Police sergeant faces disciplinary charges
A Boston police sergeant is facing 119 disciplinary charges after an internal investigation determined the South End patrol supervisor repeatedly abused the paid detail system, police officials said yesterday.
Sergeant Jacqueline Creaven lied about the hours she worked and made side deals with outside vendors who hired her to monitor their premises and construction sites, the officials said. The charges are the most against a single officer since at least the 1990s.
The Internal Affairs investigation found Creaven, a 16-year veteran of the force, guilty of 37 counts of untruthfulness, 35 counts of receiving details outside the system, and 36 counts of inaccurate reporting on a detail time card. Investigators also concluded she accepted details scheduled during her regular patrol shifts on eight occasions, failed to conform with laws twice, and engaged in conduct unbecoming a police officer once.
The department has placed Creaven on desk duty until Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis decides on the appropriate punishment, officials said.
"I am disappointed that an officer in a supervisory rank would participate in these infractions," Davis said in a prepared statement.
Police officials said they expect disciplinary charges against a handful of other officers to be forthcoming in the next few weeks as a result of a two-year audit of the paid detail system. The audit prompted the investigation of Creaven.
"This is a case that was started by our Audit and Review Unit, which underscores the importance of proactively and diligently reviewing all of our systems," Davis said.
Police officials said yesterday that they do not plan to turn over Creaven's case to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley for possible criminal prosecution.
Creaven's lawyer, Leah Barrault, declined comment on the charges, but alleged the department has discriminated against Creaven because she is a woman and retaliated against her because she filed a complaint about discrimination with the state.
"She's been speaking out about disparate treatment in the department, and the department's unhappy about it," Barrault said.
Barrault said Creaven filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in January 2006 and has since faced unwarranted discipline, unfairly been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, and been passed over for promotions twice.
Late last year, the department suspended Creaven for 90 days after a man arrested during her shift was found unconscious and died the next day, Barrault said. Creaven was responsible for ensuring the well-being of prisoners in custody during her shift. Barrault said male officers typically receive much shorter suspensions for more serious offenses.
She said Internal Affairs investigators did not interview Creaven before finding her guilty of the latest disciplinary charges involving paid details. Police officials declined to comment on Creaven's accusations.
As a sergeant, Creaven collects more than $40 an hour to work details, paid shifts for construction companies, nightclubs, and other vendors.
In 2006, Creaven's total pay was $146,975, including overtime and paid details, payroll records show. Her base salary was $67,299. Her pay ranked in the top 10 percent of Police Department employees.
The department has been auditing details, looking for double-dipping and other infractions, since at least 2005, officials said. Police had vowed to overhaul the system in September 2004, when a Globe investigation found hundreds of officers had collected pay for detail shifts that overlapped with each other or with their regular duty shifts.
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com. 
