The department made a mistake in allowing police officers to get paid to play in a charity basketball game last month, Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said Wednesday.

“It wasn’t the correct decision,” the chief said in an interview with The News Tribune. “Yes, we were wrong.” The city revealed Tuesday that about a dozen officers were paid to participate in a basketball game against firefighters to raise money for the Hilltop Action Coalition.

An anonymous whistleblower complaint, filed June 1 with the city manager’s office, raised the issue. It alleged officers were paid for a full 10-hour shift even though the game was only a few hours, they were paid to practice for the May 29 match up and other officers were required to work overtime to cover some of the shifts during the game.

Ramsdell pledged to investigate what happened, whether there were other instances of officers getting paid during a charity event and how the decision was made. The investigation will also look into how many officers were paid, whether they worked the streets before or after the game and whether other officers had to be called in on overtime to cover the shift.

“We will take every measure for it not to happen again,” Ramsdell said.

The chief said he didn’t authorize the decision to pay officers and found out about it after the whistleblower complaint was filed. He declined to say who OK’d the pay but said the decision wasn’t done to cause harm.

“There was no malice or intent of defrauding the citizens,” Ramsdell said.

The names of the officers who were paid for the game haven’t been released. When Ramsdell learned of the decision, he issued a memorandum to all department personnel last week “to remind people that we don’t do these things on duty.”

He said it’s been the department’s longtime practice to not allow such participation while officers are on duty. The department has been involved in different community and fundraising events over the years. During each, officers who participate volunteer their time, Ramsdell said.

The practice is in place for several reasons, including liability if someone is injured, Ramsdell said.

For nearly 30 years, officers practiced for and played in an annual football game against Seattle-area officers to raise money for children’s charities. In those cases, officers were not working when they practiced and when they played in the games.

This was the fifth year of the “Hilltop Challenge” basketball game. The event raised about $7,000 for the Hilltop Action Coalition.

Ramsdell believes the decision to pay officers for this year’s game was a one-time issue but that will be part of his investigation. A few officers recently practiced for a charity boxing match and he’ll look into whether that was done on or off duty.

No timetable has been given on the internal investigation.

“It’s unfortunate it happened,” Ramsdell said. “We have to be good stewards of our citizen’s money. I am cognizant of that.”

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268

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