After a nearly four and a half hour hearing Thursday afternoon, the Columbus Civil Service Commission unanimously upheld the firing of former Columbus Police Department Cpl. Aaron Andrew for stealing time.
CPD’s tracking technology determined Andrew, a shift supervisor, was clocked in for roughly 51 hours over seven instances in 2022 when he was outside the city limits and sometimes even out of state.
Mayor Keith Gaskin broke a tie to fire Andrew during a Jan. 17 executive session after the officer was accused of improperly checking in and out at work. Chief Joseph Daughtry had recommended Andrew be suspended for 60 days without pay.
Thursday afternoon Andrew, represented by Jackson-based attorney Bob Waller, asked the commission to reinstate him and either allow him to serve out the suspension or to resign instead of being fired.
Neither side disputed that Andrew had improperly checked in and out of work using the Time Clock Plus app. GPS and biometric data presented by the city showed Andrew clocked in from places such as Decatur, Alabama, Nettleton, Tupelo and Olive Branch, and sometimes clocked out from a private residence or from locations outside the city.
The app was originally implemented at CPD during the COVID-19 pandemic for the Criminal Investigation Division, but continued to be used so investigators could clock in without coming to headquarters when they were called to a crime scene.
Andrew had access to the app because he had worked in CID before being transferred to patrol, and it was never removed from his phone.
Public Information Officer Joe Dillon, who also works as a forensic analyst with Digital Safety Services/Hidden Forensics LLC, testified there is no evidence Andrew was at work for nearly 51 hours spread across those seven days.
Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell told the commission Andrew’s hourly pay rate, including fringe benefits, comes to about $26.30 per hour, meaning he was paid about $1,300 while not working.
‘Not the Lone Ranger’
Waller argued that Andrew should not have been fired because there were likely other officers who also abused the app.
“The problem with (firing) is that there might be others who did the same thing,” Waller said. “If he’s fired and they’re not, that’s a problem. The council didn’t know there were other people who were likely doing the same thing he was doing. He’s not the Lone Ranger here.”
Waller said Andrew should be reinstated at least until the department investigates whether other officers did the same thing. Andrew also offered to repay his wages for the time in question.
During her testimony, Mitchell told the commissioners that HR was looking into potential abuse of the app by other officers. She said “minor discrepancies” had been found, and the results of that investigation had not yet been turned over to CPD.
“(Assistant Chief Doran Johnson) said he hadn’t checked anybody else’s records,” Waller said. “I’m just afraid we’re making (Andrew) the fall guy for this. He’s taking the punishment for a system that was in place that allowed it to happen.”
Andrew asked the commission for leniency.
“I made a mistake,” he said. “… But I was dedicated to the department, to the training, trying to keep everyone on the straight and narrow as far as their jobs.”
Andrew said he had been an officer in good standing prior to stealing time.
“If anybody asks anything about me as far as leadership and how I contribute, they would have nothing but positive things to say,” Andrew said. “Even in the reprimand from (Johnson) he said I was a good supervisor.”
‘Gaming the system’
City Attorney Jeff Turnage didn’t have a lot of patience for Andrew’s dedication to duty.
“You have to admit that being absent while you’re on the clock undermines the appearance of your dedication,” Turnage said.
Turnage compared Andrew to former officer Reginald Adams, who was terminated in 2019 after driving a city car while on the clock to Moorhead to apply for another job. Andrew was worse, he argued.
“He was gone for three or four hours once,” Turnage said. “As opposed to seven times and 50 hours.”
After 10 minutes of deliberation, Commission Chairman Thomas Moore announced the unanimous decision to uphold the termination.
“To me a corporal is the heart of leadership in an organization,” Moore said. “Young men and women looked up to you and followed your example, and I have an idea that a lot of them knew you were not on duty and you were somewhere else. They know you were gaming the system, and did it more than one time.”
Waller, when contacted by The Dispatch, declined to comment on the ruling.
Daughtry told The Dispatch afterward officers at CPD would be held accountable.
“Breaking the public’s trust can’t be tolerated,” Daughtry said. “… Once HR turns their investigation over to us, we will begin our own investigation (into other allegations of misuse).”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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