Carraway v. Sayad

717 S.W.2d 280, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4742
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 30, 1986
DocketNo. 50960
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 717 S.W.2d 280 (Carraway v. Sayad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carraway v. Sayad, 717 S.W.2d 280, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4742 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

CRANDALL, Judge.

Captain Gay Carraway (Carraway) was found guilty by the Board of Police Commissioners of the City of St. Louis (Board) of violating certain regulations and special orders of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. After a hearing, the Board assessed punishment at a written reprimand. On appeal to the Circuit Court, the court reversed. The Board appeals. We affirm the judgment of the Circuit Court reversing the Board’s decision.

The scope of judicial review for an administrative agency decision is limited to a determination of whether or not the order is supported by competent and substantial evidence based upon the whole record. Moran v. Whaley, 608 S.W.2d 446, 447 (Mo.App.1980). The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the decision of the Board. Miller v. Whaley, 581 S.W.2d 916, 917 (Mo.App.1979). Neither this court nor the Circuit Court may substitute its judgment for that of the administrative board. McNeal v. Bequette, 571 S.W.2d 657, 658 (Mo.App.1978).

We must determine, however, if the Board’s findings and conclusions are reasonable in light of all the evidence presented. Moran, 608 S.W.2d at 448. If they are clearly contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, it is our duty to-reverse the Board’s decision. Id.

At the time the charges were brought against him, Carraway had been a police officer for twenty-seven years. He was a captain and commander of the Seventh District Police Station, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (Department), at all times pertinent to the charges; namely, from January 1, 1978 to November 19, 1982. Pour charges were filed against him, alleging that he violated certain provisions of the police manual and special orders issued by the Chief of Police. The charges arose out of Carraway’s alleged mismanagement of the station’s Flower Fund. The Flower Fund consisted almost exclusively of proceeds from vending machines which were located in the station house. The investigation against Carra-way was prompted when a shortage was discovered in the Flower Fund.

An evidentiary hearing was held before the Board. The evidence adduced at the hearing established that, during Carra-way’s command, the Seventh District was the only district in the City of St. Louis involved in an experimental program known as “team policing.” The three goals of team policing were to increase job satisfaction for the police officers, to enhance police services to the community, and to improve police relations with the community. A special task force met once a week to implement these goals. Carraway was a member of this task force and attended the weekly meetings. The task force gave Carraway a great deal of latitude and encouraged him to be creative in furthering the proposed goals of team policing. Although there existed a special order limiting the uses of the vending machine proceeds,1 the task force expanded the uses [283]*283for the money. In general, the Seventh District was granted “exceptions” from the strict requirements imposed upon the other districts.

Carraway did not himself keep the records for the Flower Fund. His administrative aide, also a police officer, actually kept the books. Neither the aide nor Carr-away had been given instructions on how to properly record transactions in the Flower Fund. Carraway made all the officers in the district aware of any unusual expenditure and solicited their approval. He also signed the Flower Fund quarterly reports prepared by his aide.

The record indicates that the Seventh District had more money than any other district in its Flower Fund. In addition to a checking account with as much as $1600 in it, large amounts of cash were kept in the station house. For each quarterly report, Carraway’s aide balanced the checkbook but did not reconcile the cash on hand with the amount shown on the ledgers. This procedure was followed from January, 1978 until July, 1982. In July, when the aide was preparing the quarterly report, he noticed that the cash on hand did not appear to correspond to the amount listed on the report. He counted the cash and discovered that a discrepancy of $1125 existed. When he told Carraway about the shortage, Carraway was confident that it was just a mathematical error and suggested that the books be reconciled by a Mrs. Barbara Brown, the bookkeeper at a neighboring church. Carraway signed the quarterly report for July, 1982, which did not reflect the $1125 shortage. By the time the October, 1982 report was due, Mrs. Brown had not located the error. The October report was submitted, again without indicating the shortage. In November, 1982, Carraway was transferred to another district. When the commander who replaced him became aware of the shortage in the Flower Fund, he retrieved the books from Mrs. Brown and notified the Chief’s office of the missing funds.

An internal audit of the Flower Fund records from January 1, 1978 to November 19, 1982 revealed that the shortage was actually $1547. The audit disclosed that, although the ledgers were kept in a reasonable fashion on their face, numerous receipts and disbursements had never been recorded. All police officers in the Seventh District were allowed to get cash advances from the fund in return for written I.O.U.’s which they repaid on the following payday. These I.O.U.’s were not recorded and were not carried over into the next month; they were destroyed upon repayment. Carra-way also made donations to the neighboring high school’s yearbook fund, to the United Fund Drive, to the policemen’s vest fund, to a fund for sickle cell anemia, and to various police officer memorial funds. He bought tickets for police benefit games and distributed them to children in the district. He purchased numerous office supplies, paid for seminars for his officers, bought lunch for a group of foreign visitors, and bought Christmas gifts for civilian personnel in the station house. He gave money for the district’s annual police-community cookout, for Christmas baskets for the needy of the district, and for the repair of a wheelchair for a retired police officer. He also donated liquor for a police chiefs’ convention held in St. Louis.

When questioned about these expenditures at the hearing, Carraway said that not only had they been authorized by the task force for team policing, but that they had never been challenged on his quarterly reports. He felt that the disbursements complied with the Department’s special order pertaining to vending machine revenue because they were made “for the benefit of all members assigned to a district, and [were] used only for members within the district.” He stated that such unorthodox [284]*284uses of the Flower Fund furthered the goals of team policing by improving community relations and by promoting job satisfaction within the district. He also said that he did not report the discrepancy immediately to his superiors because he was confident that the mistake was merely a mathematical error. He stated that he was unaware that the Department had its own auditing unit available for his use.

Charges and specifications alleging violations of the rules and regulations of the Department were filed and a disciplinary hearing held. Carraway was found guilty of violating Rule 3, Section 3.102 of the Police Manual2

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Bluebook (online)
717 S.W.2d 280, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4742, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carraway-v-sayad-moctapp-1986.