An independent audit of the Pinal County sheriff's property-and-evidence unit details years of mismanagement and overstuffed storage units with the potential to harm prosecutions.
More than 300 pages of the report by California-based Evidence Control Systems Inc. highlighted problems with the way evidence was handled, detailing a bloated, haphazard inventory of items that should have been destroyed, sold or returned to rightful owners.
Auditors estimated the inventory in excess of 300,000 items accumulated over more than 30 years. The report said that between 65 and 80 percent of the inventory could be discarded.
"It's like a big junk closet," said Elias Johnson, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. "It looks like an episode of 'Hoarders.' "
Sheriff's officials say the audit highlighted long-standing issues from previous administrations, and they called it a "hot potato" left in the hands of Sheriff Paul Babeu. Tim Gaffney, the sheriff's communications director, said Babeu became aware of problems in January 2009 when a precinct sergeant was accused of not logging seized property into the unit.
"We didn't realize how severe the issue was," Gaffney said. "We didn't know three days into office whether this was an isolated incident or whether this was much larger."
Following three internal investigations - one by the Sheriff's Office and two by outside contractors - Babeu requested an independent audit in July 2010 to "identify all of the issues needing correction in our property and evidence section."
What Evidence Control Systems found during an inspection Dec. 6-10 was an understaffed unit responsible for a main warehouse that was stocked beyond capacity, and several ancillary storage areas and substation evidence-collection sites with inadequate security.
Auditors found urine samples - some saved long past the corresponding cases' adjudication - stocked in 60 spots without any designated shelf or bin in the refrigerator where they sat. Personal belongings, held for safekeeping after the original owners were arrested, sat collecting dust in the storage rooms. Auditors found methamphetamines last reviewed in October 2008 that had yet to be destroyed.
More than 25 percent of the inventory had not been logged electronically, and the unit was three months behind in documenting new items. Of the files that had been generated, some didn't match with physical objects. Guns marked as destroyed were actually still at the armory. There was no record-keeping of money stored in the unit.
Improperly tracking items and money is no anomaly for evidence-storage rooms among law-enforcement agencies, said Joe Latta, director of the auditing company. Evidence Control Systems has audited 65 agencies in Canada and the U.S. and offers suggestions to clean up the mishaps and maintain order based on standards of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the International Property and Evidence Association.
Latta said many of the problems come down to staffing and the size of the budget for agencies everywhere.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office is "trying their hardest with the limited resources they have, and almost every department across the country has the same problems," Latta said.
Stockpiling old, useless evidence slows down the efficiency of agencies and makes it more difficult to locate materials for existing cases, he said.
In a random search, auditors selected a firearm logged in a computer and hunted for it in storage. They had to sort through 300 boxes before they found it. Auditors took random samplings of 20 packages at one storage location and found that 75 percent of the materials were eligible for review, meaning the statute of limitations on the cases had expired or the cases had likely been closed. Auditors concluded that the source of this problem often started with the officer in charge of the case.
Ideally, officers would give the owners of property that was being held a receipt and tell them they had a certain number of days to claim their belongings or they would be disposed of. But auditors learned that many of these receipts were not issued. Auditors also learned that deputies often would not respond to requests from evidence technicians to review objects for potential disposal. The report cited one example in which an evidence technician tried to reach one deputy via e-mail twice over the course of about a month and got no response.
Sheriff's officials are reviewing the audit and formulating an action plan to rectify issues, Gaffney said. The hiring of three new evidence-unit technicians is already in the works, he said, and the department plans to submit a funding proposal to county supervisors to hire four more techs and purchase unspecified equipment to comply with audit recommendations.
Meanwhile, the department has installed more secure lockers for evidence storage at its substations, and employees on light duty have been helping unit staff review inventory and dispose of items.
Both Babeu and County Attorney Jim Walsh say they are not aware of any issues raised in the audit that have affected any past or current cases. But the possibility "is real, and this is why we are trying to address it now so no victims will ever be denied justice," Babeu said.
Having Walsh is like the fox guarding the hen house. He is up to his ears in protecting land developers and other criminals. He will do anything he can to keep Babeu from finding out what has really been going on. Walsh admit it one of your own top Drug prosecutors was accused of stealing from the evidence locker for his cancer ridden wife. If you are going to clean house clean out all the cob webs!
So, once again we still see more then adequate evidence as to the still continued and yet on-going high
level of official sanctioned and fully approved total corruption and complete massive incompetence of
now current Pinal County Sheriff and TV Star Wannabe Absentee Leader Paul Babeu and his band of
play sheriff deputy wannabess on open public display for all to see here!...Way to go Paul Buffoon!
Mr. Lone Eagle,
You sound like you got a dog in this hunt and a badge in somebody's desk.
Your not setting home on one of those paid leave suspensions pending investigation are you? What is that like, getting paid to be investigatedNope,just tellling the honest to God Truth about phony baloney tv star wannabe
that baldheaded egomaniac total incompetent pathetic disgrace to Pinal County
Sheriff Buffoon Paul Babeu and if your read all of the today's comments closely
if you even actually can even read,then you would have also read that Iam also
speaking on the basis of over 10 years of actual investigating reporting as an
over 10 year veteran Denver Colorado radio/tv newsreporter,where we do a
lot of real gutlevel investigative reporting and would have had Babeu the Buffoon and Dopey Devers behind bars a long long time ago, okay?
"Sheriff's officials say the audit highlighted long-standing issues from previous administrations, and they called it a "hot potato" left in the hands of Sheriff Paul Babeu."
Once again, Gaffe-knee is trying to place the blame on someone else. Under this latest "re-organization" he is going to be paid to basically do nothing but political work for the Sheriff. Morale since they have taken over has been the lowest it has been since the days of Reyes.
Road Kill is a term for drugs and property that is taken by police in drug busts that makes it's way back to the illegal market.
The Road Kill business has been booming in Pinal County ever since Nixon declared the drug war on June 17, 1971.The corruption in Pinal county is now historic.
A forensic investigation of the evidence locker records will map out a trail of corruption and hidden laundered wealth.
The new sheriff has the power to clean this mess up or claim the corruption for his own purposes. We are at a cross road in Pinal County. Do these new guys want to clean up the corruption or do they just want control of the corruption?
Funny who gets pursued by the boss. PCSO, under Babeu, became aware Deputy Burchfield mishandled money recovered in a criminal investigation. He lied to investigators but was excused for lying by Steven Henry and Babeu and is still employed. Had to take care of our Army guy, didn't we?
We are 2 1/2 years into this new crew. Three internal investigations and then they requested another one last July? And now they are acting on it? Get right on it, boys.
Babeu brags he recently took 25 jail employees back to St. Louis for "training" at a National Sheriff's Association (oh, that group) recently. Seems to have employees to spare.
Maybe a little less time at the podium and on the news channels and maybe a little more time taking care of the basics of police work.
This is the sheriff that closed and opened and closed the Puroll crime investigation, contrary to what local, state and federal standards clearly state can't be done in closing a case where suspects are still outstanding. PB often makes his own rules.
Perhaps the cluttered evidence room is why the Puroll t-shirt was kept at PCSO and not analyzed by the crime lab for so many months. Yeah, that's it.
More than 300 pages of the report by California-based Evidence Control Systems Inc. highlighted problems with the way evidence was handled, detailing a bloated, haphazard inventory of items that should have been destroyed, sold or returned to rightful owners.
Auditors estimated the inventory in excess of 300,000 items accumulated over more than 30 years. The report said that between 65 and 80 percent of the inventory could be discarded.
"It's like a big junk closet," said Elias Johnson, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. "It looks like an episode of 'Hoarders.' "
Sheriff's officials say the audit highlighted long-standing issues from previous administrations, and they called it a "hot potato" left in the hands of Sheriff Paul Babeu. Tim Gaffney, the sheriff's communications director, said Babeu became aware of problems in January 2009 when a precinct sergeant was accused of not logging seized property into the unit.
"We didn't realize how severe the issue was," Gaffney said. "We didn't know three days into office whether this was an isolated incident or whether this was much larger."
Following three internal investigations - one by the Sheriff's Office and two by outside contractors - Babeu requested an independent audit in July 2010 to "identify all of the issues needing correction in our property and evidence section."
What Evidence Control Systems found during an inspection Dec. 6-10 was an understaffed unit responsible for a main warehouse that was stocked beyond capacity, and several ancillary storage areas and substation evidence-collection sites with inadequate security.
Auditors found urine samples - some saved long past the corresponding cases' adjudication - stocked in 60 spots without any designated shelf or bin in the refrigerator where they sat. Personal belongings, held for safekeeping after the original owners were arrested, sat collecting dust in the storage rooms. Auditors found methamphetamines last reviewed in October 2008 that had yet to be destroyed.
More than 25 percent of the inventory had not been logged electronically, and the unit was three months behind in documenting new items. Of the files that had been generated, some didn't match with physical objects. Guns marked as destroyed were actually still at the armory. There was no record-keeping of money stored in the unit.
Improperly tracking items and money is no anomaly for evidence-storage rooms among law-enforcement agencies, said Joe Latta, director of the auditing company. Evidence Control Systems has audited 65 agencies in Canada and the U.S. and offers suggestions to clean up the mishaps and maintain order based on standards of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the International Property and Evidence Association.
Latta said many of the problems come down to staffing and the size of the budget for agencies everywhere.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office is "trying their hardest with the limited resources they have, and almost every department across the country has the same problems," Latta said.
Stockpiling old, useless evidence slows down the efficiency of agencies and makes it more difficult to locate materials for existing cases, he said.
In a random search, auditors selected a firearm logged in a computer and hunted for it in storage. They had to sort through 300 boxes before they found it. Auditors took random samplings of 20 packages at one storage location and found that 75 percent of the materials were eligible for review, meaning the statute of limitations on the cases had expired or the cases had likely been closed. Auditors concluded that the source of this problem often started with the officer in charge of the case.
Ideally, officers would give the owners of property that was being held a receipt and tell them they had a certain number of days to claim their belongings or they would be disposed of. But auditors learned that many of these receipts were not issued. Auditors also learned that deputies often would not respond to requests from evidence technicians to review objects for potential disposal. The report cited one example in which an evidence technician tried to reach one deputy via e-mail twice over the course of about a month and got no response.
Sheriff's officials are reviewing the audit and formulating an action plan to rectify issues, Gaffney said. The hiring of three new evidence-unit technicians is already in the works, he said, and the department plans to submit a funding proposal to county supervisors to hire four more techs and purchase unspecified equipment to comply with audit recommendations.
Meanwhile, the department has installed more secure lockers for evidence storage at its substations, and employees on light duty have been helping unit staff review inventory and dispose of items.
Both Babeu and County Attorney Jim Walsh say they are not aware of any issues raised in the audit that have affected any past or current cases. But the possibility "is real, and this is why we are trying to address it now so no victims will ever be denied justice," Babeu said.
COMMENTS
- PeacefulCat
- Jul-30 @ 7:18 AM
- loneeagle
- Jul-30 @ 10:25 AM
level of official sanctioned and fully approved total corruption and complete massive incompetence of
now current Pinal County Sheriff and TV Star Wannabe Absentee Leader Paul Babeu and his band of
play sheriff deputy wannabess on open public display for all to see here!...Way to go Paul Buffoon!
- USHEMPNEWS
- Jul-30 @ 5:57 PM
You sound like you got a dog in this hunt and a badge in somebody's desk.
Your not setting home on one of those paid leave suspensions pending investigation are you? What is that like, getting paid to be investigated
- loneeagle
- Jul-30 @ 6:26 PM
that baldheaded egomaniac total incompetent pathetic disgrace to Pinal County
Sheriff Buffoon Paul Babeu and if your read all of the today's comments closely
if you even actually can even read,then you would have also read that Iam also
speaking on the basis of over 10 years of actual investigating reporting as an
over 10 year veteran Denver Colorado radio/tv newsreporter,where we do a
lot of real gutlevel investigative reporting and would have had Babeu the Buffoon and Dopey Devers behind bars a long long time ago, okay?
- dannyocean
- Jul-31 @ 1:15 PM
Once again, Gaffe-knee is trying to place the blame on someone else. Under this latest "re-organization" he is going to be paid to basically do nothing but political work for the Sheriff. Morale since they have taken over has been the lowest it has been since the days of Reyes.
- USHEMPNEWS
- Aug-01 @ 5:50 AM
The Road Kill business has been booming in Pinal County ever since Nixon declared the drug war on June 17, 1971.The corruption in Pinal county is now historic.
A forensic investigation of the evidence locker records will map out a trail of corruption and hidden laundered wealth.
The new sheriff has the power to clean this mess up or claim the corruption for his own purposes. We are at a cross road in Pinal County. Do these new guys want to clean up the corruption or do they just want control of the corruption?
- KyrstenCinema
- Aug-02 @ 1:41 AM
We are 2 1/2 years into this new crew. Three internal investigations and then they requested another one last July? And now they are acting on it? Get right on it, boys.
Babeu brags he recently took 25 jail employees back to St. Louis for "training" at a National Sheriff's Association (oh, that group) recently. Seems to have employees to spare.
Maybe a little less time at the podium and on the news channels and maybe a little more time taking care of the basics of police work.
This is the sheriff that closed and opened and closed the Puroll crime investigation, contrary to what local, state and federal standards clearly state can't be done in closing a case where suspects are still outstanding. PB often makes his own rules.
Perhaps the cluttered evidence room is why the Puroll t-shirt was kept at PCSO and not analyzed by the crime lab for so many months. Yeah, that's it.
The public servants of Pinal County had a hard time keeping their noses out of the evidence locker and the real estate business.
Get Judge William O'Neil and Robert Carter Olson out of our courts and away from our justice system. They are 2 of the most corrupt judges in Arizona. A forensic audit of the evidence locker wikk answer a lot of questions about corruption in Arizona and the dope and cash racket before Sheriff Babeu came to town.
After the Stan Griffis corruption cover-up. O'Neil got promoted Chief Presiding Judge over all the crooked attorneys in the State of Arizona, Carter Olson moved up to Chief Presiding Judge of Pinal County, Jim Walsh moved up to Head County Attorney, and Governor Napolitano went to Homeland Security in Washington.
These crooked politicians get promoted up the corruption ladder so fast you can't keep track. Sheriff Babeu inherited a mess and the evidence locker audit will tell a lot about who got what.