Off-Duty Jobs Scam Uncovered
It turns out that Jersey City (NJ) has had a problem with officers allegedly getting paid fort security details at a city housing project that they did not work.
According to a letter obtained by The Jersey Journal, evidence exists that the Jersey City public safety director was warned four years ago about potential abuses by cops working off-duty security details at public-housing complexes.
The letter was written in October 2013 by former police chief Robert Cowan, whose successor, Phil Zacche, admitted on Jan. 5 in federal court that he charged the Jersey City Housing Authority more than $30,000 for security details he did not work at the Marion Gardens public-housing complex.
The city denied all knowledge of the letter, and noted that it is not dated. A current law enforcement source confirmed the letter was written and circulated in the police department in October 2013.
Cowan’s letter — which Cowan told The Jersey Journal he hand-delivered to Public Safety Director James Shea — urges the city to take control of the administration of security details at public-housing complexes and cautions that city officials don’t know whether officers work them or not.
“There is no mechanism of oversight to ensure the officers are fulfilling their duties at each housing site,” the letter reads. “Such a practice holds the potential for abuse and diminishes, if not nullifies, the ability of the police department to engage in monitoring of these details.”
At the time the letter was written, the city was revising its rules regarding the off-duty jobs program, which allows officers to perform security for private companies, with the city acting as an intermediary. The JCHA is largely exempt from these rules and can hire officers directly.
Zacche is the 10th person to admit wrongdoing in the federal probe of the police department’s off-duty jobs program. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 9.
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