By Freeman staff

KINGSTON, N.Y. — A state audit of the Kingston Police Department found as many as 10 officers were improperly paid during the 2009-10 school year for simultaneous work for the department and as security officers for the Kingston school district.

An audit report issued Friday by the New York Comptroller’s Office concluded 10 of 16 police department employees who provided security services to the school district submitted pay vouchers to the district that overlapped with, “likely” overlapped with or were identical to time periods for which the officers were assigned department shifts.

Without identifying any of the alleged offenders by name, the report stated 163 instances of overlap were found and totaled a potential overpayment of $7,790 to the officers.

The report also concluded inadequate internal controls resulted in the loss or misappropriation of $1,620 intended for confidential informants, including $350 to pay for meals for department members.

The audit stated department detectives did not document the use of funds for confidential informants.

The audit also stated supervisors did not routinely require preapproval of overtime or documentation that claimed overtime had been worked, did not safeguard or regularly inventory confiscated evidence and did not adequately monitor off-site work, among other shortcomings.

An earlier Comptroller’s Office audit of Kingston school district time records led to the suspension and arrest of former city police Detective Lt. Timothy Matthews. He was charged in 2011 with stealing more than $200,000 in public and private money, pleaded guilty this year to stealing about half that amount and was sentenced to three to nine years in state prison.

Matthews, however, was not prosecuted for having allegedly double-billed the school district and the city for the same hours, and public officials repeatedly asserted that departmental misdeeds were limited to Matthews.

Kingston Police Department Audit

It was not immediately clear whether Matthews and his alleged double-dipping were among the 10 officers and $7,790 in overpayments cited in the comptroller’s new report, though the document referenced Matthews’ job title, detective lieutenant, and covered a time period during which only he held that job. Continued...

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Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright has said his office did not pursue charges in the Matthews double-dipping case because “we did not want to digress from the most serious issues” when presenting the case to a jury.

But Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo has taken a hard line on issues related to work attendance and payroll in the Kingston Fire Department. In rapid succession early this year, he referred a “time in attendance” issue regarding just-retired Fire Chief Richard Salzmann to Carnright’s office and then suspended Salzmann’s successor, Chris Rea, citing the same issue.

Court papers later revealed Rea was suspended for seeking pay from both the city and the state for claiming he worked on the same day in different places on 13 separate occasions.

The Rea matter, like Salzmann’s, has been referred to the District Attorney’s Office, Gallo has said.

The handling of the Salzmann and Rea cases raises the question of whether Gallo likewise will seek the removal of the alleged double-dipping police officers and refer those cases to the district attorney for criminal investigation.

If Gallo were to obtain such suspensions, it likely would impose considerable practical difficulties on the operations of the 72-member police department.

Neither Gallo nor Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti returned a reporter’s phone messages on Saturday.

The state’s newly released audit of the Kingston Police Department was limited to a sampling of department records from Jan. 1, 2010, to March 17, 2011, and it focused on time/attendance records, controls over confiscated property and evidence and safeguards over the disbursement of funds for confidential informants.

The period audited covers the tenures of city Police Chief Gerald Keller and Kingston schools Superintendent Gerard Gretzinger, both of whom have since retired.

In a response to the audit signed by Gallo and Tinti, the city largely agreed with the critique and outlined steps to comply with 27 recommendations made by the Comptroller’s Office. Continued...

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A response to the audit issued by the Kingston school district on Saturday said the finding “further validates the necessity of the procedural changes the Kingston city school district has already put into place internally.”

“Our Audit and Finance Committee has recommended — and the district has put into action — new routines regarding reporting and recording time and attendance for those police officers who serve as school resources officers and those who serve as security personnel,” the district stated.

The statement concluded: “While we have thoroughly examined our payroll procedures in the past, we will take this opportunity to scrutinize our new procedures and examine any new information or recommendations provided.”

The district said it plans to “post a more complete and specific response” on its website during the coming week.

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