A judge signed arrest warrants for six current and former D.C. police employees Tuesday after authorities accused them of collecting nearly half a million dollars combined for overtime they did not work.
The employees — a former sergeant, two officers, one former senior police officer, a former lieutenant and a civilian employee — will be charged with fraud, theft and forgery, according to news releases from the D.C. attorney general’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office for D.C. They will also be charged with uttering, which means presenting a document one knows is fake or forged.
The arrests come as D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department is struggling to curb soaring overtime costs and grappling with a 50-year staffing low. For many officers, overtime has become an increasingly common and exhausting necessity in recent years, as higher-ups have frequently canceled officers’ days off to staff the department’s vast list of responsibilities — including 911 calls, protests and security for international conferences and traveling dignitaries.