KING HARRIS

PROVIDENCE — To many police officers, they are among the ones who got away.

“They” are former Detective Sgt. Tonya King Harris and her husband, former Sgt. Michael M. Harris, who were among 10 officers implicated in a Police Department promotions scandal that had the department tied up in knots for years.

The city Retirement Board yesterday approved a pension for Tonya King Harris, fulfilling a largely secret deal that city officials made in order to get Harris and her husband off the police force.

Tonya King Harris was fired for allegedly cheating on a promotional test, but she won reinstatement to her job in a settlement of a lawsuit against the city, on the condition that she retire. As part of the same settlement, Michael Harris, who also was accused of cheating, agreed to retire, too. In return, pending or potential disciplinary charges against him were dropped.

Neither Harris admits wrongdoing in the settlement, and the city has promised in the settlement not to suggest otherwise. Although both Harrises were implicated in investigations by the FBI and the Police Department, Tonya King Harris always maintained that she did not cheat. Michael Harris never had to confront the issue publicly, and he could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Retired Police Chief Urbano Prignano Jr. has admitted in sworn trial testimony and in FBI interviews that he surreptitiously slipped to Tonya King Harris so-called test source sheets that gave her a significant advantage over her competitors in a promotional test for sergeant. Both she and Michael Harris, who later became her husband, took the test in 1996, did well and were promoted to sergeant.

They got the same answers right and wrong and achieved the same test scores, the investigations revealed. Neither investigation made a conclusion about how Michael Harris would have seen the source sheets.

City officials are moving to strip pensions from Prignano and two of his former top aides, retired Capt. John J. Ryan and retired Maj. Martin F. Hames, for their alleged roles in the promotions scandal. Two other officers have been demoted.

But the Harrises and three other officers who were implicated are the ones who arguably “got away,” many police officers complain. The Harrises are being allowed to leave, as the complaining officers perceive it, with full retirement benefits at the ranks they won unfairly. The other three officers who were implicated had retired before Police Chief Dean M. Esserman launched a climactic internal investigation of the scandal and their pensions are not being pursued for reasons that are not clear.

Esserman said that when he became chief in 2003, he spoke to many police officers about the scandal and that they all told him that it had taken a severe toll on the department and had devastated officer morale.

He said at a public hearing 2½ weeks ago that officers closet themselves for months to study for promotional tests, and that when they find out that “the game is fixed” and that some of their colleagues gain the extra money and authority of a promotion without having earned it, the “pain and the injustice” are long-lasting.

Esserman disclosed in sworn testimony at the public hearing, which dealt with Prignano’s pension, that he initiated disciplinary proceedings against five officers, including Michael Harris, as a result of the internal investigation. It was previously known publicly only that Michael Harris was on an unexplained paid administrative leave for 16 months until he retired effective July 26, 2006.

The deal that led to the Harrises’ retirements was struck last year, and city officials publicly summarized a few of the provisions at the time without disclosing the fact that it also included Michael Harris. The written agreement itself continues to be kept secret despite the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act, which says that an agreement settling a legal claim against any governmental entity is a public record.

Senior Assistant City Solicitor Anthony Cottone said the city, as part of the settlement, agreed to keep the contents confidential. To err on the side of caution, Cottone said, the city will uphold the confidentiality agreement rather than invoke the public records law.

Independently of the city Law Department, The Providence Journal has obtained a copy of the deal with the Harrises. It says in part: “This agreement shall remain confidential to the extent allowable by law.”

Michael Harris is receiving a $31,272-a-year pension and Tonya King Harris a $33,216-a-year pension, both based on 20 years’ service. She began collecting on March 19, with the subsequent Retirement Board vote that was taken yesterday considered a formality.

According to an estimate in the settlement, Tonya King Harris was to receive at least $75,843 in back pay and the cash value of certain fringe benefits, retroactive to her firing March 10, 2005. That estimated payout would be after the deduction of money to buy additional service time in the retirement system in order for her to achieve 20 years’ service and the enhanced pension that comes with that milestone.

In addition, she was to receive severance pay, in accordance with the contract between the city and the police labor union, but that sum was not explicit in the agreement.

She was reinstated to the police force pursuant to the agreement, effective July 26, 2006, but kept on paid sick leave due to what the settlement calls “her functional impairment and disability” until March 19. She has been suffering from cancer, according to city officials.

As for Michael Harris, he was to receive $62,014 in severance pay to which he would be entitled under the labor contract.

For its part the city agreed to provide a perfunctory letter of reference for each of the Harrises if a prospective employer inquires. Sample letters that are included in the settlement say only that each was employed as a police officer, that they took routine service retirements, and the rank at which each retired.

In exchange for their retirements, the city also agreed not to pursue rescission of either one’s pension “based on any conduct occurring prior to July 26, 2006.”

Also in the deal is a non-disparagement clause. The Harrises, who live in Woonsocket, promise that they and their family will not disparage the city or the Police Department regarding the settlement or what led up to it. The city promises not to disparage the Harrises.

gsmith@projo.com