A veteran D.C. police officer has been charged with embezzling more than $178,000 by racking up a least 3,400 hours in overtime that she never worked, according to court documents filed in federal court.
From August 2004 to June 2008, Officer Karin Coppens submitted at least 94 fraudulent time sheets asserting that she was participating in the photo radar overtime program, a federal initiative that allows officers to earn extra money by manning speed guns in police cruisers parked along the streets of D.C.
But Coppens never was trained for the program, never appeared on the roster of officers authorized to participate in the job and never did any of the work, according to charging documents.
Still, twice a month for four years, Coppens filed log sheets saying she put in an average of 18 extra hours a week, then forged her supervisor’s signature, according to charging documents.
Coppens, a 23-year Metropolitan Police Department officer who works at the training academy, was charged in a criminal information. That is an indication that a plea has been worked out, because a person can be charged by information only if he or she waives the right to have a grand jury hear the evidence, according to federal law enforcement sources.
Her attorney, Harold Martin II, asked that the public withhold judgment until more information comes out. He would not elaborate.
D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes did not respond to questions about how Coppens was able to go undetected for so long.
The photo radar program has been a money-maker for some senior officers.
In 2006, at least four patrol officers earned more than $100,000 in overtime. One master patrol officer earned an extra $149,000 for 2,192 hours of overtime — the equivalent of working six extra hours a day, 365 days of the year.
Most overtime is on a first-come, first-serve volunteer basis, and senior patrol officers gets first shot. Most volunteer jobs are for traffic control or photo radar. The programs are mostly paid for by federal grants.
