A Baltimore Police lieutenant was paid for three days when she did not work a full shift, according to court documents charging her with theft and misconduct.
Lt. Rosemary Ford, who was assigned to the department’s Southern District, received $1,064 in pay for three days — Feb. 25, Feb. 27 and March 2, 2020 — when she did not complete her full shift, and did not use paid leave, according to a criminal information document filed in district court Monday.
“The Public Integrity Bureau opened an internal investigation into this incident in April, 2020 and immediately referred this incident to the State’s Attorney’s Office,” police spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said in an email. “Lt. Ford’s police powers were suspended and she was reassigned in April, 2020.”
Ford was scheduled to work the midnight shift, from 10:39 p.m. to 7:12 a.m. on those dates, but detectives with the police department’s Public Integrity Bureau conducted surveillance and found that Ford was not at work the complete shift, the document said.
“Due to concerns regarding time and attendance, detectives from the Ethics Section of the Baltimore Police Department’s Public Integrity Bureau conducted covert surveillance initiative to monitor the attendance practices of BPD Southern District midnight shift personnel,” the document said.
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On Feb. 25, detectives said Ford never reported for her shift and her car was seen parked in the driveway of her home outside the city, the document said.
On Feb. 27, detectives saw Ford’s vehicle at the Southern District parking lot, but the document said she was then seen by detectives getting into her personal vehicle and leaving the parking lot at 1:07 a.m., six hours before her shift was scheduled to end. On March 2, Ford was again seen by detectives leaving the district parking lot at 11:21 p.m., less than an hour after her shift was scheduled to begin. Detectives saw her return to her home before midnight, the document said.
Ford never requested or was granted the time off, the courts document said.
The police department said previously that Ford had her police powers suspended amid the ongoing investigation.
Ford was hired in 2003 and earned an annual salary of $114,000 and an additional $35,000 in overtime, according to city salary records.
Ford did not have an attorney listed in online court records.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison has been working to create more oversight for pay, especially regarding overtime after costs skyrocketed and several officers, including members of the disgraced Gun Trace Task Force, were charged with falsifying for overtime.