DeKalb school resource officer may have gotten paid for overtime he didn’t work, district says

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The Dekalb County School District is investigating claims a school resource officer collected pay for extra hours he never worked.

Officer Victor James was placed on paid administrative leave, district officials confirmed to Channel 2′s Michael Seiden.

Seiden requested James’ overtime records from the school district.

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“The district has a pending investigation related to Officer James’ overtime pay,” according to an official statement from the school district. “Consequently, the requested overtime records are not currently available.”

“Complaints against public employees are exempt from public disclosure until ten days after the investigation is completed,” the official added.

The district hasn’t disclosed the amount of extra pay under investigation, but members of local government watch groups told Channel 2 Action News that if the allegations are true, then they want to know the amount and who signed off on the extra pay.

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“We need the governor to step in or the secretary of education to step in and to order an external forensic audit on the school system because this is not going to stop,” said Joel Edwards, an outspoken leader of Restore Dekalb. “When you’re talking about millions of dollars being misdirected, misappropriated, you know that’s a disgrace to the school system.”

Channel 2 Action News began investigating began after receiving several tips from whistleblowers. We filed an open records request on Dec. 1 requesting James’ total compensation for each year he’s been employed by the district.

A spokesperson for the DeKalb District Attorney’s office said because the investigation is open, they cannot comment on the case.

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