NOPD suspends demoted Richardson for 120 days after Fox 8 investigation into timesheet irregularities
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/6WDJZMMZ6NADNBURAD4TIFMA7E.jpg)
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - The New Orleans Police Department on Thursday (Oct. 27) finally confirmed that high-ranking officer Sabrina Richardson has been suspended without pay, in addition to being demoted following a Lee Zurik Fox 8 investigation into timesheet irregularities.
Richardson began serving a 120-day, unpaid suspension this past Sunday (Oct. 23), an NOPD spokesman said Thursday night.
Richardson earlier this month was demoted from captain to lieutenant, and relieved of her command of the NOPD’s Third District (policing Lakewood and Gentilly).
The disciplinary action against her followed a series of Fox 8 investigative reports that uncovered 26 instances where Richardson’s timesheet and paid detail paperwork showed Richardson double-dipping, or claiming payment for working both for the NOPD and on off-duty detail work during overlapping hours.
Related coverage
ZURIK: Timesheets show questionable practices among NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau
NOPD Captain Sabrina Richardson, subject of a series of FOX 8 investigations, demoted
ZURIK: Questions over punishment for former NOPD Captain accused of double-dipping
The Fox 8 investigation looked at four years of payroll and off-duty detail records.
NOPD watchdog Skip Gallagher told Fox 8 he had questions about Richardson’s timesheets.
“This double-dipping issue, I just don’t get. You have a detail and you’re working duty at the same time. This doesn’t make sense,” Gallagher said. “And I think with officers who work a normal 40 hours a week, this just doesn’t happen.”
Fox 8 also requested license-plate-reading camera information on Richardson. There are more than 100 cameras across the city. Fox 8 was only given six months’ worth.
However, in that time, Fox 8 found eight instances where Richardson claimed to be working an off-duty detail, but the cameras caught her police unit miles away from those assignments.
See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.
Copyright 2022 WVUE. All rights reserved.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/WZLJ4HTBS5CEDDYKGJGU54MROI.PNG)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/MSLIYIH6VJBOFGCSZHBHJZGS2I.jpg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/DJWHGP3RABHOZOX4L2SGZ4IEKE.jpg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/TE3RNW7JYZHMVCWNKLZ7GINMLI.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/FJQZKBRPKREQXENDUHZPLVEXIY.jpg)
/do0bihdskp9dy.cloudfront.net/09-06-2023/t_d727a91b00af41679a490558d42de404_name_file_1280x720_2000_v3_1_.jpg)
/do0bihdskp9dy.cloudfront.net/09-06-2023/t_e352390d813d4f3488473d18106236e5_name_file_1280x720_2000_v3_1_.jpg)
/do0bihdskp9dy.cloudfront.net/09-07-2023/t_ef4d0b49d758438d8e1e19e5cee16587_name_t_8e77a0bd1ff042a79cf7bda7c6cf727f_name_file_1280x720_2000_v3_1_.jpg)