Probe prompts officer to retire

A Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant chose to retire before an internal investigation was completed into whether he falsely claimed overtime in 2006 and 2007.

The investigation found that Lt. Sean Donnelly did abuse overtime to the tune of about $1,800, according to police officials.

The investigation recommended firing Donnelly, said Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie.

But the 24-year veteran who was with the narcotics unit retired on July 5. The investigation wasn't finished until Aug. 15. It revealed that Donnelly had violated the overtime policy, the police department's truthfulness policy and had engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer.

The recommendation for termination was put into Donnelly's personnel file and could play a role in any future jobs he seeks.

The Police Department is getting back the match of the illegal overtime it paid into the Public Employees Retirement System, about $600. Donnelly also is being asked to return the $1,800, said Assistant Sheriff Ray Flynn.

Should Donnelly not give the money back, the department would file suit in civil court, Flynn said.

Gillespie said he is still waiting for a recommendation from the investigators regarding Bob Chinn, who was Donnelly's supervisor in the vice and narcotics bureau at the time of the abuses.

When Gillespie took office in January, Chinn was appointed as deputy chief over the homeland security division. Since the revelations about the overtime abuses, Chinn has been demoted to captain. He now oversees the department's airport bureau.

Gillespie said he does not believe Chinn was aware of what Donnelly was doing but felt there was a need for accountability.

"There is a lot of trust a captain places in a lieutenant," Gillespie said. "And Lieutenant Donnelly took advantage of that trust."

Donnelly was accused of taking advantage of "callback" overtime. Callback overtime is when an officer is called back to duty with less than 12 hours notice. It differs from regular overtime, which is paid when an officer never leaves his post.

Callback overtime counts toward an officer's retirement. Regular overtime does not. The Police Department pays a match of about one-third of earned callback overtime into the retirement system.

According to the department's payroll section, Donnelly was paid in 2006 for $10,434 in callback overtime and $7,189 in regular overtime. In 2007, he was paid $1,167 in callback overtime and $4,382 in regular overtime.

Donnelly spent part of 2007 on paid administrative leave while the investigation was being conducted.

Some of the callback overtime Donnelly submitted was determined to be legitimate by the internal investigation. Flynn said it was the most egregious overtime abuse he has seen in the department in the five years he's been an assistant sheriff.

Gillespie added: "It's disappointing to me as in any case of wrongdoing. I believe he (Donnelly) knew better."