Ethics

Ethics Meeting, August 10, 2016. Giftcards for Cops

l3wis August 15, 2016 8Comments

The Sioux Falls received a “couple” of donations or was it 300? An interesting Board of Ethics meeting in late morning August 8, 2016 happened where two Sioux Falls churches wanted to do something nice for Police Department employees by giving them thank you cards with random dollar amount gift cards.

We attended because we wanted to show the people of Sioux Falls how the process works and to watch how certain participants worked. This came down to the police department employees were getting “discounted” dollars off meals at certain food joints in town. We don’t know who or where but after the Police Department fills their collective stomachs at the hospital cafes, they now can get discounted food at these select food joints. No ethics problem with this is there?

Cameraman Bruce was there so the rest of the town didn’t have to go. To the credit of a couple of the board members, it was not a hard decision to make in rejecting the cards.

Sioux Falls Ethics Commission Rules SFPD must return gift cards

l3wis August 10, 2016 7Comments

I hope to have video up by tomorrow. You can read the ethics opinion request DOC: policegifts

The SF Police Department has a policy against receiving gifts (consumables, such as food) unless it is consumed on premesis (explains how they can stuff their faces at Avera).

The Ethics commission ruled they should return the gift cards they received from two local churches in appreciation for their service. While this may sound harsh, I agree with the ethics commission. I don’t think they should receive any monetary gifts. They get a paycheck for what they do, if that is not enough, they should talk to their union rep.

I hope to have more details soon.