INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Records obtained by the I-Team reveal the City of Independence has hired a consulting firm and spent $35,550 investigating overtime practices at the police department.
The city has paid $31,000 to Spencer Fane to conduct an audit on the police department's finances.
Additional records show the city hired a consultant in April. To date, the city's paid $4,000 to AJW Consulting.
The city's contract with the consulting firm is scheduled to expire at the end of July. According to the contract, the city will not exceed $4,000 a month in payments to AJW Consulting.
In February, the KSHB 41 I-Team first exposed one police officer logged 2,800 hours of overtime and made $160,000 in OT.
City records show the officer earned around $230,000 in total in 2021. His base salary is around $85,000.
Zack Walker, Independence city manager, said the overtime is excessive for a master patrol officer.
Overtime slips submitted by the officer accumulated from work done at the detention center, which inlcluded painting, laying new carpet and electrical work.
Walker said the work should have been completed by maintenance during business hours for the cost of materials.
When the I-Team requested all overtime slips from members of the police department for 2021, the team discovered four other officers logged overtime for performing similar work.
In regard to the timeline of the audit and when it may potentially be completed, Independence city spokesperson Meg Lewis issued the following response:
"The investigation is ongoing. We have provided all available information on personnel issues related to this investigation at this time and have no further comment."
