Audit Attacks San Jose, Calif. Officers' Outside Jobs

March 25--As a San Jose police officer, Gary W. Drake was among hundreds of city cops who took advantage of a long-standing program allowing uniformed officers to work off-duty security jobs for places ranging from shopping centers to schools to special events.

Too much advantage, prosecutors say. Now retired from the force, Drake faces theft charges and is accused of double-billing two school districts for outside work.

Drake's case was among alleged improprieties uncovered in a new city audit of the San Jose Police Department's outside pay job program, which the City Council is expected to consider April 3.

The audit argued that until a recent crackdown under Chief Chris Moore, the program was so loosely overseen that the department couldn't track where and how long officers were doing outside work, or situations where on-duty assignments might conflict with secondary jobs. Supervisors allowed flexible hours to accommodate officers' outside pay jobs and didn't enforce rules against working them while on sick or disability leave.

"San Jose's system for overseeing uniformed off-duty work to date has provided minimal accountability," City Auditor Sharon Erickson told a council public safety committee this month, questioning whether the program should continue as structured. "It's not as clear how the broad public interest is served by it."

Assistant Chief Rikki Goede said Moore, who has been chief for a little over a year, had begun a crackdown

even before the audit began and that the department has revised policies "addressing nearly all of the auditor's concerns."

But Goede defended the program overall, arguing that abuses were the exception and that the program benefits the city by effectively putting more cops out in the community -- perhaps an additional 100 officers a day -- even if they're working for another employer.

Goede acknowledged that "there were some problems in oversight" and that "the audit did uncover a very small number of issues." But, she said, "the vast majority of officers working secondary employment are doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing."

Officers' outside pay jobs have come under fire before. The city's police auditor criticized the program in 1995. Concerns then about potential conflicts from off-duty officers providing security at downtown nightclubs regulated by the department led the city to ban that practice in 1997.

But Councilman Pete Constant, an officer at the time who had worked outside pay jobs and has since retired from the force, said this audit suggests that some changes aimed at fixing problems highlighted in the 1990s seem to have since "disappeared."

"I'm curious how things just disappear," Constant said.

Among the audit's findings:

--Evidence of overlap between hours billed for city and outside work, suggesting either city taxpayers or outside employers weren't getting all the police work they paid for. In addition, records indicated travel time between city and outside jobs weren't accounted for, indicating either taxpayers or the outside employer paid for the officer to drive from one job to the other. The timecard issues have spawned several disciplinary investigations and some criminal probes, including the Drake case.

--About 77 percent of the department's nearly 1,200 sworn officers and reservists participated in outside work, earning more than $6 million total last year. The audit noted the financial incentive has grown as the city has cut pay and is seeking pension reductions amid tight budgets.

--The city, struggling with chronic budget deficits, subsidizes outside work to the tune of more than $500,000 a year.

Erickson said city leaders should first evaluate recent and pending changes the chief has in the works. But the audit suggests the city consider as an alternative having uniformed officers work overtime shifts for the city rather than off-duty hours for outside employers. That's a model it says is used in Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Clara County.

Police said they are considering such changes but noted that they would affect not just officers but also schools and other employers that rely on the off-duty cops for security.

Officials at San Jose Unified School District and East Side Union High School District, the two involved in Drake's alleged timecard fraud, said the off-duty police work program is extremely valuable to them.

"We know exactly the training they've gone through and the standards they have to meet," said Don McCloskey, director of student services at San Jose Unified, where officers work daily at each of the district's middle and high schools as well as for athletic events and dances. "They become part of our community, they mentor kids, they make a connection between families."

Officials at both districts were surprised by allegations Drake committed timecard fraud. East Side Union Superintendent Daniel Moser said that "in the many years that the district has used off-duty SJPD officers, this is the first instance of alleged fraud brought to our attention."

Drake's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. His next court date is April 18. According to police reports, Drake, who continued working off-duty jobs as a reserve officer after retiring in 2009, submitted timecards for simultaneous shifts at East Side's Yerba Buena High School and San Jose Unified's Gunderson High School on four days. The jobs paid $264 at Yerba Buena and $232.50 at Gunderson each day, totaling $930.

According to police reports, Drake, 56, of Union City, acknowledged the misdeed in a recorded police interview, telling a detective: "I don't know why I did it. It was stupid. I knew better."

Contact John Woolfolk at 408-975-9346.

Online

San Jose has posted the audit of the police secondary employment unit at www.sanjoseca.gov/auditor/Audit

Reports/1204/1204.pdf.