A month ago, this news outlet reported exclusively that the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) had launched an investigation on the captain of the Greenville County sheriff’s office a long time ago. Darius Hall. Three days later, we presented another exclusive report indicating that this investigation had expanded to include “allegations against several police officers”.
What is SLED looking at? According to our sources, it is focused on officers who work in “parallel jobs” and “pay discrepancies”.
As we noted in our post, we don’t envy the cops who choose to supplement their income private sector sources.
“Ordinary policemen and sheriff’s delegates are not paid almost as much as they should be given the vital public security responsibilities that have been assigned to them – and the danger they are often placed in fulfilling those responsibilities, ”we note. “Consequently, they must be able to earn additional income in the private sector, as they are able to do so – although we have consistently argued that these job opportunities should not involve the use of taxpayer-provided equipment or other resources. “
Nor should “side jobs” coincide with officers’ service hours …
(Click to view)
(Via: Greenville County Sheriff’s Office)
But is this what is happening at the Greenville County sheriff’s office?
We don’t know, but we Does to know that SLED is supposedly combing “many years” of records related to alleged parallel work / compensation discrepancies.
And that this survey is reportedly “bearing significant fruit,” a source familiar with the survey’s status told us.
Which is not bearing fruit? Investigations by the internal sheriff’s office into the same type of allegations. However, this is not surprising, because these internal investigations are being conducted by the same professional standards office (OPS) that approved the questionable behavior in the first place.
So … What is the status of the SLED survey?
According to our sources, the investigation is focused on several incidents of alleged “time card fraud”. Although there is no ban on deputies using their taxpayer-provided equipment to work in parallel jobs, there are It’s a “double dip” ban.
Meaning they cannot work in such positions while in taxpayer time.
Many police officers “dove twice”, we are told … essentially defrauding taxpayers of money to “protect and serve”, if the allegations are true.
SLED spokesperson Tommy Crosby declined to comment on the details of the investigation, although it confirmed that it is an ongoing investigation.
“This remains an active investigation,” said Crosby.
According to our sources, SLED will present its findings to the SC attorney general’s office Alan Wilson when your investigation work is complete. At that point, Wilson’s office can file a complaint, refuse to file a complaint, refer the matter to one of the state’s regional lawyers for review, or seek additional information from SLED.
In the meantime, Hall was reportedly relegated from captain to lieutenant as a result of an internal investigation conducted by the sheriff’s office. Interestingly, Hall was reinstated to his post, although the SLED inquiry into his conduct is ongoing.
A 26-year veteran at the agency, Hall was a sheriff candidate in the bitterly contested special election earlier this year. He finished third in the initial round of voting for the Republican Party nomination on January 7, and endorsed the eventual Republican candidate Hobart Lewis before his second round victory over the former deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service AT “Tommy” Smith.
This tumultuous election was necessary due to the dismissal of the ex-sheriff in October 2019 Will Lewis – who was found guilty of a charge of misconduct in office, stemming from a lengthy investigation by SLED about his brief management in charge of this department of $ 45 million per year.
Lewis is facing Democrat Paul Guy in a special election on March 10 to fill the rest of Lewis’ unexpired term.
-FITSNews
*****
WANT TO TURN OFF THE SOUND?
Is there anything you would like to say in response to one of our stories? We have an open mic policy! Send your own letter to the editor (or guest column) by email HERE. Do you have a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Have a technical question or failure to report? CLICK HERE. Do you want to help support what we are doing? SUBSCRIBE HERE.
Flag: Greenville County Sheriff’s Office