Cleveland, Ohio - Officer with 2nd job charged in double-dipping
04/04/07, by James F. McCarty, Plain Dealer Reporter
A Cuyahoga County grand jury Tuesday indicted a Cleveland police officer on a charge of theft in office, accusing him of collecting on-duty pay while working off-duty as a security guard. Sgt. Brian Lloyd, 37, was one of 14 city police officers found to be double-dipping -- working part time for a private security firm at $26.25 an hour at the same time they were being paid by the Police Department.
The officers moonlighted in 2004 and 2005 for Comprehensive Security Solutions, a company that provided security at the city-owned Gateway parking garages near Jacobs Field and The Q. Lloyd, a 13-year veteran, was among the leaders in overlapping hours, according to a city audit of Gateway garage and police time sheets. At the time, he worked for the department's Office of Professional Standards investigating complaints of officer misconduct. Lloyd was reassigned to the City Jail several months ago, police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho said.
City auditors found 71 hours where Lloyd overlapped his police shift with his side job as a security guard. He earned $54,000 from the city in 2005. Police Chief Michael McGrath said Lloyd will be suspended without pay. Lloyd is suspected of stealing $6,325 worth of city time over a 30-month period, according to an investigation by the Police Department's Integrity Control Section.
Assistant County Prosecutor Paul Soucie said the case against Lloyd is more serious than simple double-dipping. Police security cameras caught the sergeant coming and going from his job at times that conflicted with his duty log sheets.
"So he may have signed in for an eight-hour tour of duty, but only worked for an hour and a half," said Soucie, who heads the economic crimes unit. "All of the security video is time- and date-stamped. When you're walking out with your coat and hat on, it makes for some pretty compelling pictures," Soucie said.
Lloyd was one of 24 officers investigated by the Internal Affairs and Overtime Review units, McGrath said. Of those officers, 19 faced administrative charges, including oral warnings and letters of reinstruction. Most of the cases involved simultaneous start-finish times in which officers signed off of one job and signed onto the other at the same time, Stacho said.
Two cases were turned over to prosecutors. One officer remains under investigation, and the case against another officer was determined to be unfounded. There was no indication that the grand jury heard evidence against 6th District Detective Michael Meyer, the officer with the highest double-dipping totals, according to the audit.
Time sheets showed Meyer collected $7,200 for 275 hours of work at Gateway while he was supposed to be on police duty in 2004 and 2005. He earned $64,800 in police salary in 2005. Lloyd is scheduled to appear in Common Pleas Court on April 17 to answer to the charge, a third-degree felony.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:jmccarty@plaind.com, 216-999-4153
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