AG backs NOPD on evidence money

WXVT-TV Delta News

New Orleans, LA

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The state attorney general has ruled that money missing from the New Orleans Police Department's evidence room was not public property and Superintendent Warren Riley was not required to report the loss to the legislative auditor.

The ruling, released on Wednesday, was requested by Riley in response to a letter written by Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot to city officials. Theriot's highly critical report said New Orleans Police Department officials ran a haphazard property and evidence room from which more than $200,000 went missing after 2005's Hurricane Katrina, and later failed to notify the proper authorities in writing of the missing money.

The ruling said the auditor had authority to examine police books, however.

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International Association for Property and Evidence
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