(These entries are comprised of actual news article quotes. Parts deemed insignificant by this editor have been omitted. "*****" has been substituted for some names.) Los Angeles Times (CA)
The Los Angeles Police Department is "sloppy" when it comes to storing and accounting for guns, drugs, jewelry, electronic equipment and other property seized by police, the city's controller said Wednesday. A 35-page audit released by Controller ***** found that the LAPD's supervision of property has internal weaknesses that jeopardize the success of criminal prosecutions and create easy opportunities for abuse and theft. Each year, the LAPD's property division processes about 250,000 pieces of property, ranging from weapons, cash and guns to blood and semen-stained clothing. Officials said the LAPD's 18 police stations received, on an annual basis, about 13,000 guns, $2 billion worth of drugs and as much as $5 million in currency. Auditors discovered that some of those items were either misplaced or missing with no explanations. Other property, such as drugs, were not always kept in the most secure locations. In one case, some "high-value drugs" and cash were stored next to employees' snack foods in a vault. "They don't have good inventory control," ***** said. "They have a lot of improvement to do here." While acknowledging that improvements can be made, LAPD officials bristled
at the accusation that the department is careless in handling and securing
property. "It's absolutely untrue," said *****, head of the LAPD's fiscal
and support bureau. "The volume of evidence we process is staggering ...
This is a system that deserves commendation instead of being attacked."
Ledger-Enquirer (AL)
Additional theft charges were filed Tuesday against a former ***** police captain accused of taking evidence from the police station. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation charged *****, 41, in February with first-degree theft of property for allegedly taking an investigative case file and about $1,400 in cash. He was indicted by the Lee County grand jury this week on that charge and an additional four counts of theft after a subsequent investigation turned up other missing items .... The evidence was from small, unsolved cases or ones that had already
been prosecuted. The disappearance did not effect the outcome of any trial,
***** said. The total amount of cash reported missing was about $3,375
.... * * * * *, who spent 20 years on the ***** police force before resigning
in February, has been released on bond from the Lee County jail. He had
overseen the police department's staff services division, which includes
supervision of the evidence room.
Detroit News (MI)
A former FBI evidence technician who stole more than $56,000 from a
fault was sentenced Wednesday to a year in federal prison. ***** admitted
that he stole cash from the valuable evidence vault of the FBI's Detroit
bureau during 18 months ending in 1996 .... He said he stole from a total
of 13 evidence bags, ***** said. After removing cash, ***** resealed the
bags to make it appear the bags still were full of money. In other instances,
he took the entire bag.
Macon Telegraph (GA)
GBI investigation into missing Houston drug evidence inconclusive Houston
County Sheriff ***** said Tuesday he doesn't expect criminal charges to
be filed in the apparent theft of crack cocaine from the Houston County
Courthouse. Late last week, he received the results of a GBI investigation
into the theft, which was discovered after a November inventory of a walk-in
vault at the sheriffs office in Perry. The results of the report were inconclusive
.... "I'd like to know who took it, but we can't pull somebody out of the
thin air," he said. The cocaine was being stored in the vault as a courtesy
to the court. The drugs had apparently already been used in a trial and
were officially in the care of the court reporter. After the cocaine was
discovered missing, ***** decided his office would no longer store evidence
that had already been used in trials. At least four employees at the sheriff's
office in Perry had access to the vault, which remained unlocked during
work hours. Financial records and office supplies were also kept in the
vault. One office employee was fired after refusing to cooperate with the
OBI's investigation.
Online Athens
Authorities reportedly have lost evidence in the murder investigation
of Jon Benet Ramsey, forcing them to retrace their steps. Detectives have
told friends of the Ramseys they no longer have evidence from some interviews
and palm prints that the friends had given earlier, the Rocky Mountain
News reported Sunday. In one case, evidence from two interviews conducted
the day after the 6-year-old's body was found on Dec. 26, 1996, was missing
just two weeks later, sources told the News.
Kalamazoo Gazette (MI)
Federal authorities on Monday said they'll take a crack at solving the
***** police evidence room drug thefts that other agencies had left for
dead more than two years ago. "There is a federal investigation into allegations
of drug thefts from the ***** Department of Public Safety evidence room,"
said the chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Grand Rapids. "There are serious allegations of corruption," he said, adding
that the new investigation is expected to take six to nine months to complete.
***** and ***** Public Safety Chief ***** met with a Kalamazoo Gazette
reporter Monday to announce a joint investigation into the unsolved thefts
of large amounts of crack cocaine and other drugs from the evidence room. Copyright © 1998 International Association for Property and Evidence, Inc. Reprinted from the Evidence Log, Volume 1998, Number 2, Page 25 |
