Patrol bureaucracy under scrutiny for buying '38 Ford

Saturday, July 19, 2003
By Jon Craig
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

State Highway Patrol officers dodged legislative scrutiny when they bought a 1938 Ford Cabriolet two years ago for display at their training academy, a newly reported investigation found.

Buying the rare convertible with $41,000 in drug-forfeiture money did not violate Ohio's purchasing laws, Inspector General Thomas P. Charles said. "Nonetheless, in our view, these actions appear contrary to the intent of these laws,'' he said.

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The classic phaeton, restored to look like a patrol car of that era, was bought at the direction of then-Highway Patrol Superintendent Kenneth L. Morckel, who is now director of the Department of Public Safety.

It is displayed at the academy's Heritage Hall, along with motorcycles and other patrol memorabilia, off 17th Avenue near the state fairgrounds.

The car was purchased from Carl E. Massey of Bucyrus -- an acquaintance of Patrol Lt. Col. Ernest Howard. The car surfaced during a probe of numerous employee complaints about Howard's "improper conduct.''

Massey, of Carl's Auto Sales and Service, has repaired the patrol fleet for years, according to Charles' report.

But the car's title was transferred from Massey to his wife, circumventing a requirement to seek Controlling Board approval. Massey already had made $15,728 worth of repairs for the patrol that year, so a $41,000 car purchased from him would have necessitated the board's approval, required for expenditures of more than $50,000.

OFCC Volunteer Rick Jones had this to say after reading this story:

I've done some looking around and found out just what could have been purchased with all this money. The totals come close to but, do not exceed the 41,000 dollars in question. With this money you could buy:

- 82 new Remington, 12 gauge shotguns @ $500 each
- 50 new Sig Sauer, p229, 40 caliber pistols @ $800 each,
- 41 new S&W model 1911, 45 acp pistols @(full retail) $1000 each,
- 4 new M-16's, full auto, at say $10,000 each,
- 6 new, most expensive, Trijicon rifle scopes @$5,900 each,
- 41,000 rounds of the best ammunition, for rifle, pistol, and shotgun @ $1.00
per round,
- or you could supply the units with,
over 27,000 gallons of gasoline @ $1.50 per gallon,
- over 800 hours of overtime pay @ $50.00 per hour.

We have to wonder - when the Patrol bureaucracy shows this little regard for legislative oversight on such expendatures, why are some Senate leaders willingly handing all law-making authority to Gov. Taft and the Highway Patrol on HB12?

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