From the Editor: Patterson PD moved quickly in funds probe

The Feb. 4 Patterson City Council meeting focused for a time on allegations that a member of the department, later identified as former volunteer chief Scott Domingue, used a department card for more than $14,000 in personal purchases and cash withdrawals between 2016 and 2019
A legislative auditor’s report containing the allegations had been released the day before. Media reports said the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office was investigating, but the case had landed on the desk of Patterson Police Chief Garrett Grogan.
Council members had some questions, spoken or implied: Was the DA’s Office foisting its work off on the Patterson PD? Should the investigation be handled by another agency, maybe one with more resources? And without a city government connection to create a possible conflict of interest?
But Grogan told the council what he told his contact from the DA’s Office:
“I told him point blank that it happened in Patterson and it will be handled in Patterson,” Grogan said.
One thing is clear: Any worry about whether the Police Department would slow-walk the investigation didn’t last long. Neither did the investigation.
Just before 5 p.m. Friday, within 72 hours of the council meeting, Domingue was in the PD’s headquarters. He’d been named in a warrant and booked on malfeasance and theft charges. He was released on bond.
This wasn’t a case that seemed likely to drag on anyway. An auditor working for the city government and the legislative auditor had already looked into the books and spotted the problems.
But Patterson police gathered the evidence from the local auditor, the legislative auditor and the current fire department leadership. They were able to link another $11,000 in misspent funds to Domingue.
It’s important to note that Domingue has denied intentionally misusing fire department funds, although he acknowledged that mistakes may have been made.
He deserves the presumption of innocence that extends beyond arrest to a grand jury or bill of information, all the way to a trial if that’s how the case plays out.
But if justice delayed turns out to be justice denied in the matter of the missing fire department money, it won’t be because the Patterson Police Department messed around.
***
Also at the Feb. 4 meeting, the council moved the time for its regular first Tuesday meetings to 6 p.m. The meeting time had been 6:30 p.m.
Now Patterson has the same meeting time as the Morgan City and Berwick councils and the St. Mary Parish Levee District.
The Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District and the St. Mary Parish School Board meet at 5 p.m.
***
At the same Patterson council meeting, the puns were flying, intentionally or otherwise.
Mayor Rodney Grogan paused at one point to mention that people were calling City Hall to get bear-proof trash cans, hoping to get some relief from scattered garbage. But City Hall doesn’t have them, Grogan said. You must go to Pelican Waste Inc. for them.
And the supply is short because more and more residents are having their trash cans upended by hungry nighttime visitors.
“I’ll have to ask you to bear with us,” Grogan said.
That drew a combination of laughter and groans from the audience.
Later, the council members talked again about the possibility of creating a new city cemetery, and another play on words flew under the radar.
One tract at the corner of Williams and O streets contains a small graveyard that hasn’t been maintained. The city owns three lots. Farther down O street there are more graves placed there by churches and benevolent societies.
City Attorney Russel Cremaldi stepped in with some cautions.
Running a cemetery is a long-term commitment, he warned. The city would have to see to street access and access to graves for mourners. Drainage would have to be accommodated. Someone would have to make sure that graves are placed where they’re supposed to be. There will be business and marketing demands.
It can be done, Cremaldi told the council, “but it’s a big undertaking.”
Bill Decker is managing editor of The Daily Review.