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3rd Timesheet Probe Active

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 29, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - City officials have launched another probe into payroll discrepancies in the police department, two weeks after a similar investigation led to the police chief's resignation.

City Manager Steve Spina said Thursday that the new payroll investigation focuses on Detective George W. MacKnight II, the department's major crimes investigator.

"They've looked over his payroll records and found some irregularities," Spina said.

As of Thursday, MacKnight, who also oversees the city's sex offender registry program, was still on active duty. He did not return several calls Thursday seeking comment.

The two men at the center of the previous investigation - former Chief Russell Barnes and Sgt. Robert Perrault Jr. - are gone. Perrault quit Aug. 8, and Barnes resigned Aug. 19, an hour before the city council was set to vote on his recommended firing.

That investigation concluded Barnes had falsified payroll records for Perrault, who was paid for police work while he was actually teaching at Pasco-Hernando Community College.

MacKnight, who was under Perrault's command, teaches criminal justice classes as an adjunct instructor at PHCC's law enforcement program in Dade City, like Perrault.

Spina said he could not discuss the investigation of MacKnight because it's still active. He said the police department began its internal investigation after the Tribune requested copies of MacKnight's timesheets.

A review of MacKnight's timesheets for PHCC and the city revealed several discrepancies:

In one day, MacKnight logged 241/2 hours at the police department, including 101/2 regular hours and 14 hours of overtime, according to his timesheets. The same day, Jan. 31, 2007, MacKnight also taught a four-hour night class at PHCC.

That's 281/2 hours in a single day.

From Oct. 15 to 18, 2007, MacKnight taught every day at the college, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to PHCC records. He also logged nine hours at the city each of those days.

On March 26 and 31 of this year, he logged 10 hours at the city but also taught two classes at PHCC - four hours each - from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

MacKnight's timesheets also raise questions about some of his overtime hours. On several days in the past year, MacKnight, who usually works four 10-hour shifts a week, logged 20 hours in a day, half of that overtime.

This year alone, through the end of June, MacKnight was paid more than $3,500 in overtime, according to city payroll records.

Because the city doesn't retain records of the shifts officers work, though, figuring out how many hours MacKnight actually worked on the days he was also teaching could be difficult. The city's earlier investigation concluded it was impossible to determine whether Perrault had worked all the hours for which he was paid, for the same reason.

The previous investigation focused on a complaint filed in August 2007 against Perrault alleging he was "double-dipping" - claiming to have worked for the city when he was actually teaching. Barnes investigated the complaint and concluded it was unfounded.
City officials launched their own investigation after a former officer filed a complaint July 29 alleging that Perrault and the chief had falsified timesheets and other records.

According to the city's investigation, conducted by Sgt. Jeffrey McDougal, Barnes didn't adequately investigate the initial complaint. Instead, he created a log of "flex time" Perrault used to justify the hours when he was on the clock for the city and college.

Investigators determined that Barnes and Perrault had an arrangement allowing Perrault to bank accumulated hours. But the city has no such policy on its books, and Spina said Perrault was the only employee in the police department who was allowed to bank flex hours. According to city records, he had racked up more than 140 hours at one point.

Barnes and Perrault were the only two named in the payroll investigation. After the investigation was released, Spina said he did not think other officers were using flex time.

McDougal's report, however, alluded to the possibility that other officers might have been involved.

"There are areas of concern where Sgt. Perrault or Chief Barnes had direct supervisory control that may warrant inspection," he wrote.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 948-4216 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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