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You know there’s got to be a problem with the overtime and comp slips when one guy puts in for comp-time earned in 1918. But that’s exactly what a Denver police officer did, according to a recent review of that agency’s records. Another officer allegedly approved his own overtime hours worked. Additionally, some Denver officers may have improperly collected "broker" fees for managing other officers on second jobs such as patrolling Rockies and Broncos games.
These revelations are all related to a recent audit released by the Denver City Auditor’s office. The auditor's office could not say that any particular officers took part in any wrongdoing. But the office did stress the fact that poor record keeping made it hard to know whether officers are complying with policies governing overtime, comp time and second jobs.
"You can't differentiate between an honest mistake and fraud because you have no adequate controls in place," auditor spokesman Denis Berckefeldt told Jeff Kass of the Rocky Mountain News.
In response to many of the issues raised by the audit, Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman said that a new software program will take care of everything. "TeleStaff," Whitman said of some audit concerns, "renders these issues moot." That’s the name of a software program the department began using last winter. Whitman says the software will replace the outdated way of tracking overtime, which were often paper slips.
The report by City Auditor Dennis Gallagher is 58 pages. Almost half of it is devoted to Whitman's response.
In 2004, two Denver police commanders accused of double dipping and tampering with off-duty employment records were sanctioned by losing more than a month's pay each. Manager of Safety Al LaCabe said the officers did not double dip, but cited them for splitting their shifts and banking comp time in a way that violated department policy.
Under Denver police policy, uniformed officers paid by private businesses may guard banks, restaurants, bars and stores. Some second security jobs are more closely connected to city agencies, although Whitman called them all "an asset to the community."
But audit supervisor Nancy Howe said that officers who work Broncos or Rockies games should not be paying a fee to another coordinating officer who handles issues such as officer paperwork. That would be a violation of a mayor's executive order that states: "No police officer shall serve as a broker to provide off-duty police services." Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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