SAN BERNARDINO – The city has reached a $7,500 settlement with a private investigator who says he was owed money for looking into alleged police misconduct. policy requires council approval on expenditures of $25,000 or more.
According to the arbitrator, Schneid was led to believe Kilmer had the authority to hire him for the investigation, partially because Kilmer failed to disclose his spending authority was limited to $25,000.
Kilmer could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The arbitrator found that Schneid worked 323 hours on the investigation and applied a fee of $125 an hour, based on testimony from Kilmer that when he was police chief in Bell Gardens, fees for outside help ranged from $80 to $150 an hour.
He then added $500 for an initial criminologist review, which brought the total to $40,875.
Deducting $22,000 already paid by the city, the arbitrator said Schneid was owed $18,875.
City Attorney James F. Penman said the likely reason the council chose to settle was because the final amount, $7,500, was so much lower than the $39,000 that Schneid had sought.
Police Chief Keith Kilmer hired private investigator William Schneid in June 2009 to review internal investigations and allegations that included a police sergeant illegally detaining suspects and stealing Police Department funds.
Schneid filed a lawsuit last year saying the city breached an oral contract and owed him nearly $39,000 for his work.
An arbitrator issued a nonbinding ruling that Schneid should be paid $18,875 on top of the $22,000 the city had previously paid him. Schneid said in a statement Tuesday that he was satisfied with the settlement.
The decision to seek a settlement came out of a recent closed session of the City Council. Most members declined to comment or could not be reached Tuesday.
However, 7th Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack said she did not approve of the settlement.
“I voted against it because the man was paid, in my opinion, what he deserved,” McCammack said. “He doesn’t deserve a penny more.”
According to the arbitrator, Kilmer and Schneid were friends, and when Kilmer approached Schneid about the investigation, they did not discuss fees or the scope of the work.
There was no written contract between Schneid and Kilmer, but the arbitrator found an oral contract existed between Schneid and the city.
San Bernardino
