The Silver Spring Penguin

The PD’s third district is sweating the absence of seven suspended officers, a police rep said.

Sgt Tom Harmon told Silver Spring’s pedestrian safety committeeWednesday night that suspensions were having an effect on the department, which might consider pulling cops from other stations temporarily to pick up the slack.

The suspensions went down two weeks ago as part of an internal criminal investigation, the Washington Post reported. Seven officers from the Silver Spring station, as well as one from Rockville and one from Bethesda, were yanked from duty on suspicions that they billed a private security company for moonlighting work while still on the clock with the county.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s do a thorough investigation,” said Vera White, the area’s chief prosecutor, at last week’s meeting of the urban district advisory committee.

“We don’t want to blacklist good officers, but there are some bad ones out there,” White added.

Comdr Betsy Davis, Silver Spring’s top cop, admitted that the incidents make the third district look bad. “There’s no excuse for what they did,” she told the advisory committee.

The alleged double dipping may stem from troubles with managing personal finances, Bob Middleton, an advisory committee member, said. “You’d be surprised at how people handle their finances,” he said.

Rookie cops, who pull about $43,000 a year, may be tempted to borrow money despite high interest rates, Middleton told his colleagues. Paying with plastic, or hitting the check-cashing place before pay day, digs new cops into a deep hole, he suggested.

“I think there are things that can be done to help officers make good financial decisions,” Middleton said.

The investigation into double dipping continues and may take up to one year, Davis said. More suspensions may be pending, she added.

About 50 cops work the third district, which stretches from Silver Spring’s border with the District, to Burtonsville along the Howard County line.

Ronald Pace contributed to this article.