A North Carolina police chief has been put on unpaid leave after directing officers to a fraudulent vaccine clinic that would provide ...
A North Carolina police chief has been put on unpaid leave after directing officers to a fraudulent vaccine clinic that would provide bogus vaccination cards.
TJ Smith, 42, the Police Chief of Oakboro was put on unpaid leave for two weeks, which started on December 21, and will be on probation for six months.
The 'clinic' Smith directed his officers to reportedly gave patients a syringe filled with the vaccine and would be told to go into a bathroom to self inject or dispose of the contents
Smith allegedly told his staff that there was an arrangement with a pharmacist and they would be able to receive a vaccine card. It is unclear if Smith is vaccinated or used the clinic himself.
Oakboro Town Administrator Doug Burgess drafted a letter to Smith stating that he committed 'fraud' and participated in 'willful acts that endanger the property of others' for directing officers to go to a mobile vaccine clinic where they could get a vaccine card without being inoculated.
The suspension came as police departments around the country protest draconian vaccine mandates that have forced them to show proof of vaccination or face loss of pay or even their jobs.
The legality President Joe Biden's mandate for all federal workers will go before the Supreme Court on January 7.
Oakboro, North Carolina, Police Chief TJ Smith, 42, (pictured) has been put on unpaid leave for two weeks, which started on December 21, after he directed officers to a vaccine 'clinic' where patients would 'self-inject.' He will also be on six months probations for his actions
Town Administrator Doug Burgess said he was putting Smith on leave for 'fraud' and for 'detrimental personal conduct'
The chief denied trying to skirt the department's vaccine mandate but admitted that he should have been more skeptical of the 'self-vaccination' clinic.
'A friend called me with some information about a mobile vaccination clinic. It was a busy morning like every other busy morning. After I got off the phone with that friend, I called two other officers (not in my department) and passed on information about what was described as a “self-vaccination” clinic,' Smith wrote in a written statement to WMBF.
'I got one phone call, hung up and made two others. I didn’t sit back and digest the information, ruminate on it, or otherwise give it much thought. I just passed it on.
'Having the benefit of hindsight now, it is obvious the entire process sounds questionable. I didn’t post it on social media, and I didn’t really sit back and think hard on it at that moment. It was just one person sharing the word with another.'
Burgess did not buy the excuse.
'This letter communicates my decision concerning your discipline for violating the Town's Personnel Policy and the Police Department's Policy Manual,' Burgess wrote.
'Detrimental personal conduct including notifying law enforcement officers to attend a "clinic" where they would be able to obtain proof of COVID-19 vaccination cards without being vaccinated which violates Personnel Policies...'
The mobile clinic allegedly told his staff that there was an arrangement with a pharmacist and they would be able to receive a vaccine card
The police chief for the town located about 50 miles east of Charlotte said he's now 'owning' up to his mistake.
'I’m owning that. It was a mistake, and I shared misinformation. That’s true.
'I shared something that wasn’t true. I didn’t profit from it. I couldn’t possibly profit from it, and I didn’t do it from a place of malice. I care deeply about others, and I sincerely appreciate that I have a job that allows me to serve them and to see things improve in my community.'
Captain Craig Richards will serve as Chief while Smith is on leave.
Many police forces and healthcare workers around the country have bridled against vaccinate mandates.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul made it a crime on Wednesday to use fake vaccine cards.
It will become a Class A misdemeanor in the state and there is a new felony charge for using a computer to intentionally tamper with a vaccine cards.
'We need to make sure we learn the lessons of the pandemic so we don’t make the same mistakes twice,' Hochul said in a statement after signing the bills.
'These new laws will help us improve our response to the pandemic now, crackdown on fraudulent use of vaccination records, and help us better understand the areas of improvement we need to make to our health care system so we can be even more prepared down the road.'
Recently, a North Carolina hospital, Novant Health, fired about 175 workers for not complying with the vaccine mandate.
Novant Health, which has more than 35,000 employees in 15 hospitals and 800 clinics, mandated that its employees get vaccinated in late July. They had until September 15 to comply.
He has since apologized for spreading 'misinformation' and said he 'didn’t sit back and digest the information' when he handed it out, he just passed it along. 'I got one phone call, hung up and made two others. I didn’t sit back and digest the information, ruminate on it, or otherwise give it much thought. I just passed it on,' he said
Albany Med in upstate New York suspended more than 200 workers, while New York City has suspended thousands of workers, spurring fears of staff shortages.
One of the biggest service providers in the city, Mount Sinai, suspended one percent of its 42,000 workforce and NYC Health + Hospitals suspended about five percent.
The three NFL players were recently caught with fraudulent vaccine cards and have been suspended.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers star wide receiver Antonio Brown was suspended for three games after his former chef accused him of having a fake CDC card.
Teammate Mike Edwards and free agent John Franklin III, a former Buccaneer, were also suspended.
Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers also faced criticism after telling reporters at a press conference that he was 'immunized,' but wasn't.
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