No matter how much we complain about our situation, there is always somebody in worse shape. Here are a few condensations of news articles to not only make you glad you are as well off as you are, but hopefully to point out some mistakes others made so you can avoid getting in the same situation. Thanks to Steve Rutledge, Florida Division of Law Enforcement, for making sure we got this first one! 

Associated Press January 15,2004 
Man Fights for Return of $1,000 Bill 

PINE LAWN, MO - The mayor of this St. Louis suburb fancied a rare $1,000 bill that was seized in a traffic stop, so the town wrote the driver a check and the politician kept the cash. Not a fair trade, according to the driver, a retired trucker who said he carried the bill in his pocket for two decades. "If you take a personal item from someone, you should give it back," the 71 year-old driver told the S1. Louis Post-Dispatch.

County police and prosecutors found that the officials broke no laws. But a spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecutor said, "It's a bad idea for a city official or politician to have access to evidence. It creates the appearance of impropriety . We don't advocate doing business that way." 

Experts said collectors would pay $1,300 to $3,500 for the bi11 showing President Grover Cleveland, depending on its condition. The U.S. government printed its last $1,000 bi11 in 1934 and took the denomination out of circulation in 1969 after technology replaced paper notes for transfers of large sums. 

Smith's note was seized last April when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. According to an official report, the man was taken to the police station, where the mayor watched as police counted his money, including the $1,000 bill, several $100 bills and a few $2 bills. The mayor said he wanted the bill, fetched 10 $100 bills, and police switched the money and deposited it in an account for seized drug assets, the report said. 

In September, county prosecutors refused to charge Smith with selling drugs and ordered the money returned. The city issued Smith a check for $3,231 to cover the $1 ,000 bill and his other cash. Smith said he repeatedly called and visited police to ask for his rare bill, but officials refused to return it. The City Attorney said the bill never left City Hall and would be returned to Smith, should he ask for it, once it was no longer considered evidence in a criminal case, but "He, of course, would have to pay for it." 
**********

The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY). August 2, 2003 
Police say cash, drugs taken from evidence
By Alan Maimon 

A former police officer was arrested yesterday and charged with taking drugs and cash from the department's evidence room. The 27 year-old local man, who served as police evidence officer until he resigned in May, is accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of prescription pills and marijuana and around $600 cash from the room, said a Kentucky State Police detective. 

"The investigation revealed that the officer removed drugs and had friends sell or use them," the detective said. The County Commonwealth's Attorney said the missing evidence could hurt the prosecution of some cases, but he did not know if any cases were affected. "I hope it doesn't affect any of my cases," he said. "If it does, you just make a motion to dismiss and kick yourself in the butt and move on to the next one." 

The Police Chief, who described the defendant as an "excellent officer," said the missing evidence applied to "only a few cases." The defendant is charged with trafficking in a controlled substance, marijuana trafficking, and theft by unlawful taking. Investigators haven't determined the value of the missing drugs, which included marijuana and the prescription narcotics Oxy Contin, Tylox and Percocet. 

The Chief said the defendant was an officer for about five years. "We had some information that he could have taken something," the Chief said. He added that the defendant was the only officer with a key to the evidence room. After an audit revealed that drugs and money were missing, the Chief said he immediately notified state police and the attorney general's office.

The arrest of the officer marked the third in recent years by the local state police post concerning missing evidence from a police department. In May 2000, a police chief pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the commission of a bank robbery and also to possession of a stolen firearm that was taken from the department's evidence room and used in the robbery. In February 2000, a K -9 handler for the sheriff s department, pleaded guilty to distributing painkillers and marijuana.
**********

Associated Press June 21,2003,
Texas drug task force scandals 
By Deborah Hasting, AP National Writer 

The recent regional narcotics task force scandal is but one of 15 such scandals in the past five years to plague Texas. Last year, an officer with one task force was charged with witness tampering, fabricating evidence and abuse of authority; the director of another task force was indicted for stealing more than a pound of cocaine from an evidence locker, and the head of a third task force committed suicide the day before an audit revealed thousands of dollars were missing.
**********

Asbury Park Press (NJ) 
Mold forces cops to vacate offices 
By Carol Gorga, Williams/Coastal Monmouth Bureau 

The borough Police Department has been forced to vacate three offices in its headquarters after a mold problem was discovered there, the police chief said. The current crisis began when a borough patrol officer noticed what appeared to be mold coming from an air conditioning vent. The borough then brought in an inspection firm, which found widespread mold problems. The most severe problems were found in the police evidence vault, an employee locker room and the firearms office. By Monday morning, they were packing up items in those rooms into boxes, and by the end of the day, they were out of those offices. 

The inspection firm, which found the mold, suggested two alternatives. The first was to strip the affected rooms down to studs, clean them, and then rep lace the floors, walls, ceilings and fixtures. The second plan was to abandon those rooms, which is what officials opted to do. Now the rooms are sealed off with plastic and tape. Warning signs say no one can be admitted.
**********

Omaha World Herald (Nebraska) December 15,2003 
Police chief says station conditions are 'deplorable'
By Shannon Henson

Suitcases, beer kegs and bicycles evidence that will help solve crimes - are stacked in an often- flooded basement. Marijuana bongs are behind doors. Boxes and bags perched on shelves reach to the ceiling, violating fire codes. A fire exit is blocked with boxes and backpacks. Employees are afraid to defrost the refrigerator that holds DNA and rape kits. What if it doesn't come back on?

Police dogs are caged in kennels in the hallway. Lieutenants are on the opposite side of the station from the sergeants they supervise. Officers store their street clothes in wooden lockers. Meetings are held in hallways. 

Bicycle equipment is stored on top of pop machines. Child safety seats are stacked in the halls. Ammunition is piled into a storage room. When it rains, police employees spread a garbage bag over a filing cabinet holding crime scene photographs to make sure that leaking water doesn't destroy the pictures. 

The clerk said she often fears being hurt in a fire or by lugging kegs of beer down rotted stairs to the storage area. "But what are you doing to do? Somebody' s going to get hurt someday and it's not because the city doesn't know." 

The Police Department's evidence rooms are examples of what the Chief calls "the most deplorable station I've ever seen in my life." He wants the city to build new quarters for the Police Department. A committee was recently formed to look into construction. 

"Do we have a choice?" asked the Mayor. "Absolutely not. There isn't a choice when safety is involved."