Independence wants to know why police officer was paid $160,000 in overtime last year
Independence will hire an outside firm to investigate how a police officer was paid $160,000 in overtime last year for reportedly completing unauthorized construction work.
The city began looking at the issue this week after employee W2s were distributed. A whistleblower brought the issue to the attention of City Manager Zach Walker.
“I think at best we’ve got gross misconduct and very poor judgment from management within the police department and at worst we may have fraudulent activity,” Walker told The Star.
No one has yet been disciplined in the incident, but Walker ordered the police department to cease the construction work and any overtime pay not related to law enforcement work.
Like many municipal departments, Independence police have been detaining fewer people because of pandemic safety concerns. The police department asked to use some of its budgeted expenses for detention to make needed safety upgrades at the police building, which sits just across from City Hall near the Independence Square.
Walker said the department should have consulted with the public works department or put out a bid for construction work. But it instead paid an officer to complete remodeling work in the detention center, the records division and a conference room. The officer was paid about $160,000 for 2,800 hours of overtime in 2021, Walker said.
The employee in question holds the rank of master officer, a position that generally earns about $70,000 per year. That means the officer took home some $240,000 last year — ostensibly more than any other city employee.
“I don’t make that much,” the city manager said.
Individual Independence employees report their hours worked to timekeepers in each department, who funnel that information to a centralized payroll division. Walker said the city finance and human resources departments spotted the unusually high pay last year but were told by police department leadership that the overtime was authorized.
Former Police Chief Brad Halsey announced his retirement in December after five years at the helm. Deputy Chief Ken Jarnagin is leading the department during a national search for the next chief.
Walker said the incident was “inconsistent with our purchasing policy, our collective bargaining agreements, and our organizational values.”
The city manager said he was thankful that the whistleblower reported rumors of the incident. He said city leaders have worked in recent years to build an open culture that encourages trust.
So far, it’s unclear how many employees were involved. The incident appears to be specific to the police department, but Walker said the outside firm would cast a wide investigative net.
“At this point we still have more questions than we do answers,” he said.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 11:55 AM.
