Caldwell police chief accused of misusing public funds. State police are investigating
A former officer has sued the Caldwell Police Department, alleging that under Chief Rex Ingram’s leadership the agency misused public funds and the patrol officer was fired “because he dared question” the chief’s conduct.
Nathan Douthit’s lawsuit filed last month, which focused on the department’s travel expenses and Ingram’s “personal meals and outings,” came after Idaho State Police began investigating allegations regarding Ingram’s spending.
State police in August provided the Idaho Statesman with records involving the investigation, which was closed at the time. In a letter written in July, an outside prosecutor tapped to review the investigation concluded that Ingram did not violate state law, and that the city authorized the spending after a thorough approval process.
But state police spokesperson Aaron Snell last week said the agency continues to investigate the allegations. He previously told the Statesman that the agency was asked to “investigate allegations that the Caldwell Police Department misused public funds,” but that no findings sustained the allegation.
“While we understand the public’s interest, this is an active investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details at this time,” Snell said. “Our focus is on conducting a thorough and impartial review.”
Caldwell Mayor Jarom Wagoner told the Statesman that state police reopened the investigation after Ingram spent $600 of the city’s money in September 2023 to participate in Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford’s annual golf tournament, which benefited his reelection campaign. Under state law, public officials can’t use taxpayer money on campaigns or political candidates.
Wagoner called the donation an “unfortunate error” that city officials have since rectified. The check was returned within days of discovering the mistake, he said, and Ingram contacted Clifford minutes after finding out the money was used for the sheriff’s campaign.
Filings on the state’s campaign finance website showed the contribution was returned in early November, days before the Idaho Dispatch, a conservative news outlet, published an article on the spending. The city plans to cooperate fully with the investigation, Wagoner said.
Ingram thought the golf tournament would be used to benefit a charity or another organization sponsored by the Sheriff’s Office, Wagoner said. A receipt of the donation obtained by the Statesman through Douthit’s attorney thanked Ingram for “supporting” Clifford’s reelection campaign.
“I support the chief 100%,” Wagoner said.
Ingram declined an interview request after the investigation was reopened. But he told the Statesman in August that he had done nothing wrong, and that all of his purchases were approved through the proper channels.
“When I’ve been cleared criminally and I’ve been cleared administratively, and been supported by my council, my mayor, my finance team — which are extremely rigorous checks and balances — enough is enough,” he added.
Lawsuit accuses Caldwell police chief of ‘reprehensible behavior’
In a 13-page lawsuit, Douthit questioned the agency’s increased spending. On May 13, Douthit emailed Wagoner, asking to schedule a meeting about his concerns about Ingram’s spending, according to Douthit’s complaint.
In another email written by Douthit’s attorney on behalf of his client, Caldwell-based attorney Kevin Dinius criticized Ingram’s management and what he considered “significant” taxpayer expenses for travel unrelated to training, the department’s newly created mounted unit, and personal meals and outings. He cited the costs of numerous meals at Indian Creek Steak House and other local restaurants, a meal at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and a suite for an Idaho Steelheads hockey game. Invoices reviewed by the Statesman showed that the meal at Ruth’s Chris cost $528, and the suite for the hockey game plus food cost nearly $2,200.
“I am hard-pressed to believe the taxpayers of Caldwell are going to approve of Chief Ingram using their money to eat at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and spending over $2,200 attending a Steelhead hockey game — among numerous other unlawful expenditures,” Dinius wrote in August.
Douthit was unable to meet with the mayor, because Ingram “almost immediately” opened an internal investigation that accused Douthit of making “disparaging remarks” toward the chief and other department administrators, according to the lawsuit.
The day after Douthit emailed Wagoner, he was placed on administrative leave and, in an “unprecedented move,” put on house arrest, according to the complaint. Ingram denied that it was “house arrest,” but acknowledged Douthit was required to stay home to be available to work and forced to call his supervisor if he left.
Caldwell police lifted the restriction after Douthit’s attorney pointed out the “unlawfulness” of the department’s order, the complaint said.
But Douthit remained on administrative leave for months, until he attended a hearing with Caldwell police leaders and the city attorney in July, when the city officials tried to convince Douthit to resign, according to the lawsuit. Douthit said he made it clear he had no intention of resigning. He was fired one month later.
Douthit’s attorney said his client was retaliated against and “subjected to a hostile work environment.”
“Mr. Douthit had an exemplary record as an officer with the Caldwell Police Department and did nothing more than question Chief Ingram’s own misconduct, bad acts and misuse of city resources,” Dinius wrote. “Mr. Douthit is a whistleblower regarding the chief’s and other administration official’s reprehensible behavior and has now been wrongfully terminated for exercising his right to free speech.”
Douthit declined to be interviewed through Dinius.
Idaho State Police continues investigation
The initial state police investigation was triggered by an anonymous letter that was sent to the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office in March over allegations that the trainings Ingram attended were actually “extravagant vacations” funded with taxpayer dollars, according to the letter, which was provided to the Statesman through a public records request.
“I am appalled at this flippant abuse of a public official and am hoping you can help,” the accuser, identified only as a “concerned citizen,” wrote in the letter. Dinius told the Statesman by phone that Douthit didn’t write the letter and declined to comment further.
A report of Ingram’s spending by the Idaho Department of Finance flagged several purchases, including Christmas party tickets for the spouses of Ingram and Deputy Chief Shawn Sopoaga, upgraded flight seats and many transactions for food, events and sponsorships. The report was part of several documents released to the Statesman in August by Idaho State Police.
Kristen Butler, an investigator for the state’s financial department, wrote in her report that any transactions she questioned were based on her understanding of the agencies she’d worked with and what they allowed.
“A review of Caldwell Police Department’s policies and procedures may show that these are allowable transactions, and Mr. Ingram’s position may follow a different set of expenditure rules which I am not aware of,” Butler wrote in her report.
One of the other expenses flagged in the state’s financial review included a hotel stay for Ingram and Sopoaga for a graduation ceremony at a training academy in Florida. In emails between Idaho State Police Detective Victoria Gooch and the state’s financial investigator, they pointed out that the trip was five or six days and questioned why Ingram and Sopoaga would need to spend more than three days in Florida.
“I’m just not sure what the other 2-3 days were for,” Butler wrote in a June email to Gooch. “If they went to po-dunk nowheres ville, I wouldn’t question it, but I see FL as a vacation destination.”
Many of the issues raised by Butler weren’t addressed in the letter concluding that Ingram’s spending was approved.
The letter, written by Boise County Prosecuting Attorney Alex Sosa, flagged two allegations of concern: that the department paid for Ingram’s wife to travel with the officers, and that Ingram used city funds to pay for his personal music service. Sosa wrote in the letter that a review of expenses showed only police personnel travel, and that Ingram’s travel booking account “inadvertently” auto-populated his wife’s name. Sosa said the music charge was a mistake and was repaid.
Over the course of a year, members of the Caldwell Police Department also paid for eight meals at Indian Creek Steakhouse that cost roughly $1,300. Receipts and requisition forms reviewed by the Statesman showed that all of those meals were attended by several people and were listed as business meetings. It’s unclear how many of those meetings Ingram attended.
Ingram wants to ‘change the culture’ at Caldwell police
Ingram defended his spending in an August interview with the Statesman. He said he was hired to “completely change the culture” at the Caldwell Police Department.
In the last two years, city officials have increased the department’s budget by millions as part of an effort to bring the agency into the 21st century through needed training, conferences and events, he said, which would rebuild relationships with other agencies, bring in new technology, and move the agency toward best practices and industry standards in law enforcement.
Ingram took the department’s top job in 2022 amid an FBI investigation that prompted the federal indictment of two officers. Since his appointment, the department’s budget — primarily funded through property taxes — has increased by over 40%, or roughly $5 million. More than half of that spike went to salary raises.
On average city employees are now paid $70,500 a year, according to a Statesman database from Caldwell city records. The Caldwell Police Department increased employees’ salaries by nearly 30% in the last two years, Ingram said. Ingram’s salary also spiked from $157,000 last year to $182,000 this year, a 16% increase. He’s the city’s highest-paid employee.
“Every expenditure that I’ve made — that we’ve approved here — is all within department policy, within the mission, vision and values of the organization, and within state law,” Ingram told the Statesman. “These are things that are critical to the forward progress of this organization.”
He also defended the Ruth’s Chris and hockey game purchases. Ingram told the Statesman that police have made it a habit to take outside agency members who visited the department for coaching or a business meeting to lunch, and that he plans to continue to do so. On occasion, he’s also treated his staff members to meals.
In October 2023, he and several Treasure Valley law enforcement leaders were invited to have dinner at the upscale Boise steakhouse with a “revered” former Navy SEAL. Ingram said the meal included him, Sopoaga, the event’s organizer and the speaker.
Ingram said the Steelheads suite was a holiday party for members of the executive staff and significant others to show his appreciation for leading the department “through very turbulent times the last two years,” referring to the federal investigation. The cost of the Steelheads suite was cleared by both Wagoner and the City Council, he added.
“I feel that is good spent tax money,” Ingram said, “to keep the best qualified employees here and treat them with the level of respect that they deserve for protecting and serving our community.”
Wagoner echoed that sentiment. He said both the police department and the city have been focused on training and retaining employees, especially given that it can cost upward of $100,000 to train a new officer. When the city loses an employee, he said, it loses all that institutional knowledge with them. Buying a meal for officers helps them feel valued, he told the Statesman.
Wagoner said the city is also transiting to purchasing cards, also known as P-cards, for employees so that the city can have “greater control” on spending and allow for more transparency on purchases.
Caldwell City Council Member Chris Allgood — who spent 30 years with the police department, eight as police chief — declined to comment on Ingram’s spending. But he told the Statesman he’s OK with agencies spending money at restaurants, so long as it’s conservative.
‘There’s a buzz in Caldwell:’ Ingram increases training opportunities
One of the largest spikes in spending included an increase in training. Ingram spent over $35,000 on flights and other travel expenses to attend more than a dozen conferences and trainings across the country from December 2022 to May 2024, according to receipts, requisition forms and credit card statements reviewed by the Statesman.
The most expensive trip was a three-week trip to Boston in July 2023 for the Police Executive Research Forum, which offers management training for senior-level police executives. Ingram’s travel expenses, along with the event registration, cost over $12,000, the financial records showed.
Ingram said leaders who attend those conferences bring that training back to the entire staff. In regards to the training in Boston, Ingram said it was one of the most prestigious trainings “in the entire world” for police executives and that it allowed him to network with agencies.
“Personally, some of the training that I go to is not necessarily for me to get trained — now I get takeaways from little nuggets here and there — but it’s to see if I want to bring those folks to provide training here,” Ingram said.
When Ingram attended the Western States Sheriffs’ Association Conference in Reno, Nevada, he met an expert in risk management training who then came to Caldwell to provide that training to officers, he said.
His deputy chief also attended several trainings and conferences, and Ingram said the department made it a priority to increase learning opportunities among the rank-and-file officers. Trainings included the National Public Safety Innovation Academy in Polk County, Florida, for officers moving into supervisory positions.
Ingram said there aren’t any training programs in Idaho for officers moving into supervisory roles, so he’s seeking them out. He added that these opportunities also help create partnerships between the Caldwell Police Department and other agencies both locally and federally and build a level of trust that had fractured in years past.
“The things that were happening here prior to our arrival was a leadership problem,” Ingram said, referencing the federal investigation. “It was a lack of oversight. It was a lack of accountability. I never want to see this place go backwards to where it was.”
“If I can get the council and the mayor to approve as much money as they can to send our people to training, that’s what I’m going to do,” he added.
The Caldwell Police Department budgeted $228,000 for training expenses this fiscal year, which includes traveling to out-of-state conferences, according to the agency’s budget.
Some of the outside training for lower-ranking officers has included a $1,585 tactical training course in Phoenix, a $600 crisis and hostage negotiation course in Boise and a leadership course for two officers on SWAT decision-making, which totaled about $2,400 for the multi-day course and lodging in Washington, according to invoices and receipts.
Before Ingram’s arrival, the department spent less than $500 per officer on training, which Ingram called criminal. That broke down to about 20 hours of training for each officer a year, according to the city. Now the force is getting 8 to 10 hours of training a month.
“We are completely crushing it here,” Ingram said. “There’s a buzz in Caldwell.”
