Two Pennsylvania police officers were fired for submitting fake COVID-19 vaccination cards to their department

• Two officers of the Lancaster Bureau of Police in Pennsylvania were fired after they used fake COVID-19 vaccine cards.
• One officer obtained a blank card, made a copy, and sold it to another officer, according to Lancaster Online.

Two Pennsylvania police officers were fired after they submitted fake COVID-19 vaccine cards to their department.

Officers Heather Schaeffer and Benjamin Lapp of the Lancaster City Bureau of Police were terminated "following a Bureau of Police internal investigation into the use and submission of false records related to the City's COVID-19 reporting protocols," the bureau said in a statement.

Officer Schaeffer obtained a blank vaccine card from a family member, made a copy of it, and sold it to Officer Lapp for $20, Lancaster Online's Dan Nephin reported. Lancaster Online obtained records of the incident through a public records request.

The city of Lancaster is not requiring employees to be vaccinated, Lancaster Online reported, although vaccinated individuals are permitted to forgo wearing masks in public buildings if they are fully vaccinated.

According to the statement from the police bureau, the officers were fired "for violating required standards of conduct, for conduct unbecoming an officer and for conduct suggesting they are unfit for service as police officers." The bureau declined to offer additional comments to Insider.

Schaeffer and Lapp were fired on October 20 and 18, respectively. Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams opened a criminal investigation into the matter, Lancaster Online reported. Adams did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.