The purpose of this article is to introduce to you what will be a regular feature of the Evidence Log. There were two primary factors that helped reach a decision to provide property related articles in each issue. One was a series of requests from property and evidence seminar attendees, and the other was the results of a series of Internet searches for property and evidence Issues.

First, over the past twelve years I have had the opportunity to teach property room basics and concepts to well over 3,000 law enforcement professionals nationwide. During this time, class members have shared stories about specific misdeeds, scandals, mismanagement, and scenarios that would frighten the most tenured law enforcement officials. All too frequently class members say they wish that their bosses knew how serious the problem was, and that providing them with copies of these stories might be a starting point.

Second, we all recall occasionally seeing newspaper articles about controversial incidents where law enforcement officers mishandled or misplaced property and evidence. It was the perception of this author that these problems were few and far between. In most of the incidents, the story made headlines, the local agency investigated the allegations, and the issue was resolved. In some cases the leadership of the organization was criticized, and the integrity and credibility of the profession were questioned, but most citizens ultimately accepted the results of the inquiry and considered the incident an isolated one.

Were they really isolated? Some recent journeys on the "Information Superhighway" have prompted me to ask instead, "Who's minding the store?" By taking advantage of the WorId Wide Web, a search of approximately twenty daily newspapers from coast to coast was made recently. The purpose was to determine if stolen or lost property and evidence was just a blip on the screen, or a fundamental law enforcement problem. Unfortunately, we as law enforcement managers are facing a number of credibility and integrity problems within many of our communities throughout the country. This is not to say that all agencies are having problems in their property rooms, but this limited research found a great deal of data indicating management must focus more attention on managing the property function and insuring that necessary controls, audits and inventories are in place.

Imagine being a taxpayer and being asked to approve a bond issue for some type of financial support for the local police or sheriff's department and seeing one of the following headlines in your local paper:

Ex-Officer Enters Plea ... For Stealing Drugs Los Angeles Times
Ex-Officer Guilty Of Drug Deals, He Ran The Police Evidence Room Philadelphia Inquirer 
Police Employee Faces Jail Time Chicago Tribune
Ex-sheriff's Employee Sentenced for Gun, Cash Theft Observer-Times
FBI Expands Search for Missing Cocaine Akron Beacon Journal
Ex-Cop Investigated For Drug Theft, Selling Hundreds Of Pounds Of Marijuana Philadelphia Inquirer
Some Missing Metro Evidence Money Materializes Las Vegas Sun

As you read each one, look for the mention of situations which seemingly cry out for policy or procedures which would have prevented the incident from happening. It should be noted that in most cases the individual and department names will be eliminated to protect the innocent (and the not-so-innocent), and keep in mind the newspaper may be reporting a story which occurred in a nearby community, rather the one in which it is published.

Ex-Officer Enters Plea
Gets 3 Years' Probation For Stealing Drugs
Los Angeles Times
Helen Guthrie Smith, Staff writer

A fired ***** officer has been allowed to enter a drug diversion program and was placed on three years probation for stealing a rock of cocaine from a police evidence locker. *****,27, was facing trial on misdemeanor charges of possession of cocaine and embezzlement by a public employee when he entered a plea bargain in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Monday.

Judge David Horwitz allowed ***** to have drug diversion on the first count and ***** entered a no contest plea to the embezzlement charge, also a misdemeanor, said Deputy District Attorney *****. The conviction on the latter charge, under Section 504 of the state Penal Code, means ***** can never again get hired by any government agency in California. Drug diversion, the prosecutor explained, "is essentially a drug counseling program for first-time offenders."

The three-year police veteran's offenses occurred on July 2 ***** said. He said ***** removed the drugs from a night evidence locker and drove to EI Dorado Park. Officers who followed him said they found a piece of rock cocaine in his car at 5:35 A.M. Police Lt. ***** explained how the arrest came about: the narcotics were missing, and an investigation was conducted to check the integrity of the system, and as a result, he was arrested."

Ex-Officer Guilty Of Drug Deals;
He Ran The Police Evidence Room, Stole Drugs And Guns, And Sent Them To Nephew
Philadelphia Inquirer
Julia C. Martinez, Staff Writer

A retired Florida police officer was found guilty by a federal jury yesterday of stealing cocaine and guns from his department's evidence room over seven years and giving them to a nephew in Philadelphia for sale on the streets.

***** and his nephew were indicted by a federal grand jury last May on charges of conspiring to distribute 10 kilograms of cocaine in Philadelphia between 1987 and 1994, distribution of cocaine, and sending and receiving stolen firearms across state lines.

***** supervised the department's evidence and property room, where seized drugs and guns were stored. One of his jobs was to destroy narcotics and firearms no longer needed for evidence or other purposes.

In August 1994, ***** was arrested in Philadelphia on drugs and weapons charges. Police confiscated 2.2 pounds of cocaine, 12 firearms, a bullet-resistant vest and $1,035 in cash. The indictment said ***** began pilfering drugs and guns from materials to be destroyed in 1987, a year after he became supervisor of the evidence and property division.