An Aurora police officer is accused of fabricating a call to extend her shift and get overtime pay.
The officer, Kimberly R. Hanson, 43, of Plano, has been charged with theft by deception after an internal police investigation. She is facing discipline that could include termination from the department, police officials said Thursday.
Hanson “deceived the Aurora Police Department by fraudulently creating a service call late in her work shift for the purpose of obtaining funds not due to her in the value of $71.14,” according to charging documents.
About 10:23 p.m. Sept. 29, Hanson radioed she was assisting a motorist near Route 59 and Liberty Street on Aurora’s Far East Side and planned to stay with the motorist until a tow truck arrived, according to charging documents.
By the time Hanson made it back to police headquarters on the 1200 block of East Indian Trail Road and finished her day, her regular eight-hour shift had been extended by an hour, making her eligible for overtime pay at time-and-a-half, according to the charges.
Supervisors said they uncovered the call when they were reviewing footage from Hanson’s in-squad video system and discovered she said she was assisting the driver of a vehicle with a license plate that was actually on an unoccupied and parked vehicle near the Route 59 train station, according to police.
The squad car video shows Hanson driving around the transportation center’s parking lot and nearby area, parking in a retail center’s parking lot for several minutes, and returning to police headquarters, where she also parked for an “extended period of time,” according to the department.
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At the end of her shift, Hanson followed procedures for turning in the overtime hours and combined those with the additional time she had banked to take the next day off, according to police.
The criminal charge is a misdemeanor.
“Any time a police officer is charged with a crime, it tarnishes the badge of every police officer and that is unwarranted and unfair to the vast majority of officers who serve honorably every day,” Aurora police Chief Kristen Ziman said in a press news release. “This charge is the result of an investigation that was generated internally, was very time-consuming, impeccable, and illustrates the highest standards to which Aurora police officers are held. Any deviation from those standards will not be tolerated.”
Hanson has been on administrative leave with pay since Oct. 3 as the internal investigation continues, according to the Police Department.
A warrant for her arrest was issued Nov. 3, and she turned herself in at the DeKalb County sheriff’s department on Nov. 8. She posted $100 bond, and her next court date is pending.
Hanson was hired by the department June 10, 1996, and has mostly worked in patrol. For six months in 2002 she was assigned as a juvenile officer, and for 17 months in 2003 and 2004, she was an investigator with the Kane County Child Advocacy Center, according to Aurora police.
Hanson could not be reached Thursday morning for comment.
Twitter @hannahmleone