Pubdate: Mon, 22 Oct 2007
Source: Oroville Mercury-Register (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Oroville Mercury Register
Contact:  http://www.orovillemr.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2277
Author: Kristin Bender, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

POLICE REVIEW COMMISSION FAULTS MISHANDLING OF DRUG EVIDENCE

BERKELEY -- The city's police watchdog group has found  that systems 
for tracking drug evidence were inadequate  to prevent or catch the 
theft of narcotics from the  police department's evidence locker and 
the  department's probe into a former sergeant's drug thefts  was insufficient.

In a lengthy report compiled following an 18-month  investigation, 
the Berkeley Police Review Commission  subcommittee slammed the 
department, some officers and  Police Chief Doug Hambleton for 
failing to notice,  report and act in a timely matter when then-Sgt. 
Cary Kent tampered with and stole from 286 drug evidence  envelopes.

Kent was feeding a drug habit that had severely  impacted his job as 
a police sergeant, the findings  said.

"The personal failings of one (officer) may be  forgiven. The 
systematic failure of a department to  identify and remedy major 
lapses in security, personnel  management and administration must be 
addressed  immediately," the report states.

In April 2006, Kent pleaded guilty to one count of  grand theft by 
embezzlement and one count each of  possessing heroin and 
methamphetamine. He was sentenced  to spend a year in an electronic 
home detention program  and sent to a drug treatment program. Kent, 
who had  retired a month before at age 55, was also sentenced to five 
years  probation.

It is not known how long Kent was stealing drugs.  Problems were 
noticed by others in the department as  early as January 2005, the 
report states.

Kent has never given a statement to the department or  the media 
about the case or his activities while  employed by the police department.

The evidence theft subcommittee, which is comprised of  five 
community members, including a criminal defense  attorney and a 
member of Copwatch, will discuss the  report's findings and recommend 
improvements for  monitoring drug evidence at a meeting Wednesday night.

Although policies and procedures for dealing with drug  evidence 
exist, they were not implemented and monitored  regularly while Kent 
was in the department, the report  says.

"We did not do as thorough an examination of those  envelopes as we 
should have ... we did not hold the  envelopes up to the light to 
inspect and see that there  was no tampering with the edges," 
according to a  statement from Hambleton in the report.

Since Kent was sentenced last year, the department has  implemented 
several new policies and procedures to  prevent drug thefts and tampering.

Changes made include:

* Moving drug evidence into a separate alarmed unit.

* Conducting drug evidence inspections at least once  every six 
months and random audits in between.

* Making certain that drugs are inspected, weighed and  chemically 
tested, which was not the case before.

* Inspecting and logging the contents of the drug  envelopes before 
they are destroyed or burned.

Additionally, the City Council earlier this year  repealed a 
20-year-old law that outlawed drug and  alcohol testing of police and 
firefighters. Drug  testing has not started because the rules for 
when an  employee would be tested have not been agreed upon with  the unions.

Firefighters and police would not be tested randomly;  tests would 
follow reasonable suspicions or after a  serious on-duty accident.

Lastly, drug evidence may be moved to a different  department and 
monitored by a city employee outside the  police department, Hambleton said.

The report says that although 21 officers "noticed that  Sgt. Kent 
had problems," and four officers told a  colleague or supervisor they 
suspected a substance  abuse problem, the chief "was never informed 
and did  not suspect any drug abuse until November 2005."

In the report, Hambleton states that "supervisors are  supposed to 
let us know if they get informal complaints  about an officer, we 
review officer's attendance  records. ... Individual supervisors are 
responsible for  monitoring their employees and bringing the issues 
about the performance to our attention."

Hambleton said Monday that he will ensure that those  policies are 
followed in the future.

Hambleton said there is some helpful information in the report.

"I think there are some pieces that will help us  clarify some of our 
policies," he said. ~"Their goal is  to make us a better department 
and make sure nothing  like this happens again. I think when you get 
right  down to it, I have the same goal, too."

Hambleton will respond to the report in writing before  it goes to 
the council for consideration.

The investigation also found that the police  investigation of Kent 
was insufficient because valuable  evidence was not secured in a 
"timely fashion and no  other individuals were investigated to 
determine if  they knew or were involved in the theft of drug  evidence."

Hambleton defended the investigation on Monday.

"We did that investigation in conjunction with the  Alameda County 
District Attorney's office," he said. "I  feel the investigation was 
adequate. He's been  convicted of several crimes so I think that 
investigation was adequate."

The Police Review Commission meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday  at 1901 
Hearst St. The full report can be viewed at  www.berkeleycopwatch.org.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom