44 Port Authority Cops Skipped Work, Agency Says

More than 40 Port Authority Police officers are facing disciplinary action after an internal investigation revealed they were "shirking" their duties while on patrol — including times of heightening security due to terrorist activities.

The 44 PATH officers — about one-third of the rail system's command — stayed in break rooms and missed their assigned patrols. The offenses include a time where several officers spent more than six hours of their shift in a break room and another when an officer spent more than seven hours away from his post, the Port Authority said in a statement released Wednesday.

“The allegations against these officers are extremely serious and we believe they have let down the public they are sworn to serve,’’ said Inspector General Michael Nestor. “We will seek to take significant action against those officers who violated the public trust.”

The investigation began after the Chief Security Officer's Quality Assurance and Inspections unit, while conducting routine inspections, noticed that several officers were "obviously off post," and the investigation started.

The investigation started with the Hoboken PATH station and eventually examined officers primarily assigned to work the midnight to 8 a.m. shift at several stations in New Jersey and New York.

The Port Authority said there is video evidence to back up the investigation's findings.

The investigation extended to PATH commands at the Newark and the Christopher Street, 33rd Street, and World Trade Center stations in Manhattan.

Some of the officers, whose names were not disclosed, were assigned to overtime on heightened security details due to "terror events" that occurred both in the United States and abroad, the Port Authority said.

The Port Authority Police Department's PATH command patrols seven PATH stations in New Jersey and six in Manhattan, all south of 34th Street.

The PATH’s top Port Authority Police Department commander was reassigned in November in the wake of the review.

All 44 cases are pending and none of the officers have settled any of the disciplinary charges filed against them, the Port Authority said.

Bobby Egbert, a spokesman for the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association, criticized the agency for "issuing a press release" about "internal disciplinary matters," NJ.com reported. He also said that the low crime rate at PATH facilities is proof the officers were doing their jobs.

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Photo courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Note: The officers pictured may not be the ones accused as a result of the investigation.