A retired Houston Police Department officer, Marvin Nickerson, is charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer to speak with an inmate waiting to be processed into the Harris County Jail, according to court documents. Authorities said the incident happened in July. Nickerson was arrested on Wednesday and has since bonded out. The sheriff's office would not say why it took months for him to face charges.
The sheriff's office said Nickerson showed employees at the processing center a photo credentialed badge that identified him as an active HPD sergeant. He was given a law enforcement visitor tag. Later, an HPD investigator arrived to interview the same inmate and was told an investigator was already inside. The sheriff's office said Nickerson told staff he was the assigned investigator, and he was escorted out. Jail staff said they only realized he was not supposed to be in the area when the HPD investigator arrived. Investigators have not said which inmate Nickerson met with.
HPD initially declined to comment. Later, the department said all retired officers are issued retired IDs, but did not say how Nickerson's badge identified him as an active sergeant. Law enforcement has not said whether the badge was an old photo ID or something else. Nickerson's defense attorney said his client has no comment at this time and that the defense is gathering evidence for review.