State Comptroller Investigation On CPD Canine Team Yields Three Findings

A State Comptroller’s investigation of the Cookeville Police Department Canine Team resulted in three findings against the unit.

According to the report released Tuesday, the Team Coordinator used city facilities to train and kennel dogs for a personal business and used a city email address to send documents related to the sale of canines.

The police department and the city of Cookeville also failed to document the trade of a dog between the department and coordinator.

A deficiency in internal controls contributed to the conflict of interest. The Cookeville Police Department does not have a policy prohibiting personal use of facilities.

Department officials indicated that they have corrected or intend to correct this deficiency. The coordinator also acknowledged that the facilities were used for personal use.

The Comptroller’s Office initiated the investigation after receiving allegations of possible irregularities involving a CPD canine trainer. The investigation was limited to selected records for the period February 2018 through November 2020.