Over 30 years ago, I was running a science fiction convention, and it was suggested that we hired an off duty cop for security.
I did not see the reason for this. The prior year, with a similar number of attendees located in Boston (Downtown Crossing) there was no need.
At science fiction conventions, people dress funny, but generally they are non-violent and are not inclined to engage in actions leading to property damage.
In suburban Boston, specifically Waltham, a number of people suggested that we needed to hire an off duty cop to avoid problems FROM the cops. It was basically a shake-down. (I guess that the Waltham PD had more time on their hands than the Boston PD)
I demurred, rather sanctimoniously as I recall, and the hotel ended up hiring a cop as a security guard.
Derek Chauvin, before he murdered George Floyd, worked in a similar racket at a club, where he was paid to sit outside the club in his squad car. It's common and customary practice, but basically it is a protection racket.
Well, down in Prince George's County 14 Prince George's officers were just indicted for being paid as private security guards while on duty. (It also happened in Montgomery County a few years ago)
Clearly these guys knew that they were not supposed to do this while they were on duty, and equally clearly, it was clear that they could not actually perform their private security duties while on duty.
It did not matter, because it was racketeering under cover of badge:
Fourteen Prince George’s County police officers were indicted by a grand jury Thursday in what prosecutors allege was an elaborate double-dipping scheme to make money as private security officers while on the clock for their regular department shifts.
The officers, 13 who remain on the force and one who is retired, had their police powers suspended in April 2021, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and Police Chief Malik Aziz announced during a news conference.
………
The men are accused of exploiting a Prince George’s County Police Department program known as secondary employment, which allows officers to earn additional income working private security. Often, officers working secondary employment provide security at apartment complexes, concerts, liquor stores, nightclubs or sporting events. The program allows officers to use their county-issued uniform, badge, gun and cruiser.
Under department rules in place at the time of the alleged misconduct — from January 2019 to March 2021 — officers were allowed to find secondary work themselves or become an employee of a private security firm that brokered the jobs for them. All secondary work was supposed to be approved through the department and performed during off-duty hours.
But that didn’t occur in the case of the 14 officers indicted, prosecutors alleged. The officers were identified as: Cpl. Nick Agapov, Cpl. Jonathan Haskett, Cpl. Matthew Obordo, Cpl. Matthew Cotillo, Cpl. Joshua Hitchens, Cpl. Chris Hall, Cpl. Michael O’Connell, Cpl. Travis Popielarcheck, Cpl. Kyle Cook, Cpl. Anthony Brooke, Cpl. Brandon Farley, Officer Christopher Oliver, Officer John Mcintosh and retired Cpl. James Lubonski.
These officers, prosecutors say, worked private security shifts at the same time as their on-duty department work, then concealed the overlap from the police department. Officials said at the news conference that the officers all worked for a fellow Prince George’s County officer, who owned a private security company and recently pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges related to his business.
That officer was Edward “Scott” Finn, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing probe. Finn, a now-retired police lieutenant, employed his colleagues through his company, Edward Finn Inc., which provided security services to more than 20 apartment complexes in the county.
Prosecutors and officials allege that the officers who worked for Finn provided false information, including about arrests, to the apartment complexes to justify their private security services.
Falsifying arrest records in order to justify their being paid off?
This was clearly a protection racket, and they should be prosecuted as a criminal gang.
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