Me, too. At least one Durham councilman is mad about the Durham overtime scam that benefitted one Durham cop to the tune of $62,000 or more. But not mad enough as far as I’m concerned. One commander is being allowed to retire and Chief Jose Lopez is still on the job, despite the fact that the audit shows he knew — and defended — the outrageous overtime payments in June. Page 12 of the audit details what the chief knew and when he knew it.
Brown and Woodard also said they were pleased that Bonfield is talking about trying to recover some of the money, likely to the tune of something in the $40,000 range, given that auditors believe Robinson-Taylor did in fact work some of the hours she claimed.
“The question is restitution,” Brown said. “I want this damn money back.”
Sitting council members shied away Wednesday from criticizing Lopez or other senior Police Department leaders. Lopez said in answer to a reporter’s question that he hadn’t been asked to resign.
Former Durham police captain Andy Miller has it right about the city’s decision to allow the commander involved to simply retire. More from the Herald-Sun: (emphasis is mine)
The leader of the N.C. Sheriff Police Alliance, former Durham Police Department Capt. Andy Miller, said Bonfield had delivered an investigation that was as promised “complete, thorough and transparent.”
Miller did, however, question the decision to allow Deputy Chief Council to retire.
“Retirement is not punishment,” he said. “You get a paycheck for the rest of your life. We’ll see if Officer Robinson[-Taylor] gets off as lightly.”
And we’ll see how Durham taxpayers react to all of this. Recall that while overtime cash was being heaped upon an officer for work not supported by documentation, City Manager Tom Bonfield and other city bureaucrats were considering layoffs. From the Herald-Sun:
He also acknowledged that the payments came while administrations and the City Council were preparing to eliminate positions and lay off employees to deal with a budget crunch.
