DETROIT – A member of the Detroit Fire Department was demoted after being accused of payroll fraud.
A Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) report shows that the fire department member’s law enforcement authority with the Detroit Police Department was “permanently rescinded” due to “egregious misconduct involving his lack of accountability” on June 4, 2025.
The allegations include “proven unaccounted paid working hours” that were discovered through an Internal Affairs investigation. The alleged fraud in this case happened between November 2022 to April 2023 and involved clocking in and out.
The Internal Affairs investigation included interviewing numerous witnesses, reviewing payroll documents, preparing search warrants, and obtaining phone records, according to a Detroit Police Department spokesperson. The results of the investigating revealed strong evidence that he had committed time fraud in excess of 150 hours.
Detroit fire commissioner Chuck Simms also confirmed to Local 4 that the fire department member had been demoted. He said the department is in the process of making changes to the clocking in and out protocol.
The fire department member facing these allegations has not been charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office due to “insufficient evidence.”
“The Detroit Fire Department will not tolerate payroll fraud in any instance. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office denied charges in this case due to insufficient evidence. The member in question maintains his innocence and we are giving him a chance to prove that before making a final determination regarding his employment.” - Executive Fire Commissioner Chuck Simms
---> Detroit Fire Department under scrutiny amid crash, misconduct, payroll fraud allegations
City unaware of flooded Detroit firehouse
A couple months ago Local 4 Investigators exposed information that the newly renovated engine house on Mount Elliott had flooding issues and there was a green growth on the walls. The city was unaware of these problems.
Two weeks ago, Local 4 cameras caught crews at the firehouse addressing some of the issues. Local 4 asked if we could visit the site, talk to the city on camera, and find out why they were unaware of the flooding issue in the first place -- our request was denied.
Local 4 reached out about cleanup cost, but the city was unable to give us an answer, saying, “it was included in the wall preparation for the injectable epoxy coating system.”
About the green growth on the walls, “there is currently no green growth visible on the walls.”
The city said the firehouse is expected to be open by mid-July.
Local 4 is still trying to figure out the cost to taxpayers on the cleanup.
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