Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada and Deputy Chief Dan Cahill are under investigation for allegedly falsifying time cards after a fellow police officer raised the allegations in a memo obtained by ABC7 News.
The memo, written by a police captain to the city manager, city attorney and human resources director, alleges that Quezada and Cahill reported fewer vacation days than they actually took, meaning Quezada could have been paid more than $24,000 and Cahill could have been paid $38,000 for time they did not work.
According to the ABC7 report:
The memo alleges Quezada took 27 days off scheduled work, 16 marked vacation from September 2015 to September 2016. The captain cites a payroll report which shows the chief only marked two vacation days and eight sick days.
In Cahill’s case, the memo alleges he took 46 days off work, including five sick days in a row. The report shows he used four vacation days and zero sick days.
The city has hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation and both officials have been allowed to continue working.
Representatives of the Anaheim Police Officers’ Association questioned why Quezada and Cahill have not been put on leave, ABC7 reported.
Quezada, the city’s first Latino police chief, was hired in 2014 in response to community backlash against the Anaheim Police Department that began in the summer of 2012 after a string of officer-involved shootings led to protests and eventually riots.
At the time of his hiring, Quezada emphasized his dedication to restoring community trust in the department.
Contact Thy Vo at tvo@voiceofoc.org or follow her on Twitter @thyanhvo.