Former Oakland, Nebraska, police chief charged with misdemeanor theft

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — The previous police chief of Oakland, Nebraska, has been charged in federal court docket with misappropriating public funds after a state audit discovered he’d spent almost $15,000 in metropolis funds on private gadgets.

Terry Poland was charged March 15 in U.S. District Court docket with utilizing lower than $1,000 on the town funds to buy a basketball backboard for his dwelling. The cost is a misdemeanor punishable by as much as a yr in jail.

In June, the Nebraska State Auditor’s Workplace discovered that Poland had used metropolis funds to purchase an extended listing of non-public gadgets, from a $950 glass basketball backboard to ice-fishing tools, a $400 wake surfboard and a Yeti cooler. The purchases went again to 2020.

The chief, in response to the audit, had maintained he was utilizing reward playing cards he had bought with metropolis funds to purchase ammunition for the police division.

The identical audit discovered that Poland and two different native cops had double-billed hours for patrolling the streets to each Oakland and close by Lyons.

The Oakland Impartial reported in October that Poland had paid restitution for what was bought.

Poland, who had served as police chief within the northeast Nebraska neighborhood since 2016, resigned in July and turned in his state certificates to function a legislation enforcement officer.

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