INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — The KSHB 41 I-Team continues to follow the ongoing investigation into an Independence police officer's use of overtime.
Previous reporting by the I-Team found 2,800 hours of overtime and more than $160,000 in overtime pay went towards the remodeling of the city's detention center.
Documents obtained through a public records request show the cost of the construction materials for that remodel, which is a central component of the investigation.
The KSHB 41 I-Team’s recent trip to the Independence Detention Center pulled back the curtain on the facility’s remodeling effort.
Upgrades included new paint and other materials. The credit card statements revealed how much those materials cost.
We obtained credit card statements on behalf of the officer at the center of the investigation. Statements for Police Card 9 show a three-year purchase history from 2018 to 2021.
The statement can be viewed below:
The city isn't saying if anyone else used this card, but provided statements when we asked about this specific officer's credit card use.
In 2021 alone, more than $42,000 in purchases were made.
Most of these three and often four-figure buys were made at hardware stores, electric suppliers and steel suppliers.
The July 2021 statement alone checks in at north of $17,000, with eight four-figure purchases for steel, carpeting, drywall and construction materials.
Police Card 9's purchase history in 2018 totals $5,093.33. Most of those buys were at hardware stores too.
There was also a more than $700 hotel stay out of state.
The I-Team has requested travel records for that trip, but we don’t know which specific officer made that trip.
Taken together over three years of credit card activity, more than $49,500 in purchases were made on Police Card 9.
The I-Team recently learned that in a city memo, there was no mention of the police department’s involvement in the remodel.
Independence City Manager Zach Walker told KSHB 41 News the detention center remodel could’ve been done at the cost of materials.
We are still working to find out what the cost would have been using maintenance staff during regular business hours and if the city had price agreements with construction vendors.
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