KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The KSHB 41 I-Team was the first to tell you about an Independence Police Department officer who made more money than any city employee last year, racking up more than $160,000 in overtime doing construction work for the department.
But, it wasn't just one officer.
Five department employees logged hours and hours of overtime renovating squad rooms and parts of the detention center.
Four are master police officers and one is a sergeant. These are ranks that typically involve years of experience.
The work they were doing was not part of their law enforcement duties. The city is now investigating and has hired a special counsel.
"Who, in a leadership capacity, allowed this to happen?" Zach Walker, city manager, told the I-Team on Feb. 7.
The officers detailed the work on their overtime slips. For example, one wrote on his slip that he did demo and debris removal, hauled five loads of debris to the city dumpster and cleaned up, per former police chief Brad Halsey.
The highest paid employee logged the most OT - 2,800 hours - making a total of $263,000 last year.
One day in April 2021, he logged 12 and a half hours of OT rewiring lighting circuits and replacing old lighting, per Chief Halsey.
On another day in September 2021, he logged 21 and a half hours "finishing loose ends on entire jail to get ready to re-open, per Chief Halsey."
This officer turned in more than 200 OT slips and he put in 15 hours or more of overtime on multiple days.
These officers worked overtime multiple days in a row, not stopping until late at night.
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