Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City police department could have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by more efficiently using government cars and phones and curbing department-sponsored dinners and gifts, according to a state audit released Friday.
The report from State Auditor Claire McCaskill said the Board of Police Commissioners could see substantial savings if it reduced the number of take-home vehicles assigned to officers.
Officers are allowed to bring their cars home if they meet several criteria. According to the audit, 248 of 377 personnel assigned take-home vehicles qualified because they serve standby or on-call duty.
But 168 of those employees, the audit estimated, were called back to work an average of fewer than three times a month.
Reimbursing those 168 officers for use of their own cars instead of providing department vehicles would have saved the board $295,000 annually, according to the audit.
The department responded in the auditor’s report, saying “A saving could be achieved by reducing the number of take-home vehicles,” but that “the department believes that the number of take-home vehicles should not be determined solely on monetary issues.”
The audit also questioned expenditures for gifts, dinners and other giveaways, amounting to $102,068 over the three years ending April 30.
Among the expenses was $32,630 for retirement rings; $32,398 for annual dinners; $23,949 for flowers and fruit baskets; $5,231 for T-shirts; $4,891 for cakes and cookies for ceremonies; and $2,969 for coffee mugs.
“These expenditures do not appear to be a necessary and prudent use of public funds,” the audit stated.
The board disagreed, calling the spending “essential to the continued morale of department employees.”
The audit also analyzed police usage of cellular phones - looking at bills from 475 of the department’s 520 phones. Over three years, the phones cost $866,000, including $133,000 for overage and roaming charges, according to the report.
The department could have saved at least $25,000 a year by ensuring proper use of phones and by changing some usage plans, the audit said. The department said it continues to review cell phone bills and agreed monitoring usage could reduce expenses.
The audit also found the department failed to implement a recommendation made five years ago.
In that report, the auditor questioned the department’s compensation of retirees for unused sick time, which amounted to $3.9 million in pay-outs for the two years ending April 30, 1999.
The auditor reiterated its recommendation that the department to re-evaluate its sick leave buyout program. It said the department paid about $3.75 million over the past three years for unused sick time.