Pubdate: Thu, 03 May 2001
Source: Daily News of Los Angeles (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Daily News of Los Angeles
Contact: http://www.DailyNews.com/contact/letters.asp
Website: http://www.DailyNews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/246
Author: Rick Orlov

AUDIT FINDS ERRORS IN DRUG SEIZURES

The Los Angeles Police Department continues to have problems in its special 
account for informants -- with discrepancies in the amount of drugs 
reported seized and the actual amount confiscated, City Controller Rick 
Tuttle said Wednesday.

The audit confirmed what the LAPD found in its own independent Board of 
Inquiry report following the Rampart Division corruption case disclosures 
involving the department's anti-gang units.

"Even though the department is taking steps to correct the problem, I 
remain concerned over the possibility of mischief," Tuttle said in an 
interview.

Tuttle said he found no problems with the accounting in the disbursement of 
the funds -- $588,000 in 1998 and $608,000 in 1999 -- but with the amount 
of narcotics reported as seized.

Under LAPD policy, informants are paid based on the information provided 
officers for leading to the arrest of people involved in drug activity. The 
amount of drugs seized is to be recorded on envelopes containing the narcotics.

However, Tuttle said his auditors found mistakes on four of seven envelopes 
inspected.

LAPD officials told auditors the problems were discovered in its Board of 
Inquiry report and that action was under way to make corrections. They also 
attributed the problems to "careless errors" such as writing down the wrong 
information or calculation errors.

"We found no evidence that seized narcotics were mishandled or 
misappropriated," Tuttle said. "We are concerned, however, that the 
variances appear to be so common."

The mistakes could result in problems in winning convictions in cases 
because discrepancies could result in credibility problems for officers in 
court, Tuttle said.

The department needs to have more regular reviews of the evidence collected 
and closer monitoring of how the information is recorded, Tuttle said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth