One Detroit police officer is suspended and another is under investigation in alleged time-card fraud that has cost the department more than $15,000, the Free Press has learned.
Police Chief Warren Evans confirmed the internal investigation, which he said could lead to criminal charges against at least two officers. The cases will be forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to determine if charges such as fraud or obtaining money under false pretenses are warranted.
The department declined to release the officers’ names, citing personnel issues, but said that both work in the department’s Eastern District. Their supervisor is also under investigation for approving their fraudulent time cards, said police spokesman John Roach.
“I’m trying to find money to hire police officers and get equipment to make our streets safer,” Evans said today. “There’s no way in the world I’m going to tolerate this.”
He said some of the officers’ colleagues alerted the administration to the alleged fraud, prompting the month-long investigation.
In one case, a male officer was moonlighting working security at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, and his shifts overlapped by up to a couple of hours, Evans said. The officer would leave his department patrol early to go to his night hospital job, while still getting paid by the city.
Roach said the department estimates the officer bilked the city out of $15,000 over more than a year.
The other case involved a female officer who submitted fraudulent activity logs while on vacation out of the country, Evans said. The department confirmed she was not in Detroit, as her time logs stated, and was paid her normal salary for what should have been vacation days.
“I’m running a police department, but I’m running a business, too,” Evans said. “This cannot happen.”
The male officer is suspended with pay until the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting today, when Evans said he plans to recommend that he be suspended without pay. Evans said he intends to follow suit with the female officer.
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