Commanders in the Anne Arundel County police department who oversee gambling investigations have side jobs as security guards for the developer building Arundel Mills, the Annapolis Capital's Scott Daughterty reported this weekend.

Chief Col. James Teare Sr. told the newspaper that he sees no conflict with the security work - and in fact, Daugherty reported, Teare himself - who earns $138,000 annually - works a side security job for BGE. County Executive John Leopold defended Teare and the command staff, while union officials and ethics and law enforcement experts were critical:

The after-hours security work for Cordish - which the department first authorized in May - shocked the former chairman of the county's Ethics Commission and several law enforcement experts.

"Having people who regulate gambling working for a casino operator is just mind-boggling," said Christopher S. Rizek, who headed the Ethics Commission from 2004 to 2008.

"Anybody working vice, narcotics or organized crime should under no circumstances work (secondary employment). It compromises the officer and it compromises the agency," said Andrew J. Scott III, a former chief of the Boca Raton (Fla.) Police Department who now consults privately on police policies. "It just doesn't look good."