Johnson County DA won’t charge Overland Park officers accused of misusing charity funds
Almost a year and a half after four Overland Park officers were placed on paid administrative leave during an investigation of police charity funds, they will not be criminally charged, the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Overland Park officers Brandon Faber, Brad Heater, Rachel Scattergood and Tim Tinnin were accused of misusing funds while serving on the board of the Overland Park Police Officers Foundation. They allegedly used charitable funds to pay for scholarships and out-of-state travel. Money that was supposed to be dedicated to assisting officers and their families following “catastrophic injury or death” went to dental and veterinarian bills, according to the district attorney’s office.
In total, the four officers received around $15,540 from the Overland Park Police Officers Foundation.
District Attorney Steve Howe began investigating allegations of misconduct last spring, a process that he said was greatly hampered by a lack of documents and meeting minutes that should have been recorded, per the foundation’s bylaws. The officers also had wiped their electronic devices clean of any data, according to the district attorney’s news release.
As Howe determined whether criminal charges were appropriate, he said that “the lack of these records makes analysis of motivation and intent difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain.”
“The lack of any formal meeting minutes or records of the Foundation posed a significant, if not insurmountable, hindrance to this criminal investigation,” Howe wrote. “We were left to determine whether the lack of records, in conjunction with potential violations of the bylaws by these Board members, were efforts to hide criminal conduct or, instead, amount to gross incompetence and ineptness that may equate to civil violations of the Kansas Charitable Organizations and Solicitations Act.”
Howe ultimately determined that, “Although these previous Board members repeatedly disregarded the Foundation’s bylaws,” that his office could not charge them with a crime.
“To charge the Board members with theft, this office would have to prove, by the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt, that the past Board members either knowingly obtained the money by deceptive means, or knowingly exerted unauthorized control over Foundation funds,” Howe said. “As a result of this investigation, my office has concluded that we cannot charge the four Board members in question under either theory.”
In a statement, city spokeswoman Meg Ralph said Overland Park, “is awaiting the district attorney’s investigation materials to determine whether any violations of City policy occurred. We will complete this investigation as expediently as possible.”
She said the officers remain on paid administrative leave.
This story will be updated.
