Baltimore schools continued to pay police officers accused of stealing $215,000

Baltimore (WBFF) — Taxpayers continued to pay a Baltimore City Schools police officer for nearly a year after he was arrested and charged with fraudulently obtaining taxpayer money.

“It’s frustrating when you hear stories like this,” explains David Williams of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. “Common sense dictates that you don’t reward someone who has allegedly stolen money by giving him more tax money.”

Baltimore City Schools Police Officer Lawrence Smith is a man who continues to make news.

Smith is an eight-time state champion high school football coach who has been called a unicorn by the police union president. He is pictured with the CEO of the mayor and the city schools. But lately he’s been making news for all the wrong reasons.

On September 8, 2023, Smith was arrested by the FBI. He is accused of tax violations and fraudulently filing overtime claims to obtain more than 215,000 in taxpayer money.

And Project Baltimore has learned that after Smith was arrested, Baltimore City Schools continued to pay him for nearly an entire year.

“It sends the wrong message to taxpayers,” Williams said.

When Smith was charged last September, North Avenue placed him on administrative leave. But the district would not tell Fox45 News whether he was on paid leave. Now, Project Baltimore has learned through a public records request that Smith was paid until “September 6, 2024.” This means that taxpayers continued to pay him his full salary for 364 days after he was arrested.

Smith’s pay was suspended, according to City Schools, under a state law that allows the district to suspend a police officer’s pay “if the police officer is charged with a disqualifying crime.” It appears City Schools could have suspended Smith without pay the day he was arrested. But the province did not choose that.

“This suspension without pay should have happened immediately,” Williams said.

This means that after he was accused of stealing more than $215,000, according to the most recent City Schools payroll database, taxpayers likely paid Smith about $93,000.

“That’s more than the average person’s income in Baltimore City. This is inexcusable,” Williams told Project Baltimore.

District leadership will not conduct an interview with Fox45 News. But the school system did release a statement that reads: “Individuals have the right to due process when charged with a crime, regardless of the news or headlines on social media. Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) has been closely monitoring the adjudication of this case and is taking appropriate action based on what is happening. Under the Mayland Act, City Schools reserves the right to recover any compensation paid by City Schools to the employee between September 8, 2023 and the present based on the outcome of this case.

Please note that Project Baltimore first exposed Smith logging overtime with the police department in January 2023 when he did not appear to be working. There were Facebook Live videos of Smith driving a boat on the Chesapeake Bay, coaching football or on vacation when his overtime forms showed he was working. But despite these videos, City Schools kept him on the payroll when Smith was arrested eight months later.

“What does this tell you about Baltimore City Public Schools?” Papst asked Williams.

‘That there really is a failure of leadership at every level in the school system. It is no wonder that the school system is draining of money and children are not getting an education,” Williams explains. “What’s the lesson here? The lesson for kids in Baltimore City schools is that if you steal, you get rewarded. Success should be rewarded, not failure.”

According to federal court records, Smith’s jury trial is scheduled for May 12, 2025. If convicted, he faces decades in prison.

Follow Chris Papst of Project Baltimore X And Facebook. Send news tips to [email protected]