Rice U. Criticized for Dismissal of Police Officer

Houston police officers are criticizing Rice University for dismissing a member of its police force after he left campus to assist law enforcement dealing with a man who shot two police officers in a non-campus incident, The Houston Chronicle reported. The Rice officer who lost his job said he rushed to assist when he heard about the incident on a police scanner, and local police officers are calling him a hero. Rice declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but said in a statement that the fired officer "left his post when only two other officers were on duty and failed to notify his supervisor of his whereabouts for nearly an hour, which could have endangered the safety of our students and campus."