St. Louis County police are investigating a Facebook comment posted by one of their officers allegedly bragging about extra income he earned while working during protests in Ferguson, Mo., a year after the killing of Michael Brown by a white police officer.
“I decided to spend my annual Michael Brown bonus on a nice relaxing bicycle ride trip to Defiance,” Officer Todd J (TJ) Bakula wrote, referring to a Missouri recreation destination about 40 miles from Ferguson, the Guardian reported Friday.
“Eating dinner now and staying at a bed and breakfast tonight,” he wrote on his personal Facebook page under the name TJ Thekoola.
Shawn McGuire, a media relations officer for St. Louis County police confirmed that the post was written by Mr. Bakula, saying he is a patrolman with the St. Louis County police department.
“We understand the post is controversial,” Mr. McGuire said, the Guardian reported. “The St. Louis County police department takes these allegations very serious in every case. The remarks on the Facebook page will be investigated by our department.”
According to the St. Louis Business Journal, police response to protesting in the wake of Mr. Brown’s killing in August 2014 cost St. Louis County a reported $4 million, including $2.5 million in overtime for police work.
The South County Times reported in January that St. Louis County police had “put in 121,938 hours of work since the shooting, which amounts to $3.9 million in overtime costs and $1.2 million in fringes.”
It was not made clear specifically how much overtime pay Mr. Bakula received for working at the protests.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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