By Jim Hummel
A two-month investigation by The Rhode Island State Police will result in no criminal charges filed against veteran Pawtucket Police Major Bruce Moreau, Col. Steven O’Donnell confirmed Thursday evening.
Moreau was the subject of a four-month Hummel Report investigation that found the major on area golf courses or at his home in Lincoln on days where city records show he was paid to be at work. It also showed him earning tens of thousands of dollars in overtime, some paid on the days he did not report for work. Moreau at the time denied golfing on city time.
State Police Colonel Steven O’Donnell tells The Hummel Report a two-month review by his department showed there was “not enough evidence to support criminal charges.’’ O’Donnell said detectives interviewed top officers in the department and the city administration and that everyone was cooperative.
The colonel added it is up to the city now to determine whether Moreau will face departmental charges. Public Safety Director Antonio Pires said late Thursday the city expects to receive a full report from the state police on Friday and will decide on what action to take after reviewing it. If it decides to move forward the city would have to take a case to the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights Hearing, since Moreau is a member of the union, even though he is the third-ranking member of the department.
City officials asked the state police on December 4th to investigate after a Hummel Report investigation showed Moreau at golf courses on days where he didn’t claim sick or vacation time – and earning nearly $20,000 in undocumented overtime.
“Clearly it appears that there’s a violation,’’ Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien told The Hummel Report during an interview in November after reviewing evidence gathered during an undercover investigation that began in early July. “This here, as far as I’m concerned, if verified, this is clearly stealing, depending on the dollar amounts will determine if it’s a felony or a misdemeanor, will determine how we go aggressive; but let me assure you if we prove all of this, you know verify all of this and there’s documentation to support it, we’re going to take it to the end.’’
Sources within the police department tell The Hummel Report that Moreau claimed he had permission to be off on the days he was marked – and paid for – working. Moreau made a base salary of $82,283 in 2014, but a subsequent public records request by The Hummel Report shows that his total compensation was $118,451, that includes nearly $10,000 in longevity pay (he will have 30 years on the job this summer) and $20,238 in overtime.
Moreau was the second-highest paid member in the department last year, behind Major. Arthur Martins, who took in $120,629. Police Chief Paul King was paid $107,963. The city also disclosed that Moreau has accrued 2,669 hours of unused sick time (333 days) and 468 hours of vacation time (58 days). Pires said he will be eligible for a cash payment for a portion of each when he retires, but could not immediately say what the percentage would be.
What is unclear is what Moreau did to earn the $20,238 overtime last year and who gave him permission to be off on the days he was marked as working. The major told The Hummel Report in November that he reports directly to Chief King.
Some of the overtime was paid from federal money used to conduct underage checks at city liquor stores, but the major regular received weekly payments of four, five or sometimes six hours of overtime that Pires, the public safety commissioner, told us last month he was still investigating. It appears there was no record-keeping to specify what those hours were for. The department refers to it as “workload overtime.’’
Moreau, who took several personal days off after The Hummel Report aired in December, was not suspended by the city. He has remained on the job pending the state police investigation.
Watch Jim Hummel’s original report here:
