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PAUL DE LA GARZA and STEPHEN NOHLGRENFederal investigators are reviewing allegations that Bay Pines police falsified documents and were pressured to drop a theft investigation.
ST. PETERSBURG - Federal officials are investigating whether police officers at Bay Pines VA Medical Center falsified training records and were pressured by hospital administrators to stop reviewing allegations of theft.
The investigation by the criminal arm of the Veterans Affairs inspector general was prompted by a complaint in February from James A. Singer, a detective with the VA police at Bay Pines.
In the three-page letter, obtained by the St. Petersburg Times, Singer alleged police Chief Charles Kohmann and Assistant Chief Judy Slisz "have engaged and continue to engage in misconduct that violates VA policies and the law."
Jon Wooditch, a VA inspector general spokesman, said he could neither confirm nor deny investigators were looking into the allegations at the police department. He said the inspector general does not comment on criminal investigations that could be forwarded to the U.S. Attorney.
In an interview Wednesday, Kohmann and Slisz said they had done nothing wrong.
"There are so many checks and balances to the VA police, I don't think if one wanted to they could do anything inappropriate," Kohmann said. "I know we haven't."
Bay Pines is the target of multiple federal inquiries. Investigators are looking at allegations of mismanagement and a flawed $472-million computer system.
In his complaint, Singer recounted an encounter last April with training officer Sgt. Ron Kempienski during a routine firearms inspection by the central office in Washington.
Singer said there were no training records for Kohmann and Slisz and Kempienski told him "he was being pressured to create training records to avoid problems with the chief and the assistant chief."
"He asked me what I would do in this situation," Singer wrote. "I told him that I "Wouldn't be doing that!' The fraudulent training records were created and presented to the inspector."
In his complaint, Singer also claimed he was pulled from a preliminary investigation by his superiors and the Bay Pines front office and told to "destroy all notes and to forget about being called about issues which I felt were, or may turn into a criminal matter."
That case involved Dawn Johnson, the former director of Fisher House, a shelter for families of patients. Investigators had been looking into allegations money donated to Fisher House was misused.
After starting his job last April, Singer said his superiors warned him against cooperating with inspector general investigators. He said Slisz told him the police department worked for associate hospital director Susan Angell, and she "doesn't like the (Office of Inspector General) sticking their noses in "our' business."
Angell declined to comment.
Bay Pines spokesman John Pickens said the VA does not comment on ongoing investigations.
In his letter, Singer acknowledgedthat he had filed a grievance against Kohmann and Slisz for harassment, creating a hostile work environment and hindering an investigation. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Kohmann denied any wrongdoing and said investigators had not interviewed him. He volunteered to meet with them to tell his side.
"They can come talk to me any time they want," said Kohmann, 56.
He said he believed investigators had interviewed other members of his staff. The police department employs 37 people, including nine operators and five dispatchers.
Slisz, who sat in on the interview at the chief's request, said she had not met with investigators and had done nothing wrong.
She declined further comment.
Kohmann, who is in his fourth year as police chief, said criminal investigators from the inspector general and the Office of Security and Law Enforcement, which oversees the VA police force, took records of firearms training and other documents from police headquarters a few weeks ago.
He said he complained to hospital administrators afterward because the investigators did not let him know what they were taking. He said he then got a visit from one of the investigators, Steve Rivers of the Office of Security and Law Enforcement, to apologize. Kohmann declined to say whether they discussed the focus of the investigation.
Kohmann said he and Slisz took the required firearms training and denied that any records were falsified. He said a routine firearms inspection by the central office in Washington last June found office records to be in order.
Kohmann and Slisz also said the police department never investigated the allegations of impropriety at Fisher House.
Kohmann said he was on vacation when the allegations about Fisher House surfaced and he had heard "bits and pieces."
Kempienski, the training officer, said he could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.
- Paul de la Garza can be reached at delagarza@sptimes.com or 813 226-3432. Stephen Nohlgren can be reached at nohlgren@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8442.