Crime & Safety

Fired Gaithersburg Cop Could Return to Department

A Circuit Court judge ordered a city board to re-examine it's decision against a 17-year veteran of the force.

A fired Gaithersburg police officer may be able to return to the force after a judge allowed a re-examination of his case, the Gazette reports.

Judge Eric M. Johnson Tuesday overturned two of three findings by a city administrative board that fired Officer Dennis Whalen earlier this year over a dispute about overtime.

The board decided that Whalen, a 17-year veteran of the force, had been dishonest about three hours of overtime in August, 2010, and he was fired in March of 2011.

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But Johnson found problems in how the board handled Whalen's review, and ordered it to re-examine it's findings.

Whalen was originally demoted and given a 64-day suspension, but the Gazette reports Chief Mark P. Sroka, who had been on the job for about three months at the time of the incident, elevated Whalen's penalty to suspension.

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