Audit slams police use of gas cards

An internal audit released last week raises questions about gas purchases made by Tampa police officers using city-issued Shell gasoline credit cards.

"We could not conclusively determine if all gas purchases were for City of Tampa vehicles and for business purposes," concludes the audit.

According to the report, 77 purchases show officers bought more gas than the tanks of their city cars could hold. In some cases, they bought twice as much as the fuel tank capacity. The audit also found more than 140 gas purchases totaling more than $5,700 for cars that have been impounded or forfeited through drug arrests, even though such cars are generally not driven. Auditors also rapped police officers for wasting more than $3,000 on purchases of premium gas, a violation of a policy that requires using regular gas when possible.

The audit looked at all gasoline purchases made using the Police Department's 1,136 Shell cards from December 2005 through May 2007. In no cases did officers use their credit cards on days they weren't on duty, which would have been the most obvious indication of misuse, said Roger Strout, director of the city's internal audit department.

Assistant Police Chief Michael George attributed most of the irregularities to bookkeeping errors and said new procedures should prevent future problems. Five officers, though, were disciplined for using premium gas.

Times staff writer