An opinion or a question we will let the reader decide.
This is part Three of Bad Cop turned Mayor.
When we last left off in the investigation of former Prescott Valley police officer, now mayor of town, Kell Palguta, we had described how he was getting in trouble with his superiors quite often and had received numerous letters of discipline from his commander and a lieutenant. In that edition of this series of reports we described how awkward a time he had in Dusty’s Hookah Bar where he trolled for confidential informants there along the 3300 block of Windsong Drive in Prescottt Valley.
And of course, part One was mostly about lack of judgment and being busted down from Sergeant to corporal, and of course a three-fatality auto accident following a high-speed chase.
But let’s go back in sequential order because of the voluminous disciplinary letters that were given to this reporter under an open records law request. They described other problems with Palguta that one high ranking officer described this way, “ It appears to me that the results of this investigation and the prior matters listed above demonstrate an ongoing failure of leadership on the part of Sergeant Palguta. I am aware of significant efforts by staff to mentor Sergeant Palguta to increase his supervisory performance abilities since the first occurrence of concern. However, the recent action by his supervisor and the result of this investigation indicate that Sergeant Palguta has failed to improve in the role of a Sergeant since the first occurrence.”
Looking through more than a dozen disciplinary letters (from high-ranking officers) given to Palguta, it seems never ending that this troubled cop was bound to be in trouble, always. His HR file shows that in the Month of August 2012, numerous paragraphs were written about potential errors on his time sheets. The commander simply wasn’t buying the number of total hours logged per week. In legal terminology this might be called falsification of time sheets. But all this writer is saying is: Time after time, Palguta’s superiors quoted town policies on code of conduct, disciplinary actions, grounds for automatic dismissal, conduct unbecoming of an officer and misconduct, and the law enforcement code of ethics and more.
He misplaced his radio and lost a pager and Supervisor Fessler will give him counseling and place in PPR, said one entry into Palguta’s service jacket obtained by this writer.
Profanity over the phone with dispatch, he lost his two-way radio for a time but later found it.
(was one subheader in one disciplinary memo)
Palguta is tracking meetings with his newly purchased personal organizer- Lt. Edelstein wrote. This reporter feels sorry for Edelstein who had his hands full with Palguta; Edelstein is a good cop and is now assistant chief of police. He said, “I recommend you continue work to improve your attention to these details in order to properly document and follow through on your tasks and your responsibilities as a Patrol Sergeant.
“Sgt. Palguta Indicated that there were written warnings to drivers that occurred out of the time frames he worked the detail. This was another case of him writing warnings for the wrong day.”
Memo indicating Palguta disciplinary probation is being extended 90 days through
8 /9 / l l for failure to serve effectively in supervisory role for failure to faithfully comply with department requirements with regard to informant use and narcotics investigations and to effectively train and guide his team in doing the same.
In a Personnel complaint in January 2013, investigators added to their time sheets, investigations of the following: Palguta engaged in outside employment by starting an LLC polygraph business which also provides services for the Prescott Police Department. This was done without filling out the required paperwork for the Town of Prescott Valley and no notification was made to his supervisor pursuant to Town Code 2-35; Town Policy 2-20 “Code of Conduct”, Town Policy 2-21 “Disciplinary Action”, “Grounds for Automatic Dismissal”; General Orders Volume 1\110.40 …”which describes how to act at all times with credibility and integrity”. And when Sgt. Brandon Bonney interrogated Palguta in January 2013, he went as far back as May 2012 discrepancies on time sheets.
Bonney said, in his disciplinary report, “I told Sgt. Palguta that there were issues of dates and times lining up. The required OOHS paperwork did not match with the timesheets and varied from ADSi CAD reports from dispatch. …(different funding sources for cop hours) “ I read him the above-listed allegation to discuss. The concerns with this allegation included the 30-minute overlap of time on his departmental timesheet as well as his grant overtime slip. I then asked him about the traffic stops. I asked him if he had occasion on the dates in question not to call in all of his traffic stops. He told me it was absolutely dead on. I asked him why he hasn’t been calling them in. He told me he hasn’t called in all his stops for approximately 3 to 3 ½ years. He told me it was a judgment call. He was stopping soccer moms and people he felt as a police officer he wouldn’t call out.” And, Sgt. Paiguta put in for two hours of GOHS pay from 1100 to 1300. The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) funds programs aimed at enhancing road safety. So, the department was pulling from various funding sources to cover overtime, etc. wrote one source for this article.
The Gravy Train
“There is no indication from a CAD report that he radioed any traffic contact in during that time. He also has no citations in ADSi (which is a computer aided dispatch system) for that day. No stat sheet provided.”
And there were numerous times he wrote the wrong date on the warnings he gave car drivers and “ran with it.” But Bonney reminded him he signed sheets that have the phrase “Time sheets are accurate”on them. And when asked about missing written driver warnings he did remember when he pulled over a DUI suspect in a golf cart and simply did not cite or arrest the driver.
Bonney’s report also said, “It is clear that Sgt. Palguta did not fill out the proper paperwork to seek employment outside the Town of Prescott Valley and did not share any information about his business with his supervisors. This is corroborated by his statement that he did not do this and doesn’t recall if he ever filled out paperwork for employment going back to at least his tenure at Yavapai College.” Palguta was an instructor at Yavapai College instructing Administration of Justice Classes.
Bonney said, “I also learned that, in addition to not calling in the stops, he was also not running warrant or driver’s license checks on the drivers. This highlights another problem in that there is a possibility that driver’s could have been released to drive who had warrants for their arrest, suspended driver’s licenses and other issues (like insurance issues or major prior violations). This omission could open Sgt. Palguta and the department up for liability for not acting in due diligence to find those answers before putting someone back on the road.”
On another date, Palguta put in for hours worked with a grand Jury in Yavapai County court, but Bonney checked and you guessed it – no Grand Jury that day. Time after time, too umerous to list here, Bonney challenge Palguta on weekly time sheets that do not ad up and Palguta answered with old “I forgot and wrote the wrong date and time in.”
Officer Eller had identified inappropriate actions of Sergeant Palguta and other members of CRT (Crisis Response team) relating to drug investigations and informant use in obvious violation of the directives of department superiors, yet has not been at liberty to discuss this information or “do the right thing” in fear of retaliation from Sergeant Palguta and others, which Officer Eller feels may cause serious ramifications to his career with the Prescott Valley Police Department.
There is sufficient documentation to show that Sgt. Palguta failed to adequately complete these documents as required, likely due to poorly-done paperwork and inattention to detail. These allegations are SUSTAINED as violations of Town Policy 2-1410 time records; Town Policy 2- 20 “Code of Conduct”, Sec, 6.1 and 10.1.
Each of these matters, although they have been individually addressed at the time, involve the same deficiencies in Management and/or Supervisory performance as are manifested by this investigation.
[Do Palguta’s management deficiencies and poor supervisory performance rub off into his mayoral duties?]
Despite past corrective action plans (e.g. probation, extended probation and discipline, and Written Reprimands), Sergeant Palguta has admitted to seven (7) egregious timesheet errors where such errors in reporting jeopardize the Police Department’s grant funding from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS), said Palguta’s disciplinary memos obtained by this reporter.
In other situations, he was reprimanded for not taking care of his gun and he once lost a pager.
He has also admitted to failing to utilize his police radio and failing to follow up with the background of persons stopped (as directed by Policy and Procedure) based on a gut feel (potentially placing himself and the department at risk). Finally, he has admitted to failing to complete required paperwork (and failing to notify anyone in his Chain of Command) of outside employment which, by its nature, could readily result in conflicts with another agency and other conflicts-of-interest. These are clear violations of Police Department General Orders and/or Town Policy violations (Genera/ Orders, Vol. 3, §830.20 (Recommendation of Penalty/Administration of Discipline: Verbal Counseling; Written Reprimand; Performance Warning Notice; Disciplinary Probation; Administrative Suspension With Pay; Disciplinary Suspension Without Pay; Involuntary Demotion and Reduction in Pay; Dismissal) and §830.30) DID SOMEONE FALSIFY TIMESHEETS? That’s a harsh allegation so we will let you the reader decide.
When we last left off in the investigation of former Prescott Valley police officer, now mayor of town, Kell Palguta, we had described how he was getting in trouble with his superiors quite often and had received numerous letters of discipline from his commander and a lieutenant. In that edition of this series of reports we described how awkward a time he had in Dusty’s Hookah Bar where he trolled for confidential informants there along the 3300 block of Windsong Drive in Prescott Valley.
And of course, part One was mostly about lack of judgment and being busted down from Sergeant to corporal, and of course a three-fatality auto accident following a high-speed chase.
But let’s go back in sequential order because of the voluminous disciplinary letters that were given to this reporter under an open records law request. They described other problems with Palguta that one high ranking officer described this way, “It appears to me that the results of this investigation and the prior matters listed above demonstrate an ongoing failure of leadership on the part of Sergeant Palguta. I am aware of significant efforts by staff to mentor Sergeant Palguta to increase his supervisory performance abilities since the first occurrence of concern. However, the recent action by his supervisor and the result of this investigation indicate that Sergeant Palguta has failed to improve in the role of a Sergeant since the first occurrence.”
Looking through more than a dozen disciplinary letters (from high-ranking officers) given to Palguta, it seems never ending that this troubled cop was bound to be in trouble, always. His HR file shows that in the Month of August 2012, numerous paragraphs were written about potential errors on his time sheets. The commander simply wasn’t buying the number of total hours logged per week. In legal terminology this might be called falsification of time sheets. But all this writer is saying is: Time after time, Palguta’s superiors quoted town policies on code of conduct, disciplinary actions, grounds for automatic dismissal, conduct unbecoming of an officer and misconduct, and the law enforcement code of ethics and more.
He misplaced his radio and lost a pager and Supervisor Fessler will give him counseling and place in PPR, said one entry into Palguta’s service jacket obtained by this writer.
Profanity over the phone with dispatch, he lost his two-way radio for a time but later found it.
Palguta is tracking meetings with his newly purchased personal organizer- Lt. Edelstein wrote. This reporter feels sorry for Edelstein who had his hands full with Palguta; Edelstein is a good cop and is now assistant chief of police. He said, “I recommend you continue work to improve your attention to these details in order to properly document and follow through on your tasks and your responsibilities as a Patrol Sergeant.
“Sgt. Palguta Indicated that there were written warnings to drivers that occurred out of the time frames he worked the detail. This was another case of him writing warnings for the wrong day.”
Memo indicating Palguta disciplinary probation is being extended 90 days through
8 /9/11 for failure to serve effectively in supervisory role for failure to faithfully comply with department requirements with regard to informant use and narcotics investigations and to effectively train and guide his team in doing the same.
In a Personnel complaint in January 2013, investigators added to their time sheets, investigations of the following: Palguta engaged in outside employment by starting an LLC polygraph business which also provides services for the Prescott Police Department. This was done without filling out the required paperwork for the Town of Prescott Valley and no notification was made to his supervisor pursuant to Town Code 2-35; Town Policy 2-20 “Code of Conduct”, Town Policy 2-21 “Disciplinary Action”, “Grounds for Automatic Dismissal”; General Orders Volume 1\110.40 …”which describes how to act at all times with credibility and integrity”. And when Sgt. Brandon Bonney interrogated Palguta in January 2013, he went as far back as May 2012 discrepancies on time sheets.
Bonney said, in his disciplinary report, “ I told Sgt. Palguta that there were issues of dates and times lining up. The required OOHS paperwork did not match with the timesheets and varied from ADSi CAD reports from dispatch. …(different funding sources for cop hours) “ I read him the above-listed allegation to discuss. The concerns with this allegation included the 30-minute overlap of time on his departmental timesheet as well as his grant overtime slip. I then asked him about the traffic stops. I asked him if he had occasion on the dates in question not to call in all of his traffic stops. He told me it was absolutely dead on. I asked him why he hasn’t been calling them in. He told me he hasn’t called in all his stops for approximately 3 to 3 ½ years. He told me it was a judgment call. He was stopping soccer moms and people he felt as a police officer he wouldn’t call out.” And, Sgt. Palguta put in for two hours of GOHS pay from 1100 to 1300. The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety ( GOHS) funds programs aimed at enhancing road safety. So, the department was pulling from various funding sources to cover overtime, etc. wrote one source for this article.
The Gravy Train
“There is no indication from a CAD report that he radioed any traffic contact in during that time. He also has no citations in ADSi (which is a computer aided dispatch system) for that day. No stat sheet provided.”
And there were numerous times he wrote the wrong date on the warnings he gave car drivers and “ran with it.” But Bonney reminded him he signed sheets that have the phrase “Time sheets are accurate “on them. And when asked about missing written driver warnings he did remember when he pulled over a DUI suspect in a golf cart and simply did not cite or arrest the driver.
Bonney’s report also said, “It is clear that Sgt. Palguta did not fill out the proper paperwork to seek employment outside the Town of Prescott Valley and did not share any information about his business with his supervisors. This is corroborated by his statement that he did not do this and doesn’t recall if he ever filled out paperwork for employment going back to at least his tenure at Yavapai College.” Palguta was an instructor at Yavapai College instructing Administration of Justice Classes.
Bonney said, “I also learned that, in addition to not calling in the stops, he was also not running warrant or driver’s license checks on the drivers. This highlights another problem in that there is a possibility that drivers could have been released to drive who had warrants for their arrest, suspended driver’s licenses and other issues (like insurance issues or major prior violations). This omission could open Sgt. Palguta and the department up for liability for not acting in due diligence to find those answers before putting someone back on the road.”
On another date, Palguta put in for hours worked with a grand jury in Yavapai County court, but Bonney checked and you guessed it – no Grand Jury that day. Time after time, too numerous to list here, Bonney challenge Palguta on weekly time sheets that do not add up and Palguta answered with old “I forgot and wrote the wrong date and time in.”
Officer Eller had identified inappropriate actions of Sergeant Palguta and other members of CRT (Crisis Response team) relating to drug investigations and informant use in obvious violation of the directives of department superiors, yet has not been at liberty to discuss this information or “do the right thing” in fear of retaliation from Sergeant Palguta and others, which Officer Eller feels may cause serious ramifications to his career with the Prescott Valley Police Department.
There is sufficient documentation to show that Sgt. Palguta failed to adequately complete these documents as required, likely due to poorly-done paperwork and inattention to detail. These allegations are SUSTAINED as violations of Town Policy 2-1410 time records; Town Policy 2- 20 “Code of Conduct”, Sec, 6.1 and 10.1.
Each of these matters, although they have been individually addressed at the time, involve the same deficiencies in Management and/or Supervisory performance as are manifested by this investigation.
[Do Palguta’s management deficiencies and poor supervisory performance rub off into his mayoral duties?]
Despite past corrective action plans (e.g. probation, extended probation and discipline, and Written Reprimands), Sergeant Palguta has admitted to seven (7) egregious timesheet errors where such errors in reporting jeopardize the Police Department’s grant funding from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS), said Palguta’s disciplinary memos obtained by this reporter.
In other situations, he was reprimanded for not taking care of his gun and he once lost a pager.
He has also admitted to failing to utilize his police radio and failing to follow up with the background of persons stopped (as directed by Policy and Procedure) based on a gut feel (potentially placing himself and the department at risk). Finally, he has admitted to failing to complete required paperwork (and failing to notify anyone in his Chain of Command) of outside employment which, by its nature, could readily result in conflicts with another agency and other conflicts-of-interest. These are clear violations of Police Department General Orders and/or Town Policy violations (Genera/ Orders, Vol. 3, §830.20 (Recommendation of Penalty/Administration of Discipline: Verbal Counseling; Written Reprimand; Performance Warning Notice; Disciplinary Probation; Administrative Suspension With Pay; Disciplinary Suspension Without Pay; Involuntary Demotion and Reduction in Pay; Dismissal) and violation of §830.30)
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