TSU police chief placed on paid leave over fraud allegations

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Police Chief Mary Young said TSU violated state laws by handling the allegations against him and did not give him the opportunity to refute the allegations.

Houston, Texas Texas Southern Universities (TSU) Police Chief Mary Young is facing allegations of fraud and has been placed on paid administrative leave. Young also obtained two temporary restraining orders against TSU to prevent the school from furloughing her.

TSU says Young “committed a fraud against the university by implementing and sanctioning a program of overtime and payroll abuse that cost the university and taxpayers thousands of dollars in overtime hours.” agent that weren’t actually worked on, KTRK reports.

The university alleges the compensation was not authorized by human resources, the TSU president or its board of trustees. TSU also accuses Young of abusing his power, improperly using the school police department, refusing to follow TSU’s instructions, and making misleading statements to local judges and the media.

Young, however, claims TSU violated state laws in dealing with the allegations against her, saying the university had no legal basis to furlough or discipline her, Houston Public Media reports. Because of this, Young continued to show up for work.

Young alleges the anonymous complaint against her came mysteriously after she told her officers to maintain their professionalism and avoid giving the appearance of serving as drivers, couriers and personal assistants while working for the president of the TSU, reports Forward Times. She says the complaint against her was not signed, which is required by Texas law. The chief also claims that she was never given the chance to tell her side of the story or provide evidence refuting the allegations made against her.

Additionally, Youngs’ attorney Ben Hall says the Chiefs Department has a system of checks and balances that prevents overtime submissions from being improperly authorized. All overtime requests must be approved by two supervisors before reaching the chief, he says.

An audit conducted by TSU and included in court documents shows that Young authorized nearly $28,000 in additional compensation for officers that was not approved by HR, the president or the school’s board of trustees. , reports Houston Public Media. Senior officers commit twice as many hours as they actually worked and two additional hours are paid for training, although the training does not last the full two hours.

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