COP ARRESTED IN MOONLIGHTING SCAM DETECTIVE ACCUSED OF WORKING WHILE COLLECTING INJURY PAY.

Byline: RACHEL URANGA

Staff Writer

A veteran LAPD detective was arrested Tuesday after a 16-month investigation showed he was moonlighting as a security guard while collecting thousands of dollars in workers' compensation, authorities said.

Gil Barrow, 37, who works out of the Rampart Community Police Station and makes at least $75,000 a year, was supposed to be recuperating from an on-duty knee injury.

But for six of the nine months he was off, police said, Barrow made extra cash working for a private security firm.

He was arrested on suspicion of grand theft and attempted perjury and is the fifth Los Angeles Police Department employee accused of benefits-abuse in the last two years.

"The taxpayers of Los Angeles provide excellent benefits for police officers," Police Chief William Bratton said in a statement. "We take seriously any misuse of those benefits and pursue criminal charges when appropriate."

After supervisors became suspicious that Barrow might have prolonged his off-duty recovery time, investigators from the LAPD's Professional Standards Bureau secretly watched him several times as he worked as a guard while he was supposed to be recovering from his injury.

The perjury charge stems from Barrow's testimony during an April 31, 2006, deposition related to his injuries. He is charged with grand theft, accused of receiving salary benefits under false pretenses.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison. His bail has been set at $30,000.

"Like all community members, we find it disturbing when an officer is accused of abusing this public trust and commits a crime against those he is sworn to protect," said Hank Hernandez, an attorney for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents more than 9,000 officers.

"While it is important to know all the facts in this case and not rush to judgment, we recognize that Los Angeles residents place their trust in law enforcement to uphold the law."

Last year, three LAPD employees were fired over benefits-abuse related charges and another was suspended for 15 days.

One of those employees, an officer assigned to Internal Affairs, was working as an armed security guard in the parking lot at Staples Center and at a concession area at Dodger Stadium in summer 2003. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail.

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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