September 16, 2009

Police often bust people who claim ignorance of the law, so it’s especially galling when law enforcement makes excuses.

Washington state law says money collected by a public officer must be deposited with the city’s treasury office within 24 hours. Instead, the Special Investigations Unit of the Spokane Police Department took money from drug seizures and forfeitures totaling $5.3 million and funneled it into a private account for nearly 20 years.

The department then spent the money on cars, clothing, gasoline and equipment related to more drug investigations.

Roger Bragdon, a former police chief, set up the account when he headed up the unit. Anne Kirkpatrick, the current chief, says she didn’t know about it until last year, when she requested an audit.

A state audit did not find evidence of fraudulent use of the money, but the report noted, “The city also cannot be sure all expenditures from this account were for a legal, city-related purpose.”

Before 2008, none of the purchases using the fund was put out for bid, which is a violation of city law. Former Spokane police Capt. Bob Allen said in an e-mail “that alone is a major issue.” He was responding to an e-mail from Capt. Steve Braun, who said: “The nice thing about it was we were able to purchase equipment without the City Hall process which normally took time.”

Yes, the democratic process does take time, but the point is to have elected officials who are accountable to the voters involved in such decisions. There are a number of good reasons why this should trump expediency.

Transparent accounting allows the public to determine whether the law allowing the department to spend this money is working as intended. Transparency offers citizens a clear picture of how much is being spent to thwart drug-related crimes and whether the items purchased meet with their approval. Furthermore, transparency gives the public information it needs to determine whether the department’s emphasis on fighting drug crimes is skewed by a law that allows it to seize the proceeds and buy cars, Tasers, clothing, radios and upgrades to the firearms training center and academy’s shooting range.

It’s easy to say that all of the purchasing was drug-related, but does it reflect the public’s priorities for crime fighting? That’s why elected officials should be consulted.

Kudos to Chief Kirkpatrick and budget official Gavin Cooley for exposing this savings account, which has been transferred to the city’s treasury office. Now it’s time to forfeit the excuses for its long run outside the law.