When Officer Reese Jenkins was injured on the job this year, he
was floored by the number of calls and outpouring of support he received from
his colleagues in the Baton Rouge Police Department.
Concerned co-workers donated some $500 to aid his recovery,
entrusting their contributions to David K. Stewart, an officer who spread the
word via email of Jenkins’ “financial demands” and the overwhelming
circumstances he faced.
While he was flattered by the response, it struck Jenkins as odd
that the hat was being passed by Stewart, an officer with whom he was not
particularly close.
“We never talk about my finances,” he later told an
investigator.
Jenkins’ superiors shared his misgivings and began investigating
Stewart this summer on suspicion of theft and malfeasance in office after
Stewart kept the contributions for himself for several weeks.
Even though Stewart misled Jenkins about a credit union account
that didn’t exist, detectives could prove no “criminal intent” in his actions
and were told by a prosecutor recently that they didn’t have a case, according
to police records.
An internal investigation, however, concluded Stewart committed
“conduct unbecoming an officer,” prompting Chief Carl Dabadie to suspend him
for three days. The Advocate reviewed the investigative records Tuesday,
following their release in response to a public records request filed last
month.
Efforts to reach Stewart on his cellphone Tuesday for comment
were unsuccessful.
Dabadie did not respond to a request to discuss the case and the
disciplinary action he chose. In an address to the Baton Rouge Rotary Club last
month, he said he was trying to bring a greater level of accountability to the
department “to ensure that we are producing the best possible service for this
community.”
“It’s time that people be held accountable,” Dabadie said.
“We’re going to do that, and we have been doing that.”
The Police Department began concurrent investigations in June
after Jenkins, 37, returned to work from an injury that required arm surgery
and had sidelined him since February.
The internal affairs inquiry sought to determine if Stewart had
run afoul of any departmental policies, while detectives separately
investigated whether he had broken any Louisiana laws.
The department routinely handles criminal investigations
involving its own employees and only rarely calls upon an outside agency to
conduct an independent inquiry.
On April 15, Stewart sent an email beseeching his colleagues to
consider Jenkins in their prayers, and with their wallets.
Supervisors found the message unusual, but Stewart told them he
had received approval to send it to the department.
“We have an officer in need,” the email said of Jenkins. “His
circumstances are indeed overwhelming and are becoming worse because of
financial demands.”
The message elicited a series of concerned calls and text
messages from Jenkins’ brothers in blue. One came from Lt. Chris Becnel, of the
Baker Police Department.
Baffled, Jenkins told Becnel he hadn’t told anyone he needed
financial help, documents show.
Jenkins is quoted in police records as saying he was “doing
fine” and knew where to turn if he ended up in a bind.
Nevertheless, Stewart was collecting cash contributions from a
number of officers.
Two wrote checks for $100. Stewart also wrote a $100 check, but
never gave any of the money to Jenkins, even after he returned to work.
After Stewart sent out the email, Dabadie’s secretary, Michelle
Iverson, suggested the contributions be held in an account at the City-Parish
Employees’ Federal Credit Union. Previous collections for officers wounded in
the line of duty have been kept in such accounts.
At some point, after Jenkins called to thank Stewart for leading
the collection effort, Stewart said that some of the donations had been
deposited at the credit union.
But records show that when the recovering officer went there to
collect them, he was informed that no account had been created in his name.
Stewart declined to provide a statement to detectives during the
criminal investigation but told internal affairs officers he had been keeping
the donations in an envelope at home.
“It’s been sitting up on my shelf where I keep my keys in my
apartment, and for some odd reason I just kept forgetting it,” Stewart is
quoted as telling internal affairs officers. “I wish I had brought it two weeks
ago and I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
He added, “Man, I hope that fella don’t think I stole that
money.”
The contributions were turned over to detectives as evidence,
and it wasn’t clear from records whether Jenkins ever received any of the
money.
Department emails show Jenkins requested at one point that the
money be given to John Colter, a detective who was seriously injured in a
motorcycle crash over the summer.
The three-day suspension wasn’t the first time Stewart has been
admonished by his supervisors. He was verbally counseled last year after
pulling over an off-duty Baton Rouge police officer for speeding and driving
erratically in Livingston Parish.
The traffic stop, which occurred outside Stewart’s jurisdiction,
was followed by a heated exchange between the officers that was captured on
Stewart’s dashboard camera.
