Our weekly police scandal post

 I've written about the Medford PD before. Thanks to the Globe, we know now things were out of hand years ago and the Chief did nothing to stop it. I must say, our cops get 57 an hour for detail, Medford cops are getting 60 and hour and as the Globe points out, many fudged time sheets. 

This culture seems to be rampant and as Tom Nolan said,  "
If I were a chief, I’d want to get ahead of this. You don’t want the US Attorney’s office looking at your department.”

Former Medford police chief knew of major payroll scandal, but didn’t seek outside probe

By Matt Rocheleau Globe Staff,November 24, 2019, 8:24 p.m.

Leo Sacco retired as police chief in Medford last fall after confronting officers. Kate Lagreca

Weeks after news broke last year of a payroll fraud scandal within the State Police force, longtime Medford Police Chief Leo A. Sacco Jr. learned that about a quarter of the officers in his own department were allegedly padding their pay by either falsifying their hours or skipping out on detail shifts.

Following an anonymous tip, Sacco quietly conducted his own months long, informal inquiry and had numerous officers admit to him that they had fleeced a contractor paying for traffic safety patrols at a construction project, according to an internal investigative report obtained by the Globe.

Sacco, the chief of 28 years, called dozens of the officers involved to a meeting at a hotel last fall, said their actions were part of a “cultural and systematic problem,” and told them to stop their scheme, according to the report, which was obtained through a public records request. Ultimately, the chief handed down no discipline, issued no written reprimands, and retired two days later.

News of the potential fraud became public only two months ago, when a probe by an outside investigator uncovered the alleged scam, which involved possible criminal wrongdoing by a mix of patrolmen and their supervisors.

Now, 27 Medford officers have been disciplined and ordered to pay back $17,000 collectively, as the city police department joins a growing list of law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts embroiled in payroll scandals.

“Police chiefs across Massachusetts ought to be — if they’re not already — paying very close attention to what’s going on here,” said Tom Nolan, a former Boston Police lieutenant who teaches criminology at Emmanuel College.

“If I were a chief, I’d want to get ahead of this. You don’t want the US Attorney’s office looking at your department.”