Police Commissioner Exits Under Cloud of Allegations

Outgoing Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison File Photo

Outgoing Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison is leaving under a cloud of allegations that he falsified his timesheets to obtain a higher payout for unused days off. The issue, raised by Legislator Robert Trotta, a former SCPD officer and frequent critic of the county police and PBA, is being investigated by District Attorney Raymond Tierney.

Trotta alleged in a news release issued last week that Harrison changed regular leave days to sick days on previously filled-out timesheets to get a larger payout. “We take allegations of this type seriously,” Tierney said in a statement. “We will confer with the chief of department.”

Harrison said in published reports that he changed some vacation days to sick days but after consulting with the county attorney, changed them back. "I put them back, and there is nothing wrong here," Harrison was quoted as saying in Newsday. “I have dedicated my career to law enforcement, not politics, and these wild and baseless allegations by a politician will not undermine or diminish the crucial work we have completed over the last two years.”

Trotta estimates the timesheet changes apply to anywhere between 10 and 30 days and are worth about $10,000. The police commissioner, a 30-year veteran of the New York Police Department, earns $220,000 annually. He announced his resignation prior to the November election, he said, to give the new county executive the ability to name his own commissioner. Brookhaven Supervisor Edward Romaine won the race and has named a transition team tasked with vetting candidates for the top police post.

“The district attorney is very professional,” Romaine said of Tierney. “He'll look into the allegations in a discreet way, and if there's a problem, he'll make recommendations on how to resolve those issues,” he said adding, “Accusations that are made do not make it real.”

Harrison drew the ire of the district attorney back in October when he appeared at a press conference without informing Tierney to discuss potential witnesses in the Gilgo murder case. He’s been on the job for about two years after taking over from Commissioner Geraldine Hart.

Trotta said the district attorney should pursue criminal charges if warranted and suggested that the commissioner should forfeit all his unused vacation time. “This wasn’t a mistake; this was a conscious effort,” Trotta said. “If the DA feels he should be charged, he should be charged.”