BOSTON (AP) - The Latest on the overtime pay scandal currently rocking the Massachusetts State Police (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Massachusetts State Police say four troopers have been temporarily relieved of duty in the ongoing scandal over overtime pay.
Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the state police, says Monday the temporary relief of the four personnel from duty is a result of the department’s continued review of records and data indicative of whether members were “present and working overtime shifts for which they were paid.” There are scheduled internal hearings for the unidentified officers to determine their duty status will be during the investigation. The Boston Globe reports that investigators in 2014 were already looking at a pay scandal within the department that wasn’t publicized.
A state police audit earlier this year found that more than 20 troopers may have been paid overtime for shifts they did not work. Several are facing criminal charges.
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7:55 a.m.
Internal affairs investigators with the Massachusetts State Police saw warning signs of the overtime pay scandal currently rocking the department as early as 2014, yet the agency failed to act, according to a new report.
The Boston Globe reports that investigators in 2014 were looking for evidence that two troopers were secretly escorting funeral processions and taking cash under the table. But during that probe, they found that troopers had routinely filed for more than 30 hours a week in overtime and paid details they either didn’t work or didn’t complete.
Those details never made it into the investigators’ final report.
A state police audit earlier this year found that more than 20 troopers may have been paid overtime for shifts they did not work. Several are facing criminal charges.
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