HEADLINE: MPD THEFT PROBE GROWS - AUDIT INDICATES PROBLEMS AS EARLY AS 1999

Link to Article

Stolen drugs and other goods may have been going out the back door of the Memphis Police Department's property and evidence room for five years or more, with proceeds used to purchase expensive homes and cars in three states.

Federal indictments unsealed Tuesday say the crimes occurred between February 2002 and last week, and link three current or former property room workers to a cocaine ring with ties to Atlanta. And federal, state and local officials on Wednesday would not comment on the scope of the investigation.

But as far back as 1999 a state audit of the police Organized Crime Unit cited inadequate controls over the recording of confiscated cash in the property room. An internal audit noted "severe storage and overcrowding problems." Auditors said cash, guns and narcotics were not removed from the property room on a timely basis and marijuana was found on the floor. Police promised to fix the problems. 

And it was learned Wednesday that one of the 16 defendants is a former property room worker, Patrick D. Maxwell, 32. He faces federal cocaine charges.

In 1998, Maxwell worked as an attendant in the property room making $18,975 a year. His resignation letter that year said he was leaving for work that put his talents to better use.

On Tuesday, federal agents seized Maxwell's three-story mansion in Lithonia, Ga., an Atlanta suburb.

The two current employees who were indicted, both on charges of financial crimes, were property room shift supervisor and 21-year veteran Kenneth Dansberry, 41, and Carl Edward Johnson, 42, a senior inventory control clerk who was hired in 1999. Both made less than $34,000 a year.

More than $1 million in cash was confiscated from Dansberry's home and car in a raid on Tuesday. Federal raids in Memphis, Olive Branch and the Atlanta area thus far have yielded 29 vehicles - from luxury cars to 18-wheeler trucks - as well as jewelry, cash and real property in Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia.

Memphis police referred all questions to the FBI on Wednesday.

Dansberry and Johnson have been "relieved of duty," pending the investigation, FBI spokesman George Bolds said.

"This is a significant investigation, absolutely," Bolds said.

The investigation is the cooperative effort of Memphis police, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Drug Enforcement Administration and the IRS Criminal Investigative Division. The U.S. Marshal's Service, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are assisting.

The property and evidence room was closed Wednesday as state auditors, brought in by Police Director James Bolden, combed through records. Bolden, who took the department's top job in March, had initiated the federal investigation after receiving a tip from within the Police Department. No one could predict how long the investigative audit by the state comptroller's office could take.

Police spokesman Officer LaTanya Able said people who seek the return of stolen items from the property room could see a delay of up to two days in obtaining their property. "We're working with limited access because of the audit," she said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gen. James Challen said his office doesn't know what impact the investigation may have on pending cases. "We will have to look at every case individually but we don't anticipate a lot of problems," he said.

Property room thefts are not uncommon in police departments, said Joe Latta of Burbank, Calif., executive director of a company that trains law enforcement agencies on how to maintain property and evidence rooms.

He said property rooms across the country contain literally "billions of dollars" of guns, money and narcotics that often prove to be a temptation to workers. "It becomes easy money to get to because we don't always have the best controls in place," he said.

HEADLINE: Evidence room must remain inviolate.

Credibility lost; sadly, officer must go

Evidence room must remain inviolate

The Springfield Personnel Board's 5-2 vote recommending police Officer Michael Murphy not be fired for pilfering beer from the evidence room shows the board is made up of good, well-meaning people.

The majority of the board gave Murphy, a nine-year veteran with an otherwise spotless record, a second chance. They listened to the reasons Murphy gave that he should not lose his job for taking home 70 beers he and other officers on the underage-drinking task force confiscated. 

Officers on the task force weren't given much supervision, board member Donald Landon explained. Clear guidelines about how to dispose of evidence, like the beer, was lacking. The property room shift leader, who has since been disciplined, further muddied the issue by saying officers only had to log samples and get rid of the rest.

Because Murphy had an otherwise exemplary record, Landon and other board members felt getting rid of the officer "was disposing of a strong investment" made by the city.

But in their effort to be fair, board members failed to be realistic. As a member of the Springfield police force, Murphy's credibility would always be suspect. He has become a liability the department cannot afford. Officers rotate through a number of positions, so it is impossible to shield anyone from handling evidence.

Defense attorneys would certainly raise the beer lifting in any case involving Murphy. His credibility as a witness is shot. As Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore suggested, if the officer took things from the property room this time, the defense can credibly ask the jury to consider that he might tamper with other evidence.

Keeping Murphy on would also besmirch the image and reputation of the department. How can Chief Lynn Rowe speak with authority about the integrity of a force that retains an officer who takes and drinks confiscated booze?

Landon said he and other board members made their decision because they thought citizens were concerned with fairness and justice, and they are. But they are also concerned with right and wrong.

Compared with police corruption revealed in other cities, taking several dozen beers that may have been thrown away anyway may not seem like the biggest deal. But removing evidence from the property room -- no matter what it is -- is more than a minor transgression. The evidence room has to be inviolate.

Murphy was going through a tough time when he took the beers. He was working too much. He and his wife were separated. He was drinking too much. The result is a lack of judgment he sorely regrets. It is sad that an otherwise solid career is in jeopardy for actions during this brief dark time. But the fact remains Murphy's ability to be a cop is compromised, and his remaining on the force compromises the department as a whole.

City Manager Tom Finnie should thank the Personnel Board for its work, then follow Rowe's lead and let Murphy go.

HEADLINE: CLEAN UP POLICE PROPERTY ROOM MESS

Link to Article

IF THE charges are true and large quantities of drugs and other confiscated or stolen items have been disappearing from the Memphis Police Department's property and evidence room for years, two questions leap to mind.

How could such brazen thefts have happened? And what was done, or not done, to keep them from happening? City taxpayers are owed prompt and full answers to both questions.

A federal grand jury has indicted 16 people, including three current or former civilian employees of the property room, on charges that link the alleged thefts to a multistate cocaine ring. 

FBI agents seized a suburban Atlanta mansion owned by a former $18,975-a-year property room worker. Authorities also confiscated more than $1 million from the car and Cordova home of a veteran property room shift supervisor; he and another indicted property room employee have been suspended while the investigation proceeds.

Federal officials also seized 29 vehicles, many of them luxury models, along with jewelry, cash, drugs, guns and real estate during raids in Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia arising from the property room investigation.

The crimes described in the indictments allegedly took place between early last year and last month. To his credit, Memphis Police Director James Bolden, who has been in the job for barely seven months, appears to have taken a properly proactive stance.

Acting on an internal tip about alleged property room thefts, Bolden called in the FBI to investigate and the state Comptroller's Office to audit records. But problems with the property and evidence room long predate the period covered by the federal indictments.

The property room ostensibly is under round-the-clock video surveillance and all items are supposedly documented in a computerized database. But state and internal audits dating back to 1999 describe various deficiencies: improper recording of seized cash, excessive crowding, weapons and drugs left too long in the room, marijuana on the floor.

Police brass at the time pledged to take corrective measures. If they were implemented, they evidently didn't work.

The property room investigation may have broader implications. Some cases that have been made, in part, on the basis of seized evidence could be compromised.

And there is the corrosive effect on public confidence in the integrity of police operations. If the property room probe diminishes that confidence, the honest, competent and hard-working officers who make up the overwhelming majority of Police Department employees will suffer unjustly.

That's all the more reason to impose effective controls on property room operations and to fix the problem - immediately, conspicuously and permanently.

HEADLINE: FYI: Evidence stolen from locker

DATELINE: Tehama County CALIFORNIA

Link to Article

Sixty-seven pounds of processed marijuana, 100 marijuana plants, a 9 mm handgun, an assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and the lock were stolen from the locker, which is near a sheriff's department building, officials said.

Any person with information about the theft is asked to call the sheriff's department at 529-7900 or Tehama County Secret Witness, which is offering a reward, at 529-1268.

HEADLINE: Auto shop trusties now supervised

BENTONVILLE — Trusties working in the Benton County Sheriff’s auto maintenance shop now work only if supervised by a deputy sheriff. 

Before Sept. 30, the trusties who worked in the shop were supervised only by a civilian employee. On that date, deputies say they discovered three trusties from the auto shop gained access to at least one evidence locker, taking drugs and guns. 

On Tuesday, Capt. Tom Brewster said inmates — except for the three accused of breaking into the evidence locker — have returned to working in the auto shop but under the supervision of a deputy. 

Sheriff Keith Ferguson said inmates will only work at the shop if they are supervised by a deputy. 

Meanwhile, an investigator is still reviewing evidence to determine if any active cases were affected when the items were taken from the evidence locker, said Capt. Mike Sydoriak. 

Sydoriak, who heads the criminal investigation division of the Sheriff’s Office, said evidence from both adjudicated and active cases was located in the evidence locker. Sydoriak said the investigator who is assigned the locker is still checking each case to determine if any evidence was missing or had been tampered with.  The locker is one of many inside a large building next to the Sheriff’s Office. 

Sydoriak said he did not know how many active cases were being stored in the locker, but he expects to know if any of the active cases were affected by the incident at the end of the week.  "We will get with prosecutors to determine how to proceed if any of the active cases are affected," Sydoriak said. "If necessary, the prosecutors will get with any defense attorneys." 
Prosecuting Attorney Bob Balfe said he did not want to comment or speculate on the matter until the Sheriff’s Office completes the inventory of the cases stored in the evidence locker. 

Investigators learned Sept. 30 the three inmates — Jeffrey Lynn Richardson, 41; Brandon Joseph Longo, 20; and Michael Raymond Schneipp, 19, — on the trusty work detail were in possession of contraband. The three worked at the auto shop. After the incident was discovered, the three were drug tested. They failed the drug test, investigators said. 

Capt. Tom Brewster said a search of the auto shop area turned up small amounts of marijuana and methamphetamine, along with a cell phone that had been removed from a vehicle and re-rigged to allow outgoing calls. 

The inmates removed a panel from the exterior of a storage building and gained access to the evidence building, according to Brewster. After removing the panel, Brewster said one of the inmates entered the room and removed the back panel of the evidence locker. 

On Friday morning, investigators found five guns in an area located in the auto shop on the grounds of the Sheriff’s Office. All the guns were unloaded, but a loaded clip was found with one of the weapons. "We believe everything that should be in the room has been accounted for," Brewster said.  Brewster said they were sure that only one locker had been tampered with. 

Sydoriak said evidence from cases stored in the locker beside the tampered one was also being checked to be on the safe side.  Sydoriak said they learned that the five stolen guns were not from any active cases.  The three inmates are no longer in the trusty program. 

The results of the investigation were turned over to the Benton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. 

In July 2002, Brandon Lewis Reed, a trusty in the jail, was cleaning the jail’s visiting area with two other inmates when he went outside the door to sweep off a rug.  Reed walked away from the jail. A few hours later, he was found hiding in a field behind a house on Southwest I Street, less than a mile from the jail. 

In July 2001, trustees at the jail were caught smoking marijuana behind a shop located on the property of the Sheriff’s Office. 

HEADLINE: Peterson boat evidence may be difficult to bar

Link to Article

MODESTO -- Scott Peterson's defense team may have a tough time keeping out evidence from hair attached to a pair of pliers found in his boat, legal observers said.

"It sounds like a play out of the O.J. Simpson playbook," said San Francisco Assistant District Attorney James Hammer, alluding to the defense contention that police planted evidence in that murder case.

Peterson's defense is claiming that police mishandled evidence after officers initially reported finding a single 5- to 6-inch dark hair on the pliers Dec. 27.

Two strands of hair were noted after two detectives checked out the items from the Modesto police evidence room weeks later, according to defense documents filed Tuesday in Stanislaus County Superior Court.

The hairs and two brushes used by Laci Peterson were submitted the next day to a state Department of Justice crime lab for analysis, according to the documents.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos wrote that it is "reasonably certain the evidence has been altered in some way," adding that the officers reviewed the evidence without supervision by a criminalist or lab technician. DNA tests show the hair could have belonged to Laci Peterson, a source has said.

Physically linking Laci Peterson to her husband's newly purchased fishing boat -- bought in early December while she was about seven months pregnant -- is "potentially very powerful evidence," Hammer said.

Peterson said he last saw his wife on the morning of Dec. 24 before taking the boat on a solo fishing trip to San Francisco Bay. He told police he returned to find his pregnant wife gone from their Modesto home.

Her body and that of her unborn son, Conner, were found in April along the bay's eastern shore, within four miles of where Peterson said he launched his boat. Peterson has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The defense is using various arguments to try to exclude from court an array of evidence, including information from wiretaps, scent tracking dogs and GPS tracking devices hidden in Peterson's vehicles.

The defense also is seeking to bar testimony from a witness whom police had hypnotized.

Several legal observers said it may be difficult to keep the hair evidence out on the basis that police broke the so-called chain of custody. Modesto police spokesman Detective Doug Ridenour refused to discuss the Peterson case, citing a gag order.

But Ridenour said that in general, detectives can look at items that have been logged into the secure evidence room. "They have every right in the world to check the evidence out to do further investigation," Ridenour said.

Detectives assigned to a case can check items out from evidence clerks after specifying why they need to re-examine the item, Ridenour said. Officers can privately examine the evidence in small rooms with locked doors adjoining the evidence room lobby. Ridenour said he was not aware of any security cameras to monitor activity in those rooms.

Modesto Bee staff writer John Coté can be reached at (209) 578-2394 or jcote@modbee.com.

HEADLINE: Group of Saline County Officers Arrested While on Duty 

Link to Article

Saline County - Disturbing news out of Saline County, a group of officers is arrested while on duty at the county jail. Police say three jailers bought beer at a local convenience store and then shared it with an inmate.

Many aspiring law enforcement officers start their careers working inside the county jail, but Saline County authorities say three men, 22-year-old John hood, 21-year-old Christopher Carman, and 32-year-old Todd McEuin made a very bad decision Tuesday night.

The jailers allegedly stole money out of an evidence room, used it to buy a 12-pack of beer at a local convenient store, and then shared the alcohol with an inmate. "They kept the alcoholic beverages inside the holding facility all night long while on duty and consumed the beverages while on duty."

A surveillance camera captured the entire incident, but the footage has not yet been released.  The officers were terminated and then arrested. Now, county authorities who are already short handed, will have to deal with three less officers. "We have problems keeping them working, they work so much overtime and to find out these officers have the time to consume alcohol was a total shock to everyone at the sheriff's office."

All three men have been charged with two counts of furnishing prohibited items in a holding facility which is a Class B felony and punishable by 5 to 20 years in jail. 

HEADLINE: Modesto - Defense contests evidence on boat; Hair found on newly bought craft might be that of Laci 

Scott Peterson's defense team may have a tough time keeping out evidence from hair attached to a pair of pliers found in his boat, legal observers said. 

Peterson's defense is claiming that police mishandled evidence after officers initially reported finding a single 5- to 6-inch dark hair on the pliers Dec. 27. 

"It sounds like a play out of the O.J. Simpson playbook," said San Francisco Assistant District Attorney James Hammer, alluding to the defense contention that police planted evidence in that murder case. 

Two strands of hair were noted after two detectives checked out the items from the Modesto police evidence room weeks later, according to defense documents filed Tuesday in Stanislaus County Superior Court. 

The hairs and two brushes used by Laci Peterson were submitted the next day to a state Department of Justice crime lab for analysis, according to the documents. 

Defense attorney Mark Geragos wrote that it is "reasonably certain the evidence has been altered in some way," adding that the officers reviewed the evidence without supervision by a criminalist or lab technician. 

DNA tests show the hair could have belonged to Laci Peterson, a source has said. 

Physically linking Laci Peterson to her husband's newly purchased fishing boat -- bought in early December while she was about seven months pregnant -- is "potentially very powerful evidence," Hammer said. 

Peterson said he last saw his wife on the morning of Dec. 24 before taking the boat on a solo fishing trip to San Francisco Bay. 

He told police he returned to find his pregnant wife gone from their Modesto home. 

Her body and that of her unborn son were found in April along the Bay's shore in Richmond, within 4 miles of where Peterson said he launched his boat. 

Peterson has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. 

The defense is using various arguments to try to exclude from court an array of evidence, including information from wiretaps, scent tracking dogs and GPS tracking devices hidden in Peterson's vehicles. 

The defense also is seeking to bar testimony from a witness whom police had hypnotized. 
Several legal observers said it may be difficult to keep the hair evidence out on the basis that police broke the so-called chain of custody. 

Modesto police spokesman Detective Doug Ridenour refused to discuss the Peterson case, citing a gag order. 

But Ridenour said that in general, detectives can look at items that have been logged into the secure evidence room. 

"They have every right in the world to check the evidence out to do further investigation," Ridenour said. 

Detectives assigned to a case can check items out from evidence clerks after specifying why they need to re-examine the item, Ridenour said. 

Officers can privately examine the evidence in small rooms with locked doors adjoining the evidence room lobby.  Ridenour said he was not aware of any security cameras to monitor activity in those rooms. 

HEADLINE: News briefs from California's Central Coast

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - A former sheriff's deputy was placed on three years' probation after pleading guilty Tuesday to tampering with evidence - $2,500 seized during a prostitution bust.

James G. Means, who has resigned from the Sheriff's Department, will also pay a $1,000 fine as part of the plea agreement on the misdemeanor count.

Means came under suspicion when the money disappeared from an evidence locker. After questioning, $2,500 reappeared in the locker, but the serial numbers on the cash didn't match the ones on the seized cash.

Investigators said Means apparently took the money to buy prescription painkillers that he originally obtained for back problems but then was abusing, Assistant District Attorney Pat McKinley said.

Under the terms of his probation, Means must enroll in a drug treatment program.

HEADLINE: Ex-cop gets jail in theft spree

HILLSBOROUGH -- A former Hillsborough Police Department sergeant pleaded guilty to nine felonies Monday in connection with stealing guns, cash and drugs from the department's evidence room to support his crack cocaine addiction. 

Superior Court Judge Ronald Stephens sentenced Timothy Mark Brewer, 33, to two consecutive eight-to-10-month prison terms. But since Brewer has spent the last eight months in custody awaiting trial, he will spend just eight to 10 months more in prison before he is released. He will then be on supervised probation for at least two years. 

Hillsborough Police Chief Nathaniel Eubanks thought Brewer got off too easily.  "I'm just surprised he didn't get more time than what he did," Eubanks said. "I'm not going to criticize Carl Fox's office. We'll just have to accept it and go on." 

The chief said he expected Brewer would have received more time in prison. "This guy came through this department, and he stole from us," Eubanks said. "There was a trust factor there with the public, and then to have him walk away this easy, it's just frustrating." 

In a plea agreement, Brewer pleaded guilty to breaking into two Hillsborough businesses and stealing items from inside, and he pleaded guilty to stealing three firearms and $4,035 in cash from the police department. He also pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine. 

Brewer originally was charged with trafficking cocaine for the 1,400 grams of the drug he stole from the police department's evidence room. But Orange-Chatham District Attorney Carl Fox told Stephens it would have been difficult to prove that charge because Brewer stole the cocaine in small quantities at a time. 

If convicted of trafficking cocaine, Brewer could have been sentenced to 20 years in prison on that offense alone. Fox allowed Brewer to plead guilty to the lesser charge of possession of cocaine. Stephens then decided to consolidate the nine charges into four groups. 

For the first and second groups of charges, the judge sentenced Brewer to eight to 10 months in prison to run consecutively. But for the third and fourth groups, he placed Brewer on supervised probation to begin when he's released from prison. 

Fox and Brewer's attorney, Robert Hassell, agreed on most of the facts of the case. Brewer, according to Hassell, was having problems with his wife and was depressed about working as a police officer, Hassell said. 

One day when Brewer was cleaning out his police vehicle, he found several rocks of crack cocaine that someone he had arrested had likely stuffed into the back seat to hide it. Brewer decided to try it, said the lawyer, and found that he liked it. 

"Have you ever heard somebody say that the first time they tried crack cocaine they were instantly addicted?" Hassell asked the judge. "He said it's true. He said from that moment on he never cared about anything else." 

Brewer had seen the devastating effects of crack cocaine, yet he still tried it, Fox said. "It's almost like you see four or five people burned by fire, and you stick your hand into the fire to see if it will burn you," he said. 

Brewer, who walked into the courtroom in handcuffs and was wearing the standard orange jail jumpsuit, sat quietly as he listened to Fox and Hassell talk about him. At times, when Fox talked about some of the crimes he committed, Brewer's face flushed bright red, and he wiped tears from his eyes with a tissue. 

The district attorney said that after spending all his money and selling most of his possessions to get money to buy crack cocaine, Brewer stole guns from other officers, stole more than $4,000 cash from the evidence room and dipped into confiscated powered cocaine in the evidence room. 

To break into the evidence room, he moved ceiling tiles in one office, climbed up into the space above, then crawled above the evidence room and dropped down into that room to steal money and drugs, Fox said. He stole the powdered cocaine a little bit at a time, Hassell said. "Although it was not crack it was pretty good," the lawyer noted. "It was like taking a great big aspirin, and his life was like a big headache, and it made him feel better." 

He traded the guns he stole to drug dealers for crack cocaine, Fox said. 

During his description of the crimes, Fox said it was unbelievable that the Hillsborough Police Department would have kept 1,400 grams, or three pounds, of cocaine in its evidence room from a case that occurred in 1992. He has since advised the department to destroy drugs once a case has been completed, he said. 

Brewer also broke into two Hillsborough businesses while he was on duty and stole $90 from one and $50 from another, Fox said. Brewer's crime scene came to end after he took his wife's security card and used it to enter the business where she worked in Alamance County, then broke into a snack vending machine and stole $200 in coins. 

Investigators in Alamance County used the company's security system to identify Brewer as the one who broke into the vending machine. After he was arrested, he confessed to the crimes in Orange County and at the police department, Hassell said. 

Because of what Brewer did, the district attorney's office had to drop dozens of traffic charges that the policeman had filed. Also, one of the guns he stole was evidence from a case in which a felon had been charged with possessing a firearm. That charge had to dismissed since the evidence was missing, Fox said. 

Hassell acknowledged that Brewer's crimers were very serious.  "He sent the message to the public that there are bad cops out there, and they're not so far away," the lawyer said. "They're not somebody we see on '60 Minutes' on TV. They're someone who you might have run into and gotten a ticket from yesterday." 

While going in and out of the courtroom, Brewer talked easily and joked with some of his former colleagues, who were now guarding him.  "I know about everybody in here," Brewer said when given a chance to speak. "I wanted to say I'm sorry to everybody. I've brought a whole lot of embarrassment on myself, my department and my family. I can't take it back." Stephens didn't mince words. 

"You have brought disgrace on yourself, your family and the uniform that you wore," the judge said. 

URL for this article: http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-404749.html

HEADLINE: Former Police Chief Will Serve Jail Time

A former Eastern Kentucky city Police Chief is sentenced to five years in prison Friday, After pleading guilty to stealing thousands of prescription pills. Former Martin City Police Chief Jeff Powell stole more than 28-hundred prescription pills from the Martin Police Department's evidence locker. He also pleaded guilty to six counts of theft for taking guns that had been purchased by the city.

The five-year sentence will be suspended after two and a half years, with the remainder of the sentence to be probated for three years.

HEADLINE: Police employee to plead guilty to theft - He is one of eight people charged in sale of items from city evidence room

DETROIT -- The first of nine people charged in a federal probe that alleged a civilian Detroit police employee stole at least 222 pounds of cocaine from the evidence room was expected to plead guilty today. 

John Earl Cole Sr. was charged, along with eight others, including a retired Detroit police officer and a Michigan State Police lieutenant, in a 17-count indictment. 

Anthony Lasenby, of Detroit, allegedly bought cocaine and a stolen gun from Cole. He is expected to plead guilty in front of U.S. District Judge John Corbett O'Meara, said Kris Dighe, an assistant U.S. attorney. 

The details of the plea agreement have not been made public and Lasenby's attorney, James C. Thomas, didn't return telephone calls seeking comment. 

Cole is accused of selling the cocaine for $1.3 million and using much of the money to buy 18 Detroit properties, mostly rental homes. 

Authorities said, in one case, he replaced 17.6 pounds of cocained seized in 1990 with a package of Gold Medal flour. The flour -- milled in 1993 or 1994, the company said -- was discovered in April 2001 during a joint FBI-Detroit Police audit. 

Cole was a civilian employee since 1979. He was paid $13 an hour when he was arrested last fall. He had significant financial assets, including a 1998 Chevrolet Corvette, which the FBI charged he obtained in a trade for 6.6 pounds of cocaine. 

Investigators say an informant told them Cole had at least $90,000 in cash hidden in his house, and that family members told the grand jury they had tens of thousands of dollars in cash stored in their homes. 

The case sparked a full-scale review of the department property room and a change in its oversight. The room was stuffed with nearly 200,000 guns, hundreds of pounds of drugs and thousands of dollars in currency. In the last year, the Police Department has destroyed tens of thousands of guns, deposited cash and destroyed much of drugs no longer needed in evidence. 

Trial is set for Nov. 18 and other guilty pleas are expected before then. 

HEADLINE: Police Chief Laid Off

Bernalillo  is without  a police chief, again.

Monday night the Town Council unanimously fired Ramon Montijo, who has been on suspension since mid-August.  Montijo said that either way -- whether he was fired or reinstated -- it was a win-win situation for him. 

"I know I'm going to sue, and I know I am going to win," he said. "Either way it will have cost the town more to do what they did then to keep me as the police chief. ... It's not over yet."

The Police Department has been in turmoil since January when the council did not renew the contract of former Chief William Reylea. The town was without a chief until Montijo came on board in late April.

Mayor Charles Aguilar suspended Montijo in June when he refused to give details of an ongoing outside investigation of the department. The council reinstated Montijo a week later.

Town Manager Lester Swindle relieved Montijo of his duties in August. Montijo was on paid administrative leave until noon Sept. 30.

Aguilar told the council Monday night he terminated Montijo's employment that day and asked councilors to ratify his decision. Since Swindle relieved Montijo of his duties, the council has met twice in closed session to discuss the situation.

Monday night, Councilor Serafin Dominguez made the motion to terminate Montijo, and it was seconded by Councilor Ronnie Sisneros. There was no discussion or public comment allowed.
Ira Bolnick, Montijo's attorney, said the town is required to give those being accused the opportunity to produce any relevant documents, witnesses or other evidence in their defense.

"Basically what happened here tonight was a predetermined outcome," he said. "They kept him on paid administrative leave in order to try to build a case against him. They tried to marshal several different theories, and as they failed, the administration hired outside consultants, ransacked his office, investigated his background to try to find something that would stick. Meanwhile, they have refused to let him defend himself."

Montijo called for an outside investigation of the department shortly after he was hired and after he said he found many problems within the department.

That investigation focused on allegations of missing evidence. It was performed by the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Rio Rancho Police Department.

Bernalillo Police officer Mark Aragon is at the center of that investigation.

Aragon and the department were investigated in connection with problems with weapons held by the department, including their improper disposal, and the trade of a laptop computer for a rifle.  The laptop originally had belonged to Sandia National Laboratories, the investigative report said.
The investigation also looked into the February burglary of a computer from the Intel Computer Clubhouse at the high school. It also looked at parts ordered for personal use on town purchase orders for an AR-15 rifle.

That report is in the hands of Sandoval District Attorney Lemuel Martinez. Martinez has said his office is taking a serious look at the allegations in the report.

HEADLINE: Fired Plum officer charged with insurance fraud

Link to Article

A police officer already facing a federal firearms charge was charged with insurance fraud.  Andrew McNelis, 32, a 10-year-veteran officer in the Pittsburgh suburb of Plum borough, allegedly altered police reports pertaining to two thefts. He said damage to his garage door and theft of a propane tank two years ago cost him $3,500. He also said more than $2,000 of sporting goods were stolen from his garage in November 1998.

Plum Council voted last month to fire McNelis over the reports, although he's still receiving his $53,400 annual salary while a grievance he filed is pending.

Mike DeRiso, McNelis' attorney, called the charges "absolutely insane" and said the officer did nothing to the reports without his supervisors' permission

McNelis has been on paid leave since June 2002 when was charged with trying to mail a gun that was missing from the police evidence room. He pleaded innocent to that charge in May and no trial date on that charge has been set.

HEADLINE: Police officer won't get his job back

The city manager agrees that thefts would damage his credibility.

SPRINGFIELD -- The Springfield city manager upheld the firing of a police officer who stole beer that had been confiscated from minors.  Tom Finnie's decision goes against the recommendation of the City Personnel Board, which thinks the firing of Officer Michael Murphy was too harsh a punishment.

Murphy's "credibility as an officer is impaired both to citizens and to any future actions he could be required to take as a court witness," Finnie wrote in his decision, which was released on Friday.  "Without that credibility I believe he can no longer be a Springfield Police Officer.

Police Chief Lynn Rowe fired Murphy after he took a total of about 70 cans of beer, in two separate thefts last May, that had been confiscated from minors.  The beer was in a processing area near an evidence room at the police station.  Rowe fired the nine-year veteran for violating department policy and because he wants his department to be free of corruption. Rowe also was angry because he said Murphy lied about the thefts in a report, boasted about taking the beer and joked that it is a benefit of being on an underage-drinking task force.

In an eight-hour hearing before the personnel board on Sept. 30, Murphy agreed that he broke a rule but said other officers who did similar things were punished less severely than being fired.  Murphy cited his 22 commendations as a Springfield police officer as proof that the thefts were out of character for him.  After the personnel board, voted in favor of reinstating Murphy, Rowe stood by his decision but Finnie had the final say. 

Here's the text of a letter that Finnie sent to the chairman of the Personnel Board, Donald Fischer. 

Dear Dr. Fischer:

Policing is a very difficult and stressful profession.  Police Officers are faced routinely with the requirement to make quick decisions, under pressure, that impact citizens and their own safety and freedom.  The nature of the job including working holidays, missing family events, being in a fishbowl, etc. put severe stress on officers and their families.  These and other factors clearly affected the Personnel Board's recommendation that termination was too severe a discipline for the violation that Officer Murphy agreed occurred.  Regarding the offense, there is unanimous agreement that he violated Department and City rules.

I understand and am sympathetic to the Board's recommendation.  This was not a case, however, of second guessing an officer's judgment during a stressful event. Officer Murphy stole evidence well after the event had occurred.  Officer Murphy stated that he was having trouble at home and was drinking, which affected his judgment.  Most of us would agree this could be a serious concern and impact our work.  Organizations should provide assistance for all employees faced with these situations, but particularly employees who can directly impact our safety, health and lives.  The City does offer these professional services and encourages employees to use them without reflecting on their careers.  It also is the City's goal to encourage formal and informal support for employees who are dealing with such stress.  However, Officer Murphy's misconduct is not excused by the personal problems he described.

The fundamental question is what is the Community's expectation of appropriate Police Officer behavior.  Taking evidence and using it for your personal use is wrong.  All of the tangential concerns such as sufficient supervision, somewhat related precedents, and his example to the youth he was working with are just that, tangential issues.  It is my belief, which I believe is shared by the Community, that Officer Murphy's actions were wrong.  His credibility as an officer is impaired both to citizens and to any future actions he could be required to take as a court witness.  Without that credibility I believe he can no longer be a Springfield Police Officer.  Therefore, I have decided to uphold the Police Chief's decision to dismiss Officer Murphy from the Springfield Police Department.

Sincerely,

Tom Finnie
City Manager