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Anaheim Police Chief Says He May Quit Job With Rams : Inquiry: Joseph T. Molloy’s post as security consultant is under scrutiny as a possible conflict of interest. He also works for a college and as a trial consultant.

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Police Chief Joseph T. Molloy, whose outside job with the Los Angeles Rams is the subject of an internal city inquiry, said Tuesday he may leave his position as the team’s security consultant.

The chief said he still has not decided whether he would remain with the team in its final game of the season scheduled Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

Molloy’s consulting job with the Rams and other work he performs for Fullerton College and as a trial consultant on police matters is being investigated by the city as a possible conflict of interest.

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Meanwhile, city records showed that the chief did not report on annual disclosure filings, outside income totaling $4,745, that he earned last year from the college and $2,450 as a legal consultant.

The city requires municipal department heads to file statements reporting outside financial interests, said City Manager James D. Ruth. An accounting of the chief’s job as security consultant to the Rams, which began this summer, is not due until April, 1993.

Molloy, however, said Tuesday that he believes disclosure regulations exempt him from reporting income derived from state or municipal agencies. He said the college salary came from a state-supported institution and his legal consulting work was paid by area cities seeking to defend police-related cases.

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Council members learned two weeks ago of Molloy’s relationship with the Rams and are concerned about it possibly detracting from his primary duties as chief of police. At the time, they asked Ruth--who had approved the chief’s moonlighting for the Rams--to report to them about the chief’s outside employment.

Molloy said Tuesday he is preparing a report for Ruth, outlining time he has spent working for the Rams this season. Included in that report, Molloy said, would be an accounting of hours spent teaching defense tactics at Fullerton College Police Academy and his work for RMS & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in brutality complaints and use-of-force complaints filed against police officers.

None of the work for RMS & Associates involved the city, he said.

“This is a lose-lose situation,” Molloy said. “If I don’t (work Sunday’s game) people will say there must be something wrong. But at the same time, I feel like I have an obligation to (the Rams). I still don’t think I’ve done anything wrong.”

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Although Ruth said that it is the chief’s duty to file reports of outside income earned in past years, the city manager said he would await Molloy’s written explanation, which is expected in the next several days.

City Attorney Jack L. White could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Molloy, who had received prior approval from Ruth before taking other employment, declined to say how many hours he has spent in the three outside jobs until Ruth has reviewed his report.

“My position is that Jim Ruth and I are going to sit down right after the holidays and talk,” Molloy said. “Basically, we are going to look at what’s best for the city, the Police Department and the Rams. After that, we’ll make a decision” on future work for the Rams.

Molloy’s consulting work for the Rams began during the preseason and involves a range of activities, from coordinating players’ hotel bed checks to dealing with out-of-town law enforcement authorities on matters involving the team.

The chief said he is paid a nominal fee for his work but has declined to reveal the amount until he is required to do so on the city reports due in April.

But the chief maintained that, according to his own interpretation of the disclosure rules, the money he earned from the college and through his police consulting business did not have to be reported to the city.

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“Jim Ruth and Jack White may not agree with me on this but that’s what I thought when I made the decision to exclude this money from the statement,” Molloy said. “Ruth may kick my butt on this, but that’s what I was thinking.”

The council asked Ruth for a report on the chief’s moonlighting activities about two weeks ago when it first learned of it. Before that, Mayor Tom Daly said, council members did not know of Molloy’s association with the National Football League team that plays its home games at the city-owned Anaheim Stadium.

“We still don’t have all the details,” Daly said, adding that the council would wait for Ruth’s report.

Anaheim police are in charge of security operations at the stadium and provide a contingent of officers to work Ram home games. The number of officers at the stadium varies with attendance, weather and popularity of opponents, city officials said.

The officers are paid time and a half for their work, with the money coming from stadium operating revenues.

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