A Bonney Lake police sergeant resigned this week following an internal investigation over improper usage of a traffic safety grant.

According to Police Chief Mike Mitchell, the sergeant had ordered officers to go home after reaching a maximum number of traffic stops per shift, whether the shift was over or not, in violation of department policy.

Six officers and the sergeant were involved in the investigation. All of the officers involved will remain on duty. Mitchell said the sergeant resigned before any disciplinary action was taken.

The city is not releasing the sergeant’s name, but multiple sources within Bonney Lake have confirmed to The Courier-Herald the sergeant in question is Ken McDonough.

The investigation began following a Sept. 3 phone call from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission in which Program Manager Lynn Drake expressed concerns with the way some of the department’s officers were working the speed emphasis patrols required by a grant the city receives.

According to Mitchell, the department receives more than $30,000 in grants to pay overtime for officers who participate in traffic emphasis patrols, such as speed patrols, DUI emphasis and party patrol.

As a condition of the grant, officers are required to make three traffic stops – or “contacts” – per hour per shift for a total of 24 stops. But in Bonney Lake, some of the numbers did not seem to add up.

According to Mitchell, Drake provided specific names and dates, prompting a preliminary investigation within the department.

“What we saw was a lot of production up to a certain point in the shift and then production dropped off,” Mitchell said, adding that something in the number of tickets being written seemed suspicious.

“I noticed everyone was writing the same number of infractions,” he said.

An internal investigation was launched.

Mitchell said the investigation revealed a sergeant had told his unit three tickets were required, not just stops, and when they reached 24 tickets, they were to go home.

Despite the order to go home, Mitchell said, all but one of the officers in question remained on the clock and performed other duties rather than leaving early. The other officer left early on two occasions, Mitchell said.

Mitchell said one officer challenged the sergeant, but was ordered to stop writing tickets when he reached 24.

Mitchell said the sergeant’s orders amounted to “somewhat setting a quota” on the number of tickets written and the order to go home after reaching 24 tickets is “contrary to our ethics and our policies.”

According to the release, the resignation “came as a direct result of the internal investigation.”

“When we learn of things like this … we take corrective action,” Mitchell said.

This is not the first time McDonough has run afoul of policy. In 2003, he was fired from the force by then-mayor Bob Young and then-Police Chief Bryan Jeter for inappropriate use of city communications, assault of a private citizen, retention of department property at his home and allowing unauthorized passengers during ride-alongs.

The letter of termination alleged that pornographic material was found on his computer, including some that file notations indicated were obtained during working hours.

The Bonney Lake Police Guild filed a grievance on McDonough’s behalf and the city was forced to re-hire him. Since then, McDonough was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Mitchell said the investigation makes it clear that the department must monitor its grant requirements more closely, but said the investigation did not jeopardize any of the city’s grant funding.

“It was an eye-opener, but I believe our agency has a high work ethic and high ethical standards and it actually helped us internally and reinforced that to everybody here,” Mitchell said.

Mayor Neil Johnson said he was pleased with how the department handled the investigation.

“What you do when things happen is what you’re going to be graded on and the chief did a heck of a job,” Johnson said Thursday. “I’m glad the state brought this to our attention.”

Johnson praised Mitchell’s handling of the situation and as well as the “efficient and professional manner” with which the department responded to the questions from the Traffic Safety Commission.

“We have a great department,” Johnson said. “This is done and over with and we are moving forward.”