17 Lansing police employees disciplined for Bridge Card misuse

LANSING -- An internal investigation into the misuse of Bridge Cards by officers led to 17 department employees being disciplined, Lansing police Chief Mike Yankowski said Friday.

Of those 17, Yankowski said three were suspended without pay. The suspensions ranged from one to five days, he said at a news conference at the department's central headquarters.

Yankowski was announcing the conclusion of an eight-month internal investigation into what happened to $14,000 in food and other items bought using Bridge Cards as part of fraud investigations.

He said the violations mostly surrounded how that food was "disposed of."

Instead of throwing it away or donating it to a food bank, employees consumed it, typically at a department office.

He said the investigation found "one instance where an employee took some of the food home."

"We have identified mistakes, we have changed leadership, corrected our practices and extended reasonable sanctions to those employees that were involved," Yankowski said. "I assure you that the proper corrective actions have been put in place to make sure this behavior will never be repeated."

The employees disciplined included three supervisors, 12 officers, a detective and a civilian. Five, he said, no longer work for the department. He said they left for reasons unrelated to the investigation.

The department's internal investigation findings contrasted some of what was reported to Michigan State Police during that agency's criminal investigation, which did not lead to charges being filed.

Among the claims made to state police were that officers boasted about getting free food, including steaks, and that at least one officer took multiple bottles of liquor home.

Yankowski said many of the allegations turned out to be unfounded. He said all the alcohol -- worth at least $2,100, according to police reports -- has been accounted for.

The case dates back to February 2013, after a woman who once dated a Lansing police officer assigned to special operations filed a complaint with the department.

The special operations unit had worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for three years to investigate Bridge Card fraud. The cards, which have replaced food stamps, function like debit cards.

The allegations led then-Chief Teresa Szymanski to immediately stop Bridge Card investigations, and she reassigned the leadership of the special operations unit. Szymanski, following departmental policy, requested an investigation by Michigan State Police.

In February of this year, the state attorney general's office decided not to pursue charges, citing a lack of evidence to proceed. State police then turned over its investigation to Lansing police internal affairs.