BigDaddy40
08-28-2003, 12:43 PM
and Wayne can't find the money to fund CCW properly? lol
http://www.detnews.com/2003/politics/0308/28/a01-256784.htm
Sheriff fund misspent $1.5 million
Inmate program under Ficano, intended to be self-supporting, cost taxpayers, audit finds
By Paul Egan / Special to The Detroit News
Ficano
About the audit
An audit of the Wayne County Sheriff Department's Care Corps program is the latest report of irregularities related to the Wayne County Jail commissary fund.
Earlier:
* The fund's controller, Robbin Meeks, was charged with embezzlement after it was alleged she used a fund credit card to buy thousands of dollars worth of personal items. Charges against Meeks recently were dismissed.
* Ralph Kinney, the former Sheriff's official who supervised Care Corps, recently was charged with embezzlement and official misconduct in connection with the purchase of 300 "Team Ficano" T-shirts using public money.
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A program to help prisoners that was supposed to be self-supporting instead cost Wayne County taxpayers about $1.5 million over three years because of poor management and accounting practices, an auditor's report says.
County Auditor General Brendan Dunleavy said only about $740,000 of the $2.3 million cost of the Sheriff Department's Care Corps program from 2000-02 came from the sale of snacks and toiletries to jail prisoners, or from outside donations, as intended.
The rest was picked up by the Sheriff's Department, and ultimately taxpayers, mainly through salaries and wages, Dunleavy said in a report released Wednesday.
A statement made on behalf of Robert Ficano, who was sheriff when the program was in place, said the report overstates the problems with Care Corps.
Dunleavy's findings include:
* Up to 20 sheriff's employees spent some or all of their time working on the program, with their full wages paid by the sheriff's department.
* One deputy, whom officials confirmed Wednesday was Raymond Ford, received about $120,000 in salary and overtime payments in 2002 and received another $20,000 from Care Corps, but performed no work for the program.
* A lack of records and tracking of expenses made it impossible to determine what services were performed or whether they benefited inmates.
The Care Corps program's stated purpose was to bring together churches, victim groups and law enforcement to make a positive change in the behavior of inmates. Programs included jail visits by ministers and job training and placement for inmates.
"Using sheriff personnel to supplement the Care Corps program significantly increased the cost of the program and raises questions about whether or not the full cost of the program was known by decision-makers," the report said, referring to the Wayne County Commission and the board of the commissary fund, which was built from the proceeds of sale of basic grooming materials to county jail inmates.
"Moreover, assigning sheriff personnel to the Care Corps program at a time when the sheriff department had a significant number of vacancies may have contributed to the overtime costs incurred by the department."
Overtime costs sending the Sheriff's Department budget into a deficit have been an ongoing problem. In 2002, overtime costs for the department exceeded $12 million, and eight deputies and corporals earned more than $100,000, including overtime, county records obtained by The Detroit News show.
The auditor's report is a blow to county Executive Ficano, who was sheriff during the three-year period covered by the audit, from 2000 to 2002. After 20 years as sheriff, Ficano became county executive on Jan. 1.
The Care Corps program was started by Ficano late in 1999 and terminated by Ficano's successor, Sheriff Warren Evans, in January 2003.
A written response to the report on behalf of the former sheriff rejected Dunleavy's central complaint that there was unauthorized use of Sheriff's employees to support the Care Corps program. Sheriff's deputies performed legitimate and necessary work related to the program, such as conducting security clearances on ministers who visited the jail and processing the release and return of inmates for job training, the statement said.
"Care Corps programs were important functions of the Sheriff's Department," the statement said. However, "certain operational practices of the Care Corps program could have been performed more effectively, and a couple questionable decisions could have been avoided."
Dennis Niemiec, a spokesman for Ficano, stressed that although there may be concerns about what pots of money Ford was paid from, nobody disputes that he worked the number of hours he claimed.
The report does not allege fraud or other criminal offenses, Niemiec said.
Paul Egan is a free-lance writer. He can be reached at (313) 732-7453 or paulegan@sympatico.ca.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/politics/0308/28/a01-256784.htm
Sheriff fund misspent $1.5 million
Inmate program under Ficano, intended to be self-supporting, cost taxpayers, audit finds
By Paul Egan / Special to The Detroit News
Ficano
About the audit
An audit of the Wayne County Sheriff Department's Care Corps program is the latest report of irregularities related to the Wayne County Jail commissary fund.
Earlier:
* The fund's controller, Robbin Meeks, was charged with embezzlement after it was alleged she used a fund credit card to buy thousands of dollars worth of personal items. Charges against Meeks recently were dismissed.
* Ralph Kinney, the former Sheriff's official who supervised Care Corps, recently was charged with embezzlement and official misconduct in connection with the purchase of 300 "Team Ficano" T-shirts using public money.
Comment on this story
Send this story to a friend
Get Home Delivery
A program to help prisoners that was supposed to be self-supporting instead cost Wayne County taxpayers about $1.5 million over three years because of poor management and accounting practices, an auditor's report says.
County Auditor General Brendan Dunleavy said only about $740,000 of the $2.3 million cost of the Sheriff Department's Care Corps program from 2000-02 came from the sale of snacks and toiletries to jail prisoners, or from outside donations, as intended.
The rest was picked up by the Sheriff's Department, and ultimately taxpayers, mainly through salaries and wages, Dunleavy said in a report released Wednesday.
A statement made on behalf of Robert Ficano, who was sheriff when the program was in place, said the report overstates the problems with Care Corps.
Dunleavy's findings include:
* Up to 20 sheriff's employees spent some or all of their time working on the program, with their full wages paid by the sheriff's department.
* One deputy, whom officials confirmed Wednesday was Raymond Ford, received about $120,000 in salary and overtime payments in 2002 and received another $20,000 from Care Corps, but performed no work for the program.
* A lack of records and tracking of expenses made it impossible to determine what services were performed or whether they benefited inmates.
The Care Corps program's stated purpose was to bring together churches, victim groups and law enforcement to make a positive change in the behavior of inmates. Programs included jail visits by ministers and job training and placement for inmates.
"Using sheriff personnel to supplement the Care Corps program significantly increased the cost of the program and raises questions about whether or not the full cost of the program was known by decision-makers," the report said, referring to the Wayne County Commission and the board of the commissary fund, which was built from the proceeds of sale of basic grooming materials to county jail inmates.
"Moreover, assigning sheriff personnel to the Care Corps program at a time when the sheriff department had a significant number of vacancies may have contributed to the overtime costs incurred by the department."
Overtime costs sending the Sheriff's Department budget into a deficit have been an ongoing problem. In 2002, overtime costs for the department exceeded $12 million, and eight deputies and corporals earned more than $100,000, including overtime, county records obtained by The Detroit News show.
The auditor's report is a blow to county Executive Ficano, who was sheriff during the three-year period covered by the audit, from 2000 to 2002. After 20 years as sheriff, Ficano became county executive on Jan. 1.
The Care Corps program was started by Ficano late in 1999 and terminated by Ficano's successor, Sheriff Warren Evans, in January 2003.
A written response to the report on behalf of the former sheriff rejected Dunleavy's central complaint that there was unauthorized use of Sheriff's employees to support the Care Corps program. Sheriff's deputies performed legitimate and necessary work related to the program, such as conducting security clearances on ministers who visited the jail and processing the release and return of inmates for job training, the statement said.
"Care Corps programs were important functions of the Sheriff's Department," the statement said. However, "certain operational practices of the Care Corps program could have been performed more effectively, and a couple questionable decisions could have been avoided."
Dennis Niemiec, a spokesman for Ficano, stressed that although there may be concerns about what pots of money Ford was paid from, nobody disputes that he worked the number of hours he claimed.
The report does not allege fraud or other criminal offenses, Niemiec said.
Paul Egan is a free-lance writer. He can be reached at (313) 732-7453 or paulegan@sympatico.ca.