Fort Worth Police Officer Indicted in Ticket Scandal

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth police officer Herman Young, 46, is accused of entering false times on 12 traffic tickets and receiving more than $20,000 in overtime for hours he did not work in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to the indictment.

Young is one of nine police officers accused in a traffic ticket scandal. His indictment includes 12 counts of tampering with a governmental record and one count of theft by a public servant. Tampering with a governmental record is a felony punishable by 180 days to two years in a state jail. Theft by a public servant is a second-degree felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison.

Young, a 25-year veteran of the Police Department, had been on leave in March 2010 when traffic supervisors reviewing his ticket books noticed inconsistencies in some times logged. In other cases, some of the time fields were blank, department officials have said.

After the inconsistencies were confirmed with the Municipal Court, the department launched internal and criminal investigations.

Allegations include that the nine officers issued tickets during normal duty hours but indicated that they were issued while the officers worked overtime under the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program grant.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Young received $48,530.49 in overtime in 2009 on top of a base salary of $72,321.60. Authorities said Young is accused of unlawfully acquiring $21,900 in overtime between 2008 and 2010.

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