Former Costa Mesa police chief admits he abused city credit card

Costa Mesa’s former police chief confirmed that he was suspended in 2010 and ultimately resigned from the city after an investigation found that he had charged gas for his personal vehicle on a city credit card.

“Bad judgment? Yes,” said Chris Shawkey, 52. “I should’ve gone to the city manager and said, ‘What do you want me to do?’ and work it out that way. But that was really the only thing outside of my employment agreement.”

Expense reports submitted to his department over his four years — he was hired in 2006 — show he charged hundreds of gallons of gas across California, Arizona and other states.

But that was all within his right, Shawkey said, pointing out that his employment agreement seemed to allow the practice.

The agreement granted the Arizona transplant a city-leased vehicle and unlimited mileage, but did not specify that he only could use the card or vehicle on city business, he said.

However, Shawkey acknowledged that he improperly used the card, about 10 times, by his estimation, when he was traveling in his personal vehicle, an SUV. His city-issued Ford 500 wasn’t big enough for his wife and kids, he said.

The billings were approved by the Finance Department and signed off by his subordinate, then-Capt. Ron Smith.

“I didn’t hide the receipts,” an exasperated Shawkey said. “I turned in the receipts. What am I hiding?”

Even though Smith reported to him, Shawkey was adamant that Smith would have stood up to him if something were done incorrectly. The process for approving the chief’s expenses changed after he left the department, he said.

Shawkey, a father of five and a Coto de Caza resident, said a recent Times Community News story about him being a finalist for a police chief’s job in Washington state made him step forward.

“I felt now was an opportunity, if anyone’s interested, for me to kind of get my side out there and kind of balance things out,” he said. “When this whole thing happened, I never really got the opportunity to put my side out there because I was bound by the investigation at the time.”

Shawkey runs his own private investigations company, CS and Associates Consulting and Investigations, and wants to become a police chief again. He was the runner-up for the Washington job, he said.

In fall 2010, then-City Manager Allan Roeder suspended Shawkey amid allegations of abusing his city-issued credit card and absenteeism.

While he’s owned up to his mistake with the former, it’s the latter accusation that frustrates Shawkey the most.

“No one should ever question my dedication,” he said. “I was certainly there; I put in more than 40 hours a week.”

joseph.serna@latimes.com