Sandy MaloneTroy, MI – An investigation into who was eating snacks from a locked pantry in a Troy fire station revealed the culprits were none other than Troy police officers.
The Troy Police Department posted a press release on Twitter on March 8 that explained what had happened from beginning to end.
The press release explained that historically, the Troy Fire Department has welcomed the city’s police officers to help themselves to snacks and drinks at the fire stations, and to avail themselves of the facilities whenever they like for meal and restroom breaks.
In fact, all Troy police personnel were given key fob access to all of the fire stations within the city, the press release explained.
“Historically our officers have been invited to have food, snacks, water pop, paper plates,” Lt. Jones told WJBK. “All that stuff has been available for our officers to use.”
He said a significant number of Troy police officers are also volunteer firefighters.
The investigation into the missing snacks began after Fire Station 4 was recently remodeled.
After the renovations, the snacks were moved from an open area in the kitchen to a locked pantry, according to the press release.
Lt. Jones said that the police department began an internal investigation after the fire department complained that the snack supply in the recently-locked cabinet had continued to dwindle despite the restricted access, WJBK reported.
Investigators reviewed security camera footage of the fire station and discovered 20 different police officers had used credit cards to pop the lock on the pantry door to get to the snacks.
The officers who were involved in the disappearance of the snacks all readily admitted what they’d done, and indicated that they had believed they were still welcome to help themselves.
However, Troy Police Lieutenant Josh Jones told WJBK that was not the case.
“If you have to make entry using a tool to defeat a latch, that’s a clue that you’re not supposed to go into that room,” Lt. Jones said.
He said that when the police department received questions about the investigation, officials decided to go public about the snack caper.
“We felt like it was important to make sure that this is everything that happened, there is nothing being hidden here,” Lt. Jones said. “We are being transparent.”
He was straightforward about who had been assigned culpability, WJBK reported.
“This is about our officers should have not entered a locked area of a fire department they were not supposed to have access to,” Lt. Jones said.
During the investigation, police officers’ access to the fire stations was rescinded, but the police department has since tried to make amends, according to WJBK.
“We recognize that obviously our officers made a mistake, they used poor judgement,” Lt. Jones said.
WJBK reported that the fire chief planned to reinstate officers’ access to the fire stations now that the investigation had been finished.
The names of the officers and which specific snacks they consumed were not released by Troy PD, WWJ reported.
The community had mixed reactions to the news about the snack thefts released by the police department, but most seemed rather entertained.
“I started reading as if this was from
“It’s real. We want to make sure everyone has access to the facts on this,” Troy PD replied on Twitter.
All of the officers who were involved in the snack incident have been disciplined, and the matter is considered closed by both the Troy police and fire departments, according to the press release.
“The Troy Police Department holds our Police Officers to the highest standards and entering an unauthorized area of another city department, no matter what the rational [sic}, is unacceptable,” the release said.