Raisin Twp. officials mum on missing property

Lacking documentation, and no response from Raisin Township administrators, raises questions about the location of equipment the Raisin Township Police Department (RTPD) received through a federal program starting in 2006.It is unclear if taxpayer dollars were used in the transfer, sale or retrieval, or maintenance of equipment procured through the Military Surplus Program.Incomplete documentation has hindered a Tecumseh Herald investigation into RTPD’s participation in the 1033 federal program, more commonly known as the “Military Surplus Program” in the township.The 1033 program was created in 1997 to transfer excess military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies across the country. Raisin Township was one of those agencies though it has since ceased participation. Three-hundred five documents dating as far back as 2006, obtained by the Herald through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, show a history of poor inventory documentation of the 1033 equipment at the township. An inventory list compiled by the Herald from the obtained documents shows the township received over 150 different items. Some of those items include: • Humvee• Five M-16 rifles • Boats• 1994 Ford F-800 Custom Cab• Other assorted trucks• All-terrain vehicles• Diver masks, knives and compasses• Land Rover Defender 110 Ranger Special Operations VehicleUnder the 1033 program, there are two classifications of products available to participating police departments, according to Michelle McCaskill, Media Relations Chief at the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense. There is general property, such as computers, cables, gym equipment and things not military in nature, and controlled property, which is equipment more military in nature like Humvees and firearms, which the agency continuously tracks. “They have to keep records for that equipment,” McCaskill said. “They have to account for that type of property.” After one year, general equipment becomes the property of the police department and the DLA no longer tracks it. According to the DLA, as of June 30, 2015, RTPD had five M-16 rifles, five sights, two binoculars, six training rifles, six load-carrying equipment sets, six extreme cold weather jackets, a telescope and a wheeled all-terrain vehicle.Of the more than 150 items compiled in the Herald’s inventory, only 15 have documentation of being transferred to other departments. Those departments were Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety, Madison Township Police Department, Mason County Sheriff's Office, Clearwater County (Idaho) Sheriff Department, Battle Creek Police Department, Bad Axe Police Department and Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police Department. An official inventory list of all items received by RTPD, transferred to other departments, sold to the public or returned to the 1033 program was not provided in the FOIA request. Four messages, three at the department and one on his cell phone, left for RTPD Chief Kevin Grayer over two days were not returned. A message to Raisin Township Supt. Jim Palmer was also not returned before publication. The last known phone number for former Raisin Township Public Safety Director Scott Lambka was no longer in service. The FOIA request filed by the Herald on June 11, 2015, sought:• Any and all information, records, documents identifying the equipment, supplies and inventory the Charter Township of Raisin received through its “Military Surplus Program” • Any and all information, records, invoices relating to the transfer, sale or purchase of “Military Surplus Program” inventory, including information relating to township expenses for shipment of, or travel to collect, “Military Surplus Program” equipment• Any and all correspondence and emails after August 1, 2014, between former Public Safety Director Scott Lambka and Supt. Jim Palmer, Supervisors Jay Cavanaugh and all trustees regarding any mention of the “Military Surplus Program” and equipment, supplies and inventory of the program A response from Palmer received with the Herald’s FOIA request stated, “Please be advised that no documents were located that relate to the expense for travel to collect ‘Military Surplus Program’ equipment.” There were also no emails located between Lambka, Palmer, Cavanaugh and township trustees. Emails suggest Lambka and other RTPD officers traveled to pick up equipment obtained through the 1033 program. Locations mentioned in the emails and possibly traveled to include Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, Florida and California, though no official records exist confirming any travel to these locations. Documents show three items were sold over the programs lifetime at the township. A 1996 Dodge Dakota was sold to Don Mellon for $800, according to a township receipt signed by Lambka with a date of December 17, 2014. A 26-passenger bus was sold to Trevor Clement for $400 cash, according to a township receipt signed by RTPD Clerk Charity Wright, dated January 8, 2015.A Linde tig/stick welder was sold on eBay October 1, 2013 to Steve Janka in Van Wert, Ohio, for $255. A township bank statement from First Federal Bank shows a deposit of $329.08 on October 24 from PayPal, eBay’s online payment system. A township receipt dated September 22, 2014 showed the township received $1,429 cash for equipment sales and scrap of the impound lot. What was sold and scrapped was not noted. It was signed by Wright. Eleven days before the sale of equipment and scrap in September 2014, the board approved rehiring Lambka after he entered his resignation in August 2014. At a September 11 special meeting, which is absent from township meeting minute records online, the board rehired Lambka in the interim at half his remaining wages for the year plus benefits with one of his duties being the sale, transfer and return of military surplus equipment. At that meeting, Palmer said the township couldn’t do anything with the military surplus equipment until October, as the state and federal governments were not allowing the township to move or sell any of the equipment. In a letter to Cavanaugh dated November 5, 2013, Lambka wrote that while items were sold through eBay successfully, the hassle and fees with eBay created extra work. There was no other documentation showing if more than the tig/stick welder was sold online. He continued, “We believe that it makes more sense to hold one auction in late spring or early summer to sell everything.”In that letter he said the equipment was acquired at no cost to the township other than the fuel to pick up the items, general maintenance and vehicle fuel and insurance. “An item that I can list for auction as running and operational will bring much more money than an item listed as unknown or ‘as is’ condition,” Lambka also wrote. There is no documentation an auction ever occurred. Automatic emergency defibrillators (AED) the township acquired were given to “every small police department in the county” — one AED per vehicle, according to a letter from Lambka to the Raisin Township Board of Trustees dated Monday, March 10, 2014. Lambka also wrote he was able to get and give away first aid kits, known as IFAKs, to issue one to every police officer in Lenawee County, including the local Michigan State Police. In that letter he wrote, “We did not incur any cost in these acquisitions,” and that he had some items that would be leaving that week. There were no records any items were transferred or sold the week of March 9. Also within that letter, Lambka asked for authorization to “dispose of any equipment not being utilized by the department within the parameters of the LESO [Law Enforcement Support Office] 1033 program and to conduct an auction this summer [2014] to dispose of any and all equipment authorized by LESO to offer for sale. The proceeds of this auction will be placed in an account to be used for Law Enforcement Counterdrug [sic] initiates and not to be placed in the general fund.”At a special board meeting a few days later on March 12, 2014, the board voted to “allow chief Lambka to remain in the military surplus program and to conduct an auction at his discretion under the LESO parameters.” Lambka’s March letter concluded, “I have my complete inventory file and all supporting documents in my office if any of you wish to review them or discuss this topic further.” No complete inventory file was produced for the Herald’s FOIA request. Raisin Township entered the 1033 program in late 2005 and was approved to participate in the program February 1, 2006. An email dated March 3, 2006, had Lambka writing that “to date we have been awarded (4) Kevlar helmets for tactical responses, (3) M-16 rifles, (2) handheld radar guns and a 1 Ton 4x4 pickup.” There were no documents relating to the Kevlar helmets or radar guns. A Chevrolet van Raisin Township gave to Adrian Township was sold in a public auction in April 2009, according to an email chain from December 2010. In the email chain, Lambka wrote, “It’s too bad I didn’t know that. I would have sold that vehicle myself and used the money for equipment.” The only document given to the Herald in the FOIA request relating to costs incurred to the township is a receipt for $67.50 on April 2, 2012, in Lemoyne, Penn. The receipt was signed “Raisin Twsp (sic) Police Dept (sic)” and doesn’t state if the item, which is unidentified, was physically picked up or shipped. At the board’s second monthly meeting, which was held last Monday, Aug. 24, Cavanaugh had placed “Military Surplus” on the agenda. While he was unable to attend the meeting after the item was placed on the agenda, trustee Tom Hawkins discussed the topic briefly. “Do we have an inventory or a listing of all the materials we had come in, what is their current disposition and what was the net cost or benefit to the township,” Hawkins said. “I think that’s something we ought to have on file.”Township resident Steve Orlowski attended the meeting specifically to hear the board discuss the “Military Surplus Program,” and had questions about why the board was not investigating the program over a year after the program became an issue. “I know that some of these pieces of equipment cost us money, either to get running, or to go get it, or whatever,” Hawkins added. “Did we make money or lose money? And then put it all in a file and have it there. I don't suspect anything nefarious... We had a big blue bus out there and now we don’t. I’m sure it’s perfectly accounted for. Did we make money it or did we lose money on it.”Trustee Debra Brousseau said it seemed like the equipment disappeared overnight.Cavanaugh said in an interview Wednesday, Aug. 26, there’s no accountability for how much money was spent with the program. “It’s a lack of transparency,” Cavanaugh said. “If you spend money, you have to show where it’s coming from and going into. That does not happen with this program.” On Tuesday, Aug 25, a Herald reporter and Hawkins entered the township’s blue storage building located on Occidental Highway next to the township hall, where remaining military surplus equipment was being stored, in hopes of taking inventory on what the township had. A large refrigerator, 2001 Ford Expedition, generators and a large assortment of empty ammunition cans were observed. RTPD Sgt. Randy Escott, who had opened the building for Hawkins and the reporter, questioned what the reporter and trustee were doing in the building without informing Grayer. Hawkins said Palmer gave him permission to enter the building with the reporter. The tour of the storage building was cut short at the request of Escott.