Suspended sergeants made six figures

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Five Providence Police sergeants suspended with pay in a time-book investigation all made six figures, including taxpayer-funded bonus checks for not calling out sick.

Eyewitness News is not identifying the sergeants because they haven't been charged with a crime or disciplined by the department. But sources have provided the Target 12 Investigators with their names which have opened up public records to their pay stubs.

In March, Providence Police Colonel Dean Esserman took five sergeants off the street for what he called "record keeping discrepancies."

Target 12 has learned the investigation centers around departmental "time books" and "daily travelers."

Sources with knowledge of the investigation say a tipster from inside the department came forward with concerns about a group of sergeants calling in sick, but not getting docked the day.

The police whistleblower claims the sergeants would cover for each other by erasing another's name from the sick list. The whistleblower claims the sergeants weren't charged with a sick day and taxpayers were left on the hook paying for an overtime shift.

Digging into public records, Target 12 has learned this meant a small payday for all five of the sergeants under scrutiny.

In 2008, they each received "sick day bonuses" of $500 for having perfect attendance. In 2009, one of the accused had perfect attendance and was cut a $500 taxpayer-funded check. That's a total of $3,000 in sick day bonus money.

Target 12 also requested the payroll and overtime records for those sergeants we're told are under investigation.

The paperwork reveals in 2008, their pay ranged from $110,000 to $134,000. In 2009, their pay ranged from $100,000 to $121,000.

For both years, in addition to their base salaries, all five sergeants added up more than $540,000 in extra pay; including overtime and detail work.

The money each sergeant made could be significant in a criminal investigation. A spokesperson for Attorney General Patrick Lynch released a statement that reads in part:

"We are reviewing this case to determine if probably cause exists to charge anyone with a crime."