her job after lawyer says she was falsely accused of fraud

KHOU 11
Author: Matt Dougherty
Published: 10:11 PM CST November 30, 2022

HOUSTON — A lawyer for Texas Southern University Police Chief Mary Young said her client's job is now in jeopardy after she told officers to stop being “errand boys” for the university’s president.

The attorney said police officers were acting as chauffeurs and personal attendants for TSU president Dr. Lesia L. Crumpton-Young, and when they were told to stop, the university moved to fire the chief.

A Harris County judge will decide if Chief Young gets to keep her job for at least the immediate future.

“This is just sour grapes by someone who probably wants their purses carried and a chauffeur around to pretend they have an entourage protecting them,” Chief Young’s attorney, Benjamin L. Hall, III, said. “I think it’s ridiculous.”

Lawyers for the university said she should be replaced now.

Hall said Chief Young has a work history that is squeaky clean.

“This woman had an unblemished record at HPD, nearly two decades,” Hall said. “People were dying to have her as police chief.”

Hall said everything was going fine for the chief until a few months ago.

Chief Young was allegedly informed that her officers were performing duties clearly outside of their job descriptions for the university’s president.

“What happened was, a board of regents trustee saw the police officers operating in a more personal manner with the TSU president,” Hall said. “They were acting like errand boys. Holding her purse, fixing and arranging her dress, and acting like chauffeurs as opposed to security.”

Hall says Chief Young admonished the officers, telling them they weren’t to perform any more of these personal services for the school’s president.

Not long after that, Hall says the chief was informed of an anonymous complaint.

Lawyers for TSU said in a court hearing Wednesday the complainant claimed the chief committed fraud.

Hall said the fraud allegation was nothing more than the chief allowing officers to work overtime because the police force is understaffed. Now he said his client has a right to defend herself before she gets fired.

But the several lawyers representing the university disagreed. The attorneys claimed that keeping the chief on staff could cause irreparable harm to the university.

Hall is requesting two weeks before the chief can be disciplined so that his client can see the investigation and refute the claims.

KHOU 11 reached out to TSU for a statement on the allegations and the case.

A university spokesperson replied in an email that TSU does not comment on personnel matters or litigation.