DETROIT - Discipline has been recommended for three high-ranking officials with the Detroit Fire Department in a payroll fraud investigation, months after the Investigators at Local 4 looked into allegations.
Investigators story
In July 2025, we investigated a Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) report that showed a fire department member's law enforcement authority with the Detroit Police Department was "permanently rescinded" due to "egregious misconduct involving his lack of accountability" on June 4, 2025.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 included "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 investigation revealed substantial 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 was in the process of making changes to the clocking-in and out protocol.
The Detroit Fire Department said Hill-Harris was discharged by Simms, but reinstated following an appeal by the union.
New OIG report
On Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, a Detroit Office of Inspector General investigation concluded that DFD Lt. James Hill-Harris submitted fraudulent time records.
When the Internal Affairs team at the Detroit Police Department looked into cellphone records, payroll data, electronic activity logs, and key card usage, it found that Hill-Harris had a consistent pattern of being at home or outside Detroit during hours he reported as worked, even after granting allowances for his role as a scene investigator, according to the report.
The OIG found that Hill-Harris overstated more than 150 hours of work time, the report says.
Chief Dennis Richardson and Captain Rance Dixon are accused of failing to properly perform their required supervisory duties above Hill-Harris.
Disciplinary action was recommended by the OIG for Hill-Harris, Richardson, and Dixon. Hill-Harris for overstating work hours, Richardson for approving time submissions without required documentation, and Dixon for inadequate timekeeping oversight that allowed the submissions, according to the OIG report.
"We appreciate the thorough work of DPD, whose investigation greatly supported the OIG in competing our case," Inspector General Kamau Marable said. "Their partnership was instrumental in helping us identify time fraud and protect integrity in city operations."