Closed-door meeting on investigation into officer’s $160,000 in overtime pay
By Shain Bergan, Taylor Johnson, Abby Dodge
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INDEPENDENCE, Missouri (KCTV) — The Independence City Council is set to meet Wednesday night in a closed-door executive session. This comes after the city manager accused the police department of misusing city money while paying an officer $160,000 in overtime to conduct construction at the department.
The city manager began investigating after a whistle-blower came forward to report the issue. The investigation found the accusations “credible” and also revealed other financial discrepancies, said City Manager Zach Walker.
Records obtained by KCTV5 indicate three Independence police officers each received more than $100,000 in overtime pay last year, including an officer who received $160,000 in overtime pay to paint walls and replace floor and ceiling tiles at the jail.
A source close to the investigation told KCTV5 News that acting police chief Ken Jarnagin is on paid administrative leave. Wednesday evening’s 5 p.m. meeting was called to review personnel matters. Personnel-related investigations can take up to three weeks, the city manager said.
“Nothing has changed about our mindset about this. We still don’t find this acceptable,” Walker said. “We know that people want answers now, and we’re working as quickly as we can to get those without rushing so fast we make our own errors in our investigation.”
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