FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It’s sad enough that modern public school districts are forced to spend tax dollars to have their own in-house police departments.

It’s inexcusable when those police departments are run so poorly that they cost taxpayers far more money than necessary.

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That’s apparently the case in the Broward County, Florida school district.

A recent review of the school district’s police department revealed several distressing facts.

Among the worst is that department investigations of school employees, accused of various types of misconduct, have taken far too long, and have not been processed in any sort of timely manner, costing the district about $4 million more than necessary, according to an April 2016 report from Sun-Sentinel.com.

Even more infuriating is that the district says it has no policies in place to hold police officials accountable for the gross inefficiency.

According to school board policy, district police department investigations of school employees are supposed to be completed within 60 days, the news report said. But that has not occurred on any sort of consistent basis.

There have been reports of investigations going on for months or years.

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There has also been a huge backlog of processing police reports once investigations are complete, the news service said. Employees responsible for processing the reports are often given other duties that throws the work behind schedule, the report said.

According to Sun-Sentinel.com, “As of Feb. 1, there were 118 cases, according to district officials. Forty-four of them had been pending for more than 60 days, and 39 were carryovers from the 2014-15 school year.

“Between August and February, the police department cancelled seven out of 20 Professional Standards Committee meetings – during which cases are reviewed for cause – because no cases were ready.

“The delays cost the district an estimated $4 million.

Meanwhile, the quality of the police work is highly suspect. Many school board disciplinary actions against employees, which are based on police department investigations, have been overturned by administrative law judges, according to Sun-Sentinel.com.

“When the outstanding cases were finally processed over the last three months, the Professional Standards Committee determined that 54 percent either had no probable cause or warranted just a written reprimand …” the news report said.

Here’s the kicker. When asked by angry school board members and citizens if any police administrators would be held accountable for the gross inefficiency and waste, Broward County school district Superintendent Robert Runcie reportedly said no.

“Runcie said the police department had no procedure set up to measure and hold people accountable, ‘so it’d be difficult and somewhat unfair to begin to do that with folks,’” Sun-Sentinel.com reported.