Police evidence room vital to solving cases


The strangest thing she's had in the evidence vault was a goat's head. Enter Article DATE HERE By Ruth Campbell Posted on Apr 1, 2018by Ruth Campbell In the nooks and crannies of the Odessa Police Department, evidence from the variety of cases they tackle is kept in storage. Anything can come in as evidence from beer cans an...

Continue reading
2332 Hits

State audit reveals 'number of problems' in Mountain City Police Dept.'s property, evidence room


"In some instances, evidence bags had been cut open and drugs were missing. Investigators were unable to determine what happened to the seized property because it was not clear who had accessed the evidence room," said an audit report." March 29, 2018 MOUNTAIN CITY, TN (WJHL) - State auditors and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents revealed to...

Continue reading
1484 Hits

Hampton, Newport News invest in technology to help solve gun crimes

The agencies recently bought a high-tech camera system — at a joint cost of $210,762 — designed to match spent cartridge cases to guns that police have previously seized and to shell casings collected from prior shootings. March 19, 22018 Police in Hampton and Newport News are hoping that their recent purchase of a powerful new machine to photograp...

Continue reading
1359 Hits

Doorbell DNA leads deputies to suspected Florida burglar

Officials said that before Braun allegedly broke into the home, he rang the front doorbell — without any gloves on — to see if anyone was home. March 30, 2018 Deputies in Florida were able to nab a suspect in a months-old robbery case after his DNA was found on the front doorbell of the house he allegedly robbed. Jason Braun, 41, of Edgewater, was ...

Continue reading
1450 Hits

Evidence missing in historic Windsor sexual assault case

It was during their testimony that it came to light that an evidence control sheet, detailing everything seized from the home, is now missing. March 26, 2018 An important exhibit in a sexual assault trial in Windsor has gone missing. 56-year-old John Thomas Wuschenny is charged with sexual assault, break and enter, forcible confinement, wearing a d...

Continue reading
4738 Hits

Officer's theft arrest stems from lost rings valued at $17,950 turned into Birmingham police

The theft charge, records state, is because Williams "with intent to deprive the owner permanently of said property...did fail to take reasonable measures to discover and notify" the female who owned the rings.   Enter Article DATE HERE More information has been made public following last week's arrest of a Birmingham police officer on fe...

Continue reading
1454 Hits

Mayor’s son pleads guilty to stealing drugs from Fairfield PD By Daniel Tepfer


Fairfield Police Detective Stephen Rilling appears at his arraignment in Bridgeport Superior Court, in Bridgeport, Conn. June 2, 2017. Rilling, son of Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling, is charged with third-degree computer crime, second-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, possession of narcotics, second-degree forgery, tampering with eviden...

Continue reading
1721 Hits

Police captain: Fired officer told son to delete evidence from phone

Cellphones issued by the police department are not allowed to be used by anyone other than the officers it is issued to, in accordance with policy, Bennick said. Enter Article DATE HERE SUNBURY — Sunbury Police Captain Steve Bennick testified on Monday that fired Cpl. Jamie Quinn told him that she instructed her son to deny viewing a sexually ...

Continue reading
1769 Hits

2 Gardena Police Officers Charged With Illegally Selling Guns Through Instagram


Arao is accused of obtaining the guns by transferring "off-roster" inventory from Ronin Tactical Group to himself, while Fernandez allegedly sold dozens of "off-roster" firearms through private-party transfers. "Off-roster" guns are those that can be legally bought by law enforcement officers but are not available to the general public. March 26, 2...

Continue reading
1513 Hits

Former police officer charged after allegedly stealing from evidence locker

Enter Headline here March 22, 2018 LOWER SWATARA, Pa. — A former Lower Swatara Township Police Department officer is being charged by the Dauphin County District Attourney's Office for allegedly stealing drugs from an evidence locker at the Lower Swatara Township Police Department. Scott Flowers, 39, of Harrisburg, has been charged with four counts...

Continue reading
1428 Hits

Ex-Tiffin police secretary given jail time for stealing cash from evidence room

$45,000 she stole from a drug task force evidence room March 21, 2018 TIFFIN — A former Tiffin Police Department secretary has been sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to repay more than $45,000 she stole from a drug task force evidence room, the Ohio attorney general's office announced Wednesday. Holly England, 41, of Bascom, Ohio, was sen...

Continue reading
1743 Hits

Efforts to clear California’s rape kit testing backlog fall short


California doesn't know how many rape kits are on the shelves," said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco. Enter Article DATE HERE The case of an Antioch man accused of murder who evaded capture while a rape kit implicating him years earlier sat on a shelf has caught the attention of lawmakers and activists. But chances are, he's not the on...

Continue reading
1511 Hits

Louisville to pay $7.5M to Kerry Porter for wrongful conviction and 11 years in prison

Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel dropped the case against Porter, citing Cunningham's statement and DNA on the duct tape that belonged to someone other than Porter who couldn't be identified. Porter, who was serving a 60-year sentence, was freed. March 21, 2018 Kerry Porter, who will receive $7.5 million in compensation from the city of Louisvi...

Continue reading
2758 Hits

Former Jacksonville police officer allegedly stole drugs from evidence room m the department's evidence room.

A Jacksonville police officer has been charged with 10 felony drug charges, after allegedly stealing drugs from the department's evidence room. March 20, 2018 A Jacksonville police officer has been charged with 10 felony drug charges, after allegedly stealing drugs from the department's evidence room. This story might have never came to light, but ...

Continue reading
1799 Hits

Police: Hawaii - Officer suspected of stealing evidence

According to the statement, the discrepancy was discovered when the evidence was being weighed in preparation to use a small quantity of the cocaine for training purposes. March 15, 2018 Police say criminal and administrative investigations were initiated in October 2017 after it was discovered that cocaine recovered as evidence in 2014 was found t...

Continue reading
1489 Hits

Former Fort Peck tribal officer guilty of stealing drugs from evidence

Officer broke into the Fort Peck Tribal Law and Justice Building and used a crowbar to get into the drug investigations office where he took opiates, methamphetamine and cash Enter Article DATE HERE GREAT FALLS — A former Fort Peck tribal police officer has pleaded guilty to stealing drugs and money from the tribe's drug investigations office,...

Continue reading
1510 Hits

After Drug Thefts – Crime Lab Improves Policies to Protect Cases

Thrush allegedly saved leftover portions of the drug evidence and later ingested them. Larson said Thrush was properly vetted for his position as chemist for the crime lab. FEBRUARY 23, 2018 On February 23, KGVO reported that Derek Thrush, a former chemist at the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula, had allegedly stolen samples of methamphetamine f...

Continue reading
1537 Hits

Former Johnstown police officer sentenced to house arrest for overdose-related charges

Slisz was accused of obtaining an envelope containing 48 suspected stamp bags of heroin and six pills from a temporary evidence locker, where drugs were stored before being transferred by an evidence custodian to a secure evidence room at a later time, as outlined by the department's procedure. Enter Article DATE HERE EBENSBURG – Former Johnst...

Continue reading
2565 Hits

DNA leads to arrest in 1986 cold case slayings of two young women

The Fremont Police Department announced they arrested David Misch, 57, on suspicion of two counts of murder in the slayings of two young women whose nude bodies were dumped along a road, the East Bay Times reported. Fremont is southeast of San Francisco. Enter Article DATE HERE FREMONT, Calif. -- The 1986 killings of two California women who d...

Continue reading
1436 Hits

North Carolina man arrested after decades-old rape kit tested

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said at a news conference Wednesday that 56-year-old Warren Lee Caldwell was arrested March 1 and jailed in connection with the rape of an 18-year-old in 1990 and of a 17-year-old in 1994. March 7, 2018 RALEIGH, N.C. — Police in North Carolina's largest city have accused a man of two rapes of teenagers dating back more ...

Continue reading
1335 Hits

Former Harper Woods officer sentenced to probation

Michael Lynch, 37, had been charged with six counts of larceny in a building, misconduct in office and possession of heroin after being accused of stealing items from the department's property room in February 2017. March 1, 2018 HARPER WOODS — A former Harper Woods Department of Public Safety officer was sentenced on Feb. 27 after being accused of...

Continue reading
1652 Hits

Her rape kit sat untested for 22 years. Oregon police say they just found a DNA match

When a $2 million grant paid to test some of the state's 5,600 untested kits following a public outcry, police packed up the kit and sent it off to a private lab in Utah, reported The Oregonian. The kit produced a DNA match in November – 22 years after the crime. March 1, 2018 Taken in a 1996 sexual assault case, the rape kit sat untested in a Port...

Continue reading
1633 Hits

Audit shows North Carolina has 15K untested sexual assault kits

A new state law required all law enforcement agencies to report their numbers of untested rape kits to the State Crime Lab earlier this year, and 92 percent of the 563 agencies responded. March 1, 2018 RALEIGH — North Carolina has more than 15,000 untested sexual assault kits, a backlog that national advocacy group described as "significant." Attor...

Continue reading
1536 Hits

Evidence missing from Santee sheriff's station, clerk resigns amid investigation

Enter Headline here Enter Article DATE HERE A Sheriff's Department property clerk resigned in December amid a criminal investigation into missing evidence.The clerk, a nearly 10-year employee named Angela Messig, acknowledged the property room she oversaw in Santee was a mess but denied stealing any evidence.The property-theft case is the seco...

Continue reading
1565 Hits

Poulsbo police officer charged with drugs, theft

A Poulsbo police officer was charged Wednesday with theft and felony drug possession after she confessed to repeatedly taking narcotics left in city hall's prescription drug take-back box, according to court documents. Enter Article DATE HERE PORT ORCHARD — A Poulsbo police officer was charged Wednesday with theft and felony drug possession af...

Continue reading
1869 Hits

ATF investigating disappearance of cache of guns from Compton vault

The guns had been stored in a vacated building on Alameda Street which had been home to Compton's old City Hall. A vault with heavy metal doors and a large combination lock secured the cache. March 1, 2018 COMPTON, Calif. (KABC) -- Compton City officials reported a cache of 30 weapons missing and federal agents from the ATF are investigating. The d...

Continue reading
1457 Hits

Former Kane County deputy sentenced to 30 days in jail for drug crimes

Zinke was charged in April 2015 after an Illinois State Police investigation into allegations she kept medications that were meant to be delivered to her department's evidence vault. March 1, 2018 A 40-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to a drug crime she committed while working as a Kane County sheriff's deputy cried Thursday after a Lake County j...

Continue reading
1744 Hits

Former Leadville Police Chief Sentenced For Thefts From Evidence Room

The investigation revealed that Leake took several guns from the evidence room, brought them to pawn shops in Denver, and presented himself as the owner. Enter Article DATE HERE LEADVILLE, Colo. (CBS4) — A judge sentenced Michael Leake, the police chief for the city of Leadville for six years, to 15 years of probation Friday for stealing from ...

Continue reading
1571 Hits

Charges dropped in 40 cases, another dozen under review after Billings evidence tech's drug thefts

The Billings Police Department said during a press conference that it had fired the technician , on Feb. 6 after she confessed to stealing oxycodone and other opioids from evidence, affecting 138 cases. March 1, 2018 Yellowstone County will drop criminal charges in roughly 40 cases and dismiss another dozen cases under review because a Billings Pol...

Continue reading
1484 Hits

Poulsbo Police Department makes changes after thefts, audit finds

The finding identified a number of weaknesses within the department after a former employee stole two guns, $2,000 went missing from a police department fund, and a gold necklace disappeared from the evidence room. Enter Article DATE HERE By Brynn Grimley Recent thefts within the Poulsbo Police Department prompted the city to make drastic chan...

Continue reading
2920 Hits

Canterbury pleads guilty in gun mill case - possible 10 years

According to court documents, Canterbury was in possession of more than 280 guns, including pistols, revolvers, shotguns and rifles. February 28, 2018 A federal judge has accepted a guilty plea from a Valley Grande man arrested last May for his involvement in a gun mill responsible for stealing and selling guns from the Selma Police Department's ev...

Continue reading
1598 Hits

Key evidence missing in 2008 shovel beating case

According to court documents filed this month, Hansen's defense team argues crucial evidence from the attack has been destroyed by the Albuquerque Police Department, February 26, 2018 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- He's accused of savagely beating a teenage girl within an inch of her life. The victim is still recovering from the attack. Justin Hansen was arr...

Continue reading
4091 Hits

Police Officer Faces Tribunal Over Staff Room Biscuit Theft

It's not about the biscuits, they say; it's the principle of it all February 20, 2018 A police officer is facing an internal disciplinary hearing over a classic case of inter-office political wrangling, after he was accused of taking another officer's biscuits from a cupboard. Yes, everyone waded in over that. It's not about the biscuits, they say;...

Continue reading
1740 Hits

Billings Police evidence tech fired after stealing oxycodone, which affected at least 138 cases

It is the second time in roughly three years drug cases have been affected by BPD evidence technicians stealing drugs. Enter Article DATE HERE A Billings Police Department employee was fired earlier this month after stealing prescription painkillers from the evidence locker, police said Tuesday. The revelation throws into question hundreds of ...

Continue reading
2055 Hits

Medical examiner taps DNA science to find missing persons

February 18, 2018 NEW YORK — For families who have searched years for missing loved ones, donating a sample of their DNA is often a last, desperate act to confirm their worst fears. New York City's medical examiner is leading a nationwide effort to collect genetic material and match it with unidentified human remains. It's a way to finally give fam...

Continue reading
1670 Hits

Man at center of alleged Selma gun mill pleads guilty

Adrianne Canterbury, who goes by Michelle, was accused of taking guns and jewelry out of the Selma Police Department evidence vault, the secure area where she worked. Richard Canterbury would then fix the guns so they could then be sold online. February 18, 2018 SELMA, AL (WSFA) - Richard Canterbury, one of three people accused of taking part in an...

Continue reading
1705 Hits

Murder charges filed in 30-year-old cold case after Wonder Lake woman's body exhumed (DNA)

In more recent years, investigators were able to rely on DNA evidence to cast a new light on circumstances surrounding Lori Bringe's death. Enter Article DATE HERE WONDER LAKE – First-degree murder charges were filed Monday in a 30-year-old cold case that led investigators to exhume the body of a Wonder Lake woman. Arizona police arrested Mark...

Continue reading
3268 Hits

Broken Arrow detective submits resignation amid allegations of mishandling evidence in Bever case

Wood told the World last week that Adcock collected a series of items from a local auction house, primarily electronics, that had been in the Bever home and deposited them in a locker with the intent to take them to the department's property room later but forgot to do so Enter Article DATE HERE Gayla Adcock had been scheduled for a hearing th...

Continue reading
2686 Hits

Lawrence civilian property room clerk had BAC of .22 while on the job, according to police chief

A civilian employee of the Lawrence Police Department is out of a job after being accused of being drunk on the job. Enter Article DATE HERE LAWRENCE, Ind. -- A civilian employee of the Lawrence Police Department is out of a job after being accused of being drunk on the job. The woman was the clerk of the police property room which is where ev...

Continue reading
1795 Hits

Former police chief files lawsuit against town of Atlantic Beach

"During that investigation, Defendant's (Town of Atlantic Beach) agents, officers and/or employees alleged that $650.00 was missing from the evidence room February 16, 2018 ATLANTIC BEACH, SC (WMBF) – The former police chief of Atlantic Beach has filed a lawsuit against the town stating his termination was due to false allegations of theft. Accordi...

Continue reading
1681 Hits

Ex-police corporal gets 3 months in prison for $22K theft

A former Harrisburg police official will serve three months in prison for stealing more than $22,000 from an evidence locker. Enter Article DATE HERE HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A former Harrisburg police official will serve three months in prison for stealing more than $22,000 from an evidence locker. Sean D. Cornick was sentenced Wednesday in f...

Continue reading
1583 Hits

Record payout approved for Simi Valley man wrongfully convicted of grisly 1978 murders (DNA)

Nearly 40 years later, the 70-year-old man has a slew of powerful voices behind him as he fights to correct the injustice of having spent more than half of his life in prison for a grisly double murder he didn't commit. Feb 15, 2018 For years, from inside a cell at Folsom State Prison, Craig Coley couldn't get anyone to listen. But his message was ...

Continue reading
1496 Hits

St. George man pleads guilty to selling evidence while working for police department

A former Southern Utah police evidence technician has entered a guilty plea in relation to allegations that he sold police evidence through his daughter's online store. February 17, 2018 ST. GEORGE — A former Southern Utah police evidence technician has entered a guilty plea in relation to allegations that he sold police evidence through his daught...

Continue reading
1668 Hits

Former evidence room employee under investigation in Weber County

An evidence audit team has now been assembled to go through every piece of evidence in the department to make sure whatever unknown substances the woman was allegedly taking weren't stolen from the room Enter Article DATE HERE OGDEN — The Weber County Sheriff's Office has launched an investigation into a former evidence room employee who may h...

Continue reading
1490 Hits

Louisiana Man Exonerated by DNA Evidence After Serving Nearly 38 Years in Prison for Rape He Didn’t Commit

Macolm Alexander, who was just 21 years old when he was wrongfully convicted of aggravated rape and sentenced to life in Louisiana State Penitentiary February 13, 2018 Malcolm Alexander, who was just 21 years old when he was wrongfully convicted of aggravated rape and sentenced to life in Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola), was released from pri...

Continue reading
1738 Hits

N.Y. lawmakers push for preservation of rape kits

Measures would create a central storage facility where rape kits kept for 20 years February 14, 2018 ALBANY — A bipartisan group of New York lawmakers on Tuesday called for an overhaul of state laws and regulations governing the retention and handling of rape kits, including the creation of a central storage facility where the forensic evidence wou...

Continue reading
2224 Hits

Former Anne Arundel police lab tech gets 6 months in prison for stealing drugs from department

Pleaded guilty to stealing prescription drugs from drop boxes at district stations for more than two years. February 13, 2018 A former manager of the Anne Arundel police crime lab was sentenced to six months in prison Tuesday after she'd pleaded guilty to stealing prescription drugs from drop boxes at district stations for more than two years. Tues...

Continue reading
1635 Hits

Man Sues Chicago, Police for Wrongful Conviction

A man who spent nearly a quarter century in prison after being convicted of rape and murder before DNA testing prompted authorities to drop the charges has filed a lawsuit that alleges he was coerced by Chicago police detectives into confessing. Enter Article DATE HERE A man who spent nearly a quarter of century in prison after being convicted...

Continue reading
1720 Hits

Proposed Bill Would Create Database for Sexual Assault Kits

Currently, Missouri has no way of keeping track of processed sexual assault collection kits. A proposed bill hopes to fix that February 12, 2018 Currently, Missouri has no way of keeping track of processed sexual assault collection kits. A proposed bill hopes to fix that. During a hearing Monday afternoon, members of the public spoke in favor of a ...

Continue reading
1613 Hits

33 pounds of fentanyl is seized in Boston - enough to wipe out all of Massachusetts - as drugs ring with direct links to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel is disrupted

Prosecutors said the synthetic opioid was being sold on the street by a drug gang with links to Mexico's notorious Sinaloa Cartel, the drug organization once led by Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán February 9, 2018 Authorities in Boston have seized more than 33 pounds of fentanyl - enough to kill millions of people - in connection with one of Massachusett...

Continue reading
4924 Hits

Search IAPE

Blotter - Latest News

This login form is for IAPE Staff ONLY!