Denver fire chief bagged hundreds of hours of comp time at memorials, parties, sports games and more 

He'll retire with full pension and benefits and never face any charges for this!

$230,000 a yr of tax payer $'s ain't enough for you?

Every public department needs to have annual audits, to help find fraud…..

The guy testified in shadow because he knows they protect each other like a gang

Lack of accountability encourages corruption.

Retired fire chief here, since I was salary I attended events like this on my time. This is crazy. This chief should be ashamed and gives the fire service a black eye

He’s salaried. He gets paid to do everything he is doing without submitting comp time. No one in payroll thought to look into this?

Imagine how nice this country would be if all our tax dollars actually got spent honestly and efficiently.

El Jefe pets a Dalmatian and wants 3 hours of compensation.

And regular firefighters are probably hassled by department if they get so much as .5hrs O/T. 😳🤔🧐

Greed

who is approving the timecards?

This one is easy: Theft. This "chief" and his command staff need to be sent home. Then, he needs to be billed for every hour he misappropriated from the City. Then, he can be charged with the felony theft. People like this have no business rolling around in Denver equipment, much less issuing orders.

Ultimate team player as long as he is being compensated.

That is absolutely wild!!! He charges fraudulent comp time and then has the nerve to sell that time back!!!!

Thank you Brian. It’s about time.

Nobody is trying to fix the root problems we have in this country. Everyone is stuck focusing on making enough money so that the problems don't apply to them anymore.

He ain't the only one 😢😢😢😢

Busted...Seems like he's abused the process but this seems to be a situation of "don't hate the player, hate the game". The comp time practice is the issue!

If 230k isn't enough for him, my dollar says he has a gambling problem.

He should be made to pay every penny back that he stole!

I've was a Volunteer Firefighter for 25 years. Retired as a Fire Chief still volunteer. This guy is a complete disgrace to not only the department, but to the entire Brother and Sister hood of all Fire agencies. But the big one is to the community and state of the people. The trust of the community and state must be earned and this idiot must be held accountable. I truly hope that Denver Colorado can do much better. I'm very sure they have very good people on the Departments that can replace an abuser of the people. Stay safe everyone and don't forget making sure your smoke detectors work and have fresh batteries. 😊👨‍🚒👩‍🚒🚒🔥

As a professional firefighter, this is beyond disgraceful. This Chief should be removed from his position immediately and demoted (to reduce his retirement pay).

Some departments agree to pay comp time for their employees to make public appearances… sorry, but instead of going after him, how about asking the city why they approved it 🤷‍♀️

Pay me 230 K and they're won't be any comp time. 24/7 .

Can the State sue him to regain those funds?

The fish always rots from the head . Never let public servants become comfortable in their position, especially law enforcement they are your employees, not your friends .

As a former City Administrator, from years experience, may I say this is a disgusting pig of a practice by dept's. that are "overseen" by management who later are claiming NO knowledge of it? Those managers are getting paid to "oversee". Not doing so makes them guilting of the same pig of a practice.

JAIL. This is fraud.

Charging a fee to attend a memorial service for a fallen hero? Does it get any lower or more shameless than that?

Getting paid to have a free dinner... omg what a clown.😂

Chief knows how to game the system for sure. At least until he got caught. Really needs to be fired.

So many Chiefs think they are above the rules. Denver’s rules clearly say: Chief, Deputy Chiefs, and Division Chiefs may not accrue comp time - end of story. He violated city rules. Discipline him for the violation and change the system to better monitor-audit what is going on with regards to manager’s time sheets.

Wow, good reporting work

As a Fire Chief, I am confident in stating that this is not typical behavior for an executive fire officer. The expectation is to be present at the firehouse alongside your team, motivated by dedication rather than mere obligation. Additionally, participating in events outside of regular hours is a standard part of the role, justified by the $230,000 annual salary.

The guy whose identity is hidden nailed it when he said " I wouldn't ".

He needs to be fired and with no pension. He need to pay back all the funds he stole. What a disgrace.

Reminds me of the MTA worker in New York who made $344K in overtime in one year aside from his 461K salary.

Oh what taxpayer's pay for

The fact that no one reviewed these horrific overtime / comp time reports is, in itself, a total embarrassment to Denver. Armando Saldate, the Fire Chief's immediate supervisor, must be viewed as responsible, as he admits to not knowing anything about it! Who the hell is guarding the henhouse? Only foxes?!? Pathetic!

The Chief values his time and never does anything for free. This Chief should be the Gold Standard. Great leader. Promote to Mayor.

Real journalism. Thank you, Brian Maas.

Going to events is VOLUNTARY time! You don’t get paid for that !!! LOCK HIM UP

This is crazy.. he needs to go to jail for life.

over 200k for firefighting? Thats insane.

Geez what a horrid example of leadership

Oh no, NO one in the city saw these records. Thank you for bring this to light. But they did see them and were okay with him doing it.

Once I got my outrage out of the way, I realized that he has to be a salaried employee. A position like that has to be a salaried position. And billing for hours on top of a salary is just the definition of selfishness.

As the Chief he should be required to attend most these events and his time should be compensated, that is time he could spend with his family. Especially when he is in uniform as a representative.

Usual suspects get the all jobs and do the least amount of work.

Should be charged with theft

Shame. What's worse is that this is just one person we hear about abusing their position of power. 3 years someone did payroll for all that, and they are just getting found out for it now? 😂 what a slap in the face to all those that show up because it's simply the right thing to do. Damn Shame.

What a role model

Well he doesn't make enough money in an annual salary. He's a RIP off, con artist.

He should be fired for abusing the comp time system. It was purely a money grab !

The moral of the story? When the chief was on comp time the department ran smoothly in other words his position is obsolete.

It happens, though it shouldn't. If employees can fill out their own time sheets and use time codes. I worked with a few individuals at the phone company who racked up OT and security cameras showed the going into a break room to nap, or take a walk around the neighborhood. Thousands of dollars charged to the company. When caught they were fired. The Union represented them at a hearing, but they were gone.

How has he not been relieved of duty pending an investigation? He clearly has questionable decision making.

The overtime game is part of firefighter culture, it's happening across the US

This is why audits need to happen and happen often. This is sad and shameful. $230,000 /yr on taxpayers $$ and that's STILL NOT ENOUGH?! Way to give the fire service a black eye. If he wants community service, let's give it to him.... 10,000+ hours. Give back what you took from the municipality!!

Change the law

if he was going to these events as part of his job then why isn’t it comp time? the video doesn’t give enough detail about his job requirements / comp time rules

they learned this from cops who have done this for years

My dad was a city union president for 11 years. He cleaned up the previous mess and left the union in great monetary shape. He went to events on his own time if it was outside of work hours. If he was called for emergency in middle of the night, he went.

Shameful!

What the heck was Payroll Department and Internal Audit doing all these years? Were the payroll rules written that loosely? Are there other people and / or city departments also billing Comp Time? PS - City has incredibly weak internal controls if this story is correct.

Fire Fighters = Professional Truck Washer.

I get it - at that sort of position there are expectations outside of what are expected from the normal rank and file. But that's literally why you make the big bucks compared to the normal rank and file.

He charged the tax payers for years. It’s time the tax payers puts him in prison

So sad. As a daughter of a first responder this just makes me sick!

Shows he’s never really given a crap about the rank and file

Someone also wasn’t doing their job by authorizing the comp time. If no one was looking over his timesheet and accepting his requests without scrutinizing it first needs to be investigated too! Salaried employees do not get overtime. Everyone knows that!

Yikes. I thought it might be a few unsightly moments, there is a LAUNDRY LIST of events here. The chief needs to step down. He's taken advantage of the people of Denver for years. Very unfortunate.

He wouldve fired Any of the fire fighters he supervised- for stealing time, had it been them. Very Shameful.

Corado is turning into the new Florida.

CORRUPTION IS EVERYWHERE... NOW FIRE HIM AND MAKE PAY BACK WHAT HE STOLE.

What a PoS. I have no doubt this is more widespread than just this guy, and fully believe police are also doing the same.

Put in some time and get up to the gravy levels of management and it's clear sailing until the sweet pension kicks in. It's a good deal for them.

“Time is money”… his motto! 😵‍💫

Isn’t the Chief already compensated enough? Most administrators have limited comp time as a part of their contract.

They say that someone's real character is revealed by how they act when they think nobody is watching. I worked with someone a few years ago who got fired for clocking in for work and staying clocked in during periods of time she wasn't at work. Who knows how much money she got that she didn't earn. Some folks simply have no shame.

And.... we act like politicians would neeevvver doooo thisssss.

6.5 hours for the All-Star game and another 7 hours for the home run derby? The game is about 3 hours and the derby sure as hell doesn't take 7 hours to complete. This guy is a disgrace. Any other firefighter that goes to the same events probably do them without receiving any additional pay but this guy made sure to fleece the city more and more...

Never trust a cop or government guys 😮

What the...? Dude is salaried and exempt but wants to act like he's hourly?

my dad was a denver fire fighter for 35 years this gross. fire him asap

No one actively auditing and policing government employees… graft and corruption/fraud pervasive throughout the ranks… those that are in leadership roles, wherein there is legitimate reasons for non-standard hours worked, such as this guy, should be moved from hourly, to salary pay basis

Unearned Comp Time = Jail Time

This isn’t unusual around the country. the public just doesn’t know about it. Chief doesn’t make overtime but comp time is agree upon in his contract.

When I stop by to visit my boss, then bill them for it. 😂 that’s gold! Gross

When ur paid so well but want even more. Its disgusting.

I like how the Chief’s boss claimed to know not be aware of this. Does he really think that’s believable given he would have to SIGN OFF ON IT? 🤦🏻‍♂️

I would like to know who approved the comp time as well.

Definitely showed productivity during the day Wow Chief

What a guy!

this is just unchecked corruption. Getting paid overtime for work at fire duty and emergency services is understandable since those services are critical to community, but claiming pay for stage model or Santa Claus, absolutely not. Those are things and duties that are actually outside of basic professional duties and should be viewed as courtesy and community service. Creative time-cheating ought to be fined.

The question would be if the time after a 40 hour week? If it's overtime he is entitled to be compensated by comp or money. It's a culture that needs to have better oversight. His position may should not have comp time or if they get it they should have a use or lose policy

He needs to pay back all that comp time and be fired …

I am sooooo sick of hearing about corruption occurring within ALL government or publicly funded jobs, they are supposed to work for the citizens not steal from them! There NEEDS to be a complete overhaul of these positions.

I'm not understanding a few things. He's salaried, right? Is he required to perform these duties, like is it part of the position? Are these hours outside of his contract?