The former chief ranger told us that it had been 2 to 3 years since the purchase of the distraction devices and he could not remember in detail what conversations took place or what led to the purchase. He said that it was possible that he approved the purchase, but he could not recall. He never saw any of the devices that were purchased.
Regarding the supervisory park ranger's purchase authority, an MNP administrative officer told us that he was issued a Government purchase card with a purchase threshold of $3,000. The administrative officer said that the supervisory park ranger could make purchases as long as they were approved by the chief ranger. She also said that if he needed to make a purchase above his $3,000 threshold, he would still need approval from the chief ranger, after which he could then go directly to the contracting officer, who would make the purchase as long as funds were available in the law enforcement account.
The administrative officer recalled that one year the supervisory park ranger was "kind of spending blindly" with his purchase card and had overspent the law enforcement account by several thousand dollars. She did not remember what he had purchased; she was more concerned with the dollar amount balances on the account. She remembered that because of his overspending, the former chief ranger restricted his purchasing privileges, but she could not provide any more detail about the restriction. The former chief ranger confirmed that because the supervisory park ranger routinely made purchases without his permission, at one point he prohibited the supervisory park ranger from using his Government purchase card without first coming to him for approval.
The fourth park ranger we interviewed recalled overhearing conversations between the supervisory park ranger and other park rangers in which they discussed purchasing flash-bang distraction devices as part of a program designed to allow rangers to escape ambushes. The park ranger recalled seeing the devices in July or August of 2013, stored in cardboard boxes inside a closet in the back room of the supervisory park ranger's office at MNP. The park ranger did not know when the devices were purchased, how they were purchased, or who purchased them.
The park ranger/armorer told us that he had completed the FBI's Basic Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) course and the flash-bang instructors’ course. He said that the recommendation to purchase flash-bang distraction devices was "probably" his idea, which the supervisory park ranger agreed with and then tasked him to draft an SOP on their use. The park ranger/armorer said that the supervisory park ranger later told him that he had obtained approval from the then-chief ranger to purchase the devices and had spoken with the law enforcement specialist for the Pacific West Region, who said that nothing in NPS policy prohibited the purchase. The park ranger/armorer did not believe that NPS policy specifically addressed the use of flash-bang distraction devices.
The park ranger/armorer also told us that once the devices had been procured, they were secured in a safe in the supervisory park ranger's office. He told us that he prepared a draft SOP and provided it to the supervisory park ranger, but he did not know what the supervisory park ranger did with the document. He said that he was not aware of the devices being issued to any of the rangers and as far as he knew, they remained secured in the supervisory park ranger's office.
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