Detective’s off-duty work details raise questions

A Fort Lauderdale police detective has been on two years of leave with pay as his department investigates allegations that he violated policy by working as a bodyguard for rap artists Meek Mill and Rick Ross at concerts around the country.

Detective Dimitri Jacques, 35, is the subject of two investigations into his off-duty work: A criminal probe by the State Attorney’s Office, which closed in August, found he did not steal time from the department, and an ongoing internal affairs review by the police department that began in December 2015.

“He doesn’t dispute he did security venue work, but he did not do bodyguard work,” said Michael Dutko, Jacques’ attorney.

Officers can work off-duty security jobs but are not allowed to moonlight as private bodyguards, according to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department’s off-duty employment policy. Additionally, security work that takes an officer outside the city must be approved by the police chief or his designee.

Interim Police Chief Rick Maglione said in an email that it would be premature for him to comment on the internal affairs investigation while it is still open.

Dutko said the police department is trying to determine

the nature of the security detail and whether it was authorized by a superior.

The state attorney’s memorandum from the closed criminal investigation said that Jacques has an ill child who requires constant care, and it was common practice for him to call a supervisor on a day he was supposed to work to request time off for reasons surrounding his child’s health.

But the supervisor didn’t know that Jacques — who joined the Fort Lauderdale police department in January 2012 — was sometimes providing security to rappers, the report said.

There were 13 dates specific to the theft investigation when Jacques had not put in a request for leave in the police department’s absentee system to reflect that he was off or on vacation. The supervisor sometimes entered days off for his team into the department’s system, but Jacques was ultimately responsible for updating it, according to the report.

Copies of checks written to Jacques during 2012 from Maybach Music Group LLC, Dream Chaser Records, Inc. and Dream Chasers Touring LLC added up to payments of $18,010.

The first two companies are affiliated with Ross and Mill, according to the record labels’ Facebook pages. Efforts to reach publicists for the artists were not successful.

Notes on some of the checks on the Dream Chaser Records, Inc. account said payments were for “3 shows” in January 2012 and performances in Connecticut, New York, Indiana as well as in Florida (Miami and Tallahassee) that year.

The State Attorney’s Office found that Jacques was not stealing time from his department. But Jacques did mislead a supervisor about why he needed time off, should have entered his days off into the department’s absentee system, and had enough sick and vacation days to take the time, a prosecutor found.

Also, the department did not suffer any financial loss, there were no criminal offenses that could be proven and the criminal investigation was closed, the state attorney’s report said.

The police department’s internal affairs investigation continues into whether Jacques violated any policies or procedures. He is at home, required to call in to the department each work day and remain available to internal affairs. Also, he is not allowed to work offduty or to be armed.

“Policemen are permitted to work off-duty details, particularly security details,” said Dutko. “The criminal matter has been resolved because, no matter what, there has been no loss to the department.”