Time-sheet probe into former Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison concludes with 'no further action' required, DA says

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said his office has determined that “no further action was required” after concluding its investigation into allegations that former Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison falsified time sheets.

Tierney initiated the investigation after Suffolk Legis. Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), a vocal critic of the Suffolk County Police Department, accused Harrison in a Dec. 7 news release of changing leave days to sick days on previously filed time sheets to get a larger payout. Trotta, in the news release, urged Tierney to open an investigation.

“We frequently receive inquiries regarding time sheets at the end of the year pertaining to various county departments,” Tierney said in a statement after his office was contacted Wednesday about the investigation. “The district attorney’s office takes these inquiries seriously and endeavors to work with all county departments to ensure that all wage hours are properly documented and accounted for. This year was no different than past years.

“After receiving these inquiries, we consulted with department heads from all applicable agencies, including the SCPD, and concluded that no further action was required,” Tierney added. “Any investigation into these matters were not specific to any one individual or any one county department.”

Harrison’s two-year tenure as Suffolk police commissioner, which included the arrest of a suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders 13 years after the bodies of four women were discovered off Ocean Parkway, ended on Dec. 15. Harrison also implemented the department’s 1,000-page reform plan, which included the rollout of a departmentwide body camera program.

“It was a pleasure working with the brave men and women of the Suffolk County Police Department,” Harrison said Wednesday, declining to comment further.

In December, Harrison said he changed some vacation days to sick days for additional time off, which he said is a common practice in the Suffolk County Police Department. He changed them back after consulting with the county attorney, he said.

Trotta, who was removed from the legislature’s public safety committee in March after he threatened to play a recording of a private conversation with Harrison, said he believed Tierney did not want to leave another stain on Suffolk law enforcement after past scandals, including the conviction of former District Attorney Thomas Spota for leading a cover-up of the beating of a suspect by former Chief of Department James Burke.

“The DA used his discretion and decided not to arrest the outgoing police commissioner,” Trotta said. “That doesn't change the facts.”

Suffolk Police Benevolent Association president Lou Civello called the allegations “another example of Legis. Trotta slandering people for political gain.”