Police say weapons, cash still missing
Three firearms and nearly $20,000 in cash that had been stored in the Hopewell police evidence room still cannot be accounted for, Hopewell Chief Steven D. Martin announced yesterday.
An administrative probe into chronic problems within the bureau's property and evidence room also determined that confiscated narcotics, drug paraphernalia and other evidence could not be accounted for in 87 city drug cases.
"Those 87 cases are now pending further review," said Hopewell Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Sylvester.
Martin, accompanied by other city officials, announced during a morning news conference the results of an internal investigation that began more than two years ago after officials discovered in December 2005 that evidence was missing in a criminal case.
That led to a still ongoing Virginia State Police investigation, which began in August 2007, and an accompanying special grand jury probe.
In addition, the International Association of Chiefs of Police -- at Martin's urging -- launched a study of the department's methods of entering, tracking and accounting for evidence and recovered property, as well as its security measures.
The results of the department's administrative review, completed June 10 but just released yesterday, found:
"I think sloppy paperwork was part of the problem," said Herbert Bragg, the city's director of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Police are "working now to provide me those 87 cases," Sylvester said. Until he sees them, it will be impossible to say how many resulted in a prosecution and how many involved a conviction, he said.
Sylvester said the 87 cases are either missing evidence, such as drugs, or a destruction order that would explain what happened to those drugs if the court ordered them destroyed at the end of a case. "They cannot account or explain what happened to those items."
This could mean several things, he said.
"Missing could mean that it was lost, missing could mean it was stolen, missing could mean that it was commingled and unaccounted for in other funds that were forfeited or received by the city under some other unauthorized way of accounting for money," he said.
Martin also noted yesterday that the department has invested more than $100,000 in training, a closed-circuit camera system, security locking devices and other improvements in its expanded property and evidence room.
Advertisement