Archive for the 'North Carolina' Category
Asheville police audit room inventory completed
October 29, 2011www.citizen-times.com, citizen-times.com
BYLINE: Romando Dixson
Link to Article
Asheville, NC
District attorney to get report soon
ASHEVILLE — Blueline Systems & Services exhausted nearly all money budgeted for an audit of the Police Department evidence room and is in the final stages of preparing a report for Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore.
“We’re just double-checking figures and doing final editing on the report,” Blueline director Mike Wright said.
Blueline billed the city $174,722.50 during inventory data collection, and no more invoices will be filed.
City Council approved spending up to $175,000 in money from drug seizures after a partial audit earlier this year found police had lost track of at least 27 guns taken as evidence, along with drugs and cash.
Moore said he has a few inklings of what may be in the audit report based on talks with Wright but it isn’t anything he can discuss. He said he is anxious to see the complete findings of the audit.
“I know they have examined thousands of items,” Moore said. “As far as results, we’re going to have to wait.”
Moore told police it would be about a month before he is ready to discuss the report with APD staff, Capt. Tim Splain said.
The State Bureau of Investigation is continuing its criminal investigation, which Moore requested after an assistant district attorney and a defense lawyer went to the evidence room in preparation for a case against a drug suspect and discovered 397 pills of oxycodone were missing from an evidence envelope.
The discovery led Moore to drop drug trafficking charges against the suspect.
“We’ll still continue to be available to cooperate with the SBI investigation if they need to talk with us or we need to interact with them in any way,” Wright said.
Wright is limited on what he can say about the audit because of a confidentiality agreement in his contract.
The report will be about 20 pages in text and also include charts, attachments and different databases, he said.
It will include recommendations to make tracking items in the evidence room more accurate and efficient in the future, Wright said.
Blueline employees were paid an hourly rate for work that began in June, and some earned $85 an hour. Since April, the company also has billed the city for training, media interviews and meetings with attorneys and police, which cost $120 an hour, according to invoices obtained by the Citizen-Times.
Moore said Blueline had to establish and record the methods they used in case there are questions down the road.
“I think they were very, very meticulous about that, which is why it’s taken as long as it has,” Moore said.
Wright said the requirements of the existing contract will be fulfilled when the report is turned in.
He said the city and his company have not had a talk about whether more work will need to be done. That will not happen until Moore reviews the report.
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International Association for Property and Evidence
“Law Enforcement Serving the Needs of Law Enforcement”
www.IAPE.org
SBI investigates missing evidence
October 27, 2011The Robesonian, robesonian.com
BYLINE: Matt Elofson
Link to Article
Red Springs, NC
RED SPRINGS — The State Bureau of Investigation is trying to determine how evidence in two separate cases disappeared from the Red Springs Police Department.
District Attorney Johnson Britt requested the investigation on Sept. 29. Some of the evidence was for a murder trial and the other evidence was 2 ounces of crack cocaine that had been seized by the SBI.
SBI agents have taken control of the Police Department’s evidence room and changed the locks on the door Tuesday, Britt said. Agents began an inventory of items stored in the evidence room on Wednesday to compare what is there with what logs show should be there.
Britt said he called for the investigation after his office was forced to agree to a plea deal in the first-degree murder of Marcus Galbreath. Galbreath, 30, was charged with the 2001 murder of Jeffrey Thomas Fairley. But Britt said Red Springs police could not find four shell casings collected at the crime scene, the victim’s clothing, and photographs.
Galbreath pleaded guilty last month to voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to six to eight years in prison.
SBI agents on Sept. 28 went to the Police Department to collect drug evidence that was part of an undercover investigation that occurred during 2002. The drugs had been turned over to a Red Springs police officer, but there was no written documentation that the drugs ever existed, Britt said.
”The SBI is engaged in a federal drug investigation,“ Britt said. ”It includes a target, and as I recall, it was 2 ounces of crack cocaine that was purchased. It cannot be accounted for right now.“
Britt did not want to release the name of the Red Springs officer who had handled the cocaine.
Red Spring Police Chief Lum Edwards appeared to be taken by surprise by the investigation.
”All I know is they said they wanted to help us straighten out our (evidence) room,“ Edwards said.
He said his department is using different lockers to store any new evidence that is collected.
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International Association for Property and Evidence
“Law Enforcement Serving the Needs of Law Enforcement”
www.IAPE.org
Asheville police evidence room audit nearing end
September 22, 2011CITIZEN-TIMES.COM, citizen-times.com
BYLINE: Romando Dixson
Asheville, NC
Company has billed city about $130K
ASHEVILLE — A Police Department evidence room audit has cost the city about $130,000, keeping the project under budget so far.
The company Blueline Systems & Services has scanned all high-risk items — money, firearms and narcotics — and could be within weeks of finishing work, Blueline director Mike Wright said.
City Council approved spending up to $175,000 in money from drug seizures after a partial audit found police had lost track of at least 27 guns taken as evidence, along with drugs and cash.
Blueline will send a report to District Attorney Ron Moore and the State Bureau of Investigation when the work is done.
Wright said the district attorney, SBI and the city will determine if additional work is required, potentially adding costs.
“We are possibly nearing the end of one phase,” said Wright, a former crime scene analyst with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. “If they elect to go on with it, it might go on some time longer. It depends on the discussion of those parties.”
Blueline Systems is being paid an hourly rate for work that began in June, and some employees are costing the city $85 an hour. Since April, the company also has billed the city for training, media interviews and meetings with attorneys and police, which cost $120 an hour, according to invoices obtained by the Citizen-Times.
Moore in April ordered the evidence room sealed and that an independent audit be conducted after learning about problems uncovered by a partial audit.
He also requested an SBI investigation after an assistant district attorney and defense lawyer went to the evidence room in preparation for a case against a drug suspect and discovered 397 pills of oxycodone were missing from an evidence envelope.
The discovery prompted Moore to drop drug trafficking charges against the suspect. The partial audit found that of 1,097 items audited, 27 guns, 54 containers of drugs and 34 packets of money and valuables couldn’t be located.
Wright said he could not discuss the results of his audit because of his contract with the city and the ongoing SBI investigation.
The Police Department is not updated on the status of the audit. The company’s reports go to Moore’s office and the SBI.
“APD won’t be notified of the results of the audit until the DA and SBI are satisfied that by revealing the results of the audit, it won’t harm any potential criminal investigation,” police Capt. Tim Splain said.
Blueline is still reconciling court system file numbers and law enforcement file numbers on some items.
Wright declined to say how many items have been scanned and counted but said the number exceeds 14,000.
With the evidence room being sealed, police had to create another place to store property. They turned a SWAT bay, where vehicles are usually kept, into a temporary property room.
Staff writer Jon Ostendorff contributed to this article.
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International Association for Property and Evidence
“Law Enforcement Serving the Needs of Law Enforcement”
www.IAPE.org