Police slow to probe allegations of firefighter sick-leave abuse

Three weeks after Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak sent a written complaint to the Metropolitan Police Department about possible criminal sick-leave abuse by some county firefighters, police have yet to investigate.

Sheriff Doug Gillespie said Wednesday his department can't investigate until the county provides more proof that the firefighters committed a crime.

"Fraud and embezzlement are complex cases," Gillespie said, adding that they can be difficult to prove. "The county is the victim in this particular case. They are the holder of the information."

Gillespie said that last month he gave county managers a list of records he would need to launch an investigation. So far, the county has supplied none of the documentation, he said.

But Sisolak said he was surprised the police hadn't at least gotten started.

The way to dig up evidence is to investigate, he said.

"If they had an issue, if they needed something, they should've called me," Sisolak said. "They never responded to that letter."

He likened it to a citizen reporting a meth lab in the neighborhood, and the police doing nothing until that person brings in photos and other proof.

"The taxpayers deserve better," Sisolak said.

He called for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate after an arbitrator took note of sick leave abuse when he chose the county's labor contract offer over terms proposed by firefighters.

A spokeswoman in the state attorney general's office said the staff is looking into Sisolak's complaint. Federal agencies won't confirm or deny whether they are considering an investigation.

More than 230 firefighters each missed at least a month's worth of 24-hour shifts because of sick calls in 2009, according to county records.

A dozen missed more than three months of work because of sick leave.

Officials estimate that firefighters' sick leave cost the county $7 million that year, partly because tight staffing requires those who fill in for coworkers to be paid overtime.

Most firefighters who return to work less than 12 hours after finishing a shift also qualify for callback pay, in which a portion of that day's earnings goes toward pensions.

Sick leave and overtime have helped push some firefighters' pay above $200,000 a year. County firefighters average $180,000 yearly in wages and benefits, compared with $80,000 for county workers in the Service Employees International Union, the county's largest union.

Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani, Susan Brager and Mary Beth Scow also say they want police to investigate.

Giunchigliani, a Las Vegas mayoral candidate, is calling for a more thorough audit, including for 2010.

She said pushing for a crackdown on wrongdoers does not go against her support for public employees.

"I've been fairly consistent in saying if someone is abusing the system, you should go after them," Giunchigliani said. "We have to give the information to the district attorney and Metro and find out what's going on."

Supervisors who colluded with firefighters to set up bogus sick days should be punished as well, she said. Those who received callback pay improperly should forfeit the ill-gotten part of their pensions.

Brager agreed that someone should investigate how pensions were boosted.

Firefighters used substantially more sick time than other county employees, Brager said, referring to a chart presented at a recent commission meeting.

The chart shows firefighters who work 24-hour shifts missed about 8 percent of their work year because of sick calls, compared to 4 percent for SEIU employees, 3.2 percent for nonunion workers and 3 percent for deputy sheriffs.

County Manager Don Burnette said police have asked for exhaustive and costly studies to prove malfeasance. For instance, Gillespie asked that the county hire an outside firm to audit sick leave for three to five years, an undertaking that could cost $200,000, Burnette said.

E-mails show that some firefighters worked with supervisors to schedule sick leave as though it were vacation, a clear breach of the rules, Burnette said.

He argued that the most egregious examples should be proof enough of potential criminal conduct.

"If that's not enough, then let's stop here because nothing else we have rises to that," Burnette said.

Giunchigliani criticized managers for keeping the evidence of sick leave abuse under wraps until they went into arbitration with the union.

Managers should have discussed e-mails and other materials with commissioners, she said. Negotiators would have had more leverage in demanding that the new contract contain penalties for abusing sick leave, she said.

Burnette, however, said they compiled the evidence a couple weeks before arbitration began in November. The goal was to show that widespread abuse was occurring and that a tougher sick leave policy was needed, he said.

County managers disclosed the most suspicious e-mails to police at least two weeks before arbitration finished in December, Burnette said.

"To say we sat on it is not what happened," he said. "It's not the case."

Under new guidelines, a manager can demand firefighters who miss five shifts in a year get a doctor's note proving an illness. Under the old contract, a firefighter had to miss four shifts in a row before a supervisor could ask for a note.

Scow said a criminal investigation should be done "for the sake of the taxpayers." Some firefighters and their supervisors seemed to have known of possible abuse, she said.

"You don't want to presume guilt, but there were indications," Scow said.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.