Time clock tampering caught on tape

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) - A criminal investigation has been opened after the Target 12 Investigators were sent a videotape showing alleged time clock fraud by a city employee.

Like most school departments, Cranston is feeling the financial pinch of the current tough economic times. Now, this tape is coming to light and raising some serious questions about potential theft of taxpayer dollars.

The entire tape is four minutes and thirty-five seconds long. We received it in the mail on July 1, anonymously, with a one-line note alleging time clock fraud. When we first saw it, we knew right away that we needed to find out what was going on.

The video shows the janitorial office at Cranston's Western Hills Middle School from the view of a hidden camera looking down at a time clock used by school custodians to punch in and out of their shifts. The first minute and twelve seconds of the tape are uneventful. Then, a voice off camera says, "I'm gonna bang these out."

(Click here to watch the unedited surveillance video.)

A school department worker then steps into frame. He is identified by school officials as Neal Emmett, the custodial foreman of Western Hills Middle School. He takes a time card from the top of the clock. Emmett then removes the shell of the clock and manipulates the gears to advance the time from 8:35 to roughly 9:00. Walking off camera, he takes a time card from a rack and stamps it with the adjusted time.

Emmett then reaches back into the clock and cranks it ahead another two hours to about 11:00. And, what we thought was a single time card, turns into four as he punches several others. He then walks off camera and returns 15 seconds later to crank the clock ahead a full 14 hours and 20 minutes.

Emmett then stamps a scrap of paper. We figure he's testing to make sure the clock is reading "p.m." again. A quick look over his shoulder, and he advances the clock some more. Remember that the clock was originally set at 8:35. A few minutes have passed, and he resets the clock to 8:38. He gives another look and pops the clock's casing back on. He again stamps a scrap of paper. About a minute later he tests the clock one last time and then the tape ends.

The tape raises several questions: whose time cards are being stamped? Who was Emmett speaking to off camera? And who set up a hidden camera to spy on a co-worker?

Target 12 went looking for answers and down Neal Emmett outside the Cranston school administration building and showed him pictures taken from the surveillance video.

Tim White: "Mr. Emmett, Tim White from Channel 12. We'd like to talk to you about what's going on in these pictures."

Neal Emmett: "I got no comment."

Tim White: It looks like your changing the time clock there. Why are you doing that?"

Neal Emmett: "I don't know. I got no comment."

Tim White: "You don't know why you're changing the time clock?"

Neal Emmett: "I've got no comment."

According to public records, Emmett, who had clearly shaved his head since the hidden camera video, is the custodial foreman at Western Hills Middle School.

School officials tell us he is in charge of a seven-person crew.

Tim White: "Don't you think the taxpayers deserve to know what's going on there?"

Neal Emmett: "I've still got no comment."

Tim White: "We're trying to get your side of the story, sir."

Neal Emmett: "I know you are, I know."

We brought the tape to the superintendent of Cranston public schools, Peter Nero.

Tim White: "What is going on there?"

Superintendent Peter Nero: Well he is obviously tinkering with [the clock] and doing something he shouldn't be doing."

Tim White: "That's what it looks like to you?"

Superintendent Peter Nero: "Yeah it absolutely does. There is no reason for that."

Nero tells Target 12 the school department already opened its own investigation and suspended Neal Emmett with pay.

Tim White: "What does the video tell you?"

Superintendent Peter Nero: "I'm really upset at the nonchalant-ness [sic] regarding the individual involved here. The fact of the matter is, it looks like it was done previously."

Tim White: "Meaning it was second nature to the individual?"

Superintendent Peter Nero: "Yeah, that bothered me. That really bothered me."

Target 12 wanted to see the room for ourselves. So, the school department gave us access to the custodial office. The first thing that stood out to us, It was obvious where the hidden-camera was placed. Based on the angle of the video, a shelf in the back of the room was clearly the spot for the camera.

And as our own cameras were rolling, school officials discovered that the time clock was still unlocked, leaving the gears exposed to prying hands.

What remains unanswered is when the video was shot. School officials say Emmett has been the custodial foreman for only a year at Western Hills Middle School. They also tell us that during the school year, there is a four member crew that works 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., which officials say may explain the four time cards Emmett punches out at 11:00.

It also means that the video implicates more than just Emmett.

"You know there is two parts of this investigation. The first part is obviously is why he did this," Nero said. "The second part is did the folks leave the building? Was he doing it as a matter of convenience? And if they left the building and they were being paid for that time, we're obviously very upset about that."

Exactly who took the video and mailed it to the Target 12 Investigators is still a mystery. But school officials say they believe it's a co-worker of Emmett's, possibly a former disgruntled employee.

Target 12 has confirmed that the Cranston police department has opened an investigation into potential criminal charges in this case.