Police, Public Safety

KC cop busted for taking official car on vacation

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — Kansas City police are investigating a detective who used his official undercover vehicle for a vacation in Florida — an indiscretion that was discovered only after he was caught running a red light.

The detective, a 28-year-veteran and formerly part of a special federal fraud task force, ran the red light in Florida on March 13, according to The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/RgMS5R ). The ticket was sent to the Kansas City police department, which is the registered owner of the leased vehicle. The ticket included a photo showing the vehicle pulling a trailer in Florida, hundreds of miles from Kansas City.

The newspaper did not name the detective because he has not been charged with a crime or disciplined in the case. He has plans to retire Aug. 31.

Police Chief Darryl Forté said he could not talk about the investigation, but said “This type of misuse of resources will not be tolerated.”

The detective was given an SUV to conduct surveillance and for necessary travel in Missouri for the task force. The federal agency paid for the lease, gas and other routine operational expenses. The vehicle was supposed to be for official use only, according to a memo of understanding between the department and the federal agency. The police department also restricts an official vehicle’s use to within 50 miles of the city.

The police department removed the detective from the task force in June after the department learned of the Florida ticket. Federal officials declined to prosecute the detective, so police put him back into the department’s fraud unit and have been investigating if he took the vehicle on other unauthorized trips.