In Manatee, a turf battle over evidence

Bradenton.com, bradenton.com
BYLINE: LEE WILLIAMS -
Link to Article

Manatee, FL

Sheriff, administrator at odds over where to house MSO’s ever-growing pile of physical evidence, property



MANATEE -- For more than 15 years, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has had an abysmal record of safeguarding the physical evidence and property it’s required to protect and store.

Evidence has been lost, destroyed or damaged by the elements.

Criminal charges have been dismissed and convictions overturned because the evidence was missing or destroyed.

Now, efforts to finally correct the festering problem have been put on hold because of a “difference of opinion” about where to best store the ever-growing mountain of evidence -- an impasse between the sheriff, who’s constitutionally mandated to preserve the evidence and store the property, and the county administrator, whose bosses on the county commission are legally obligated to provide space for the sheriff to do his job.

Manatee County Sheriff Brad Steube wants the entire evidence room moved to his headquarters on old U.S. 301, where everything would be centrally located.

“It’s taken us nearly two years to go through seven different locations in the county and get it all under one roof,” Steube said. “We’re almost there. We almost have a manageable product.”

But Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker wants the evidence moved to the old county jail in downtown Bradenton.

“It’s a difference of opinion. I told that to the board last week,” Hunzeker said this week. “I’m not quite sure how we can reconcile it.”

Problems first began in 1996, when the sheriff’s property and evidence unit ran out of room and was forced to move some items to the First Union Bank building, an old work-release site, the Police Athletic League building and several other facilities.

In 2002, sensitive items being held at the bank vault were damaged by water intrusion and subsequent mold. More than 3,600 cases were dismissed as a result, including the charges against one man who saw his rape conviction and life prison sentence overturned.

In 2007, there were three water intrusions at different sites, soaking the floors. Again, stored evidence had to be hastily relocated.

When he took office in March 2007, Steube had evidence stored in seven sites scattered around the county, several of them not really all that secure, and one dedicated to housing hundreds of recovered bicycles. Much of the evidence lacked sufficient tracking labels, such as the digital bar codes his department uses today.

Steube attacked the problem with five full-time property officers and two crews of technicians. They opened nearly every single piece of property and evidence, repackaged the items and affixed bar code labels.

He created a new property storage area at his headquarters, complete with hurricane shutters, alarms, video cameras, fire protection, adequate shelving and concrete pillars out front. Most of the evidence was consolidated there.

Steube estimates it could take his teams only 60 to 90 days to finish the inventory. He’s already cut the number of storage facilities from seven down to three.

“Everything is placed in plastic bins. We’ve got a secure area for weapons, guns and a certain area for drugs,” he said. “We’ve got refrigeration for DNA. We’ve got it all.”

At first, the consolidation had the support of the county commission, and the county administrator.

“We sat in a meeting. They said we’re going (to move evidence and property) into the rest of the building. We agreed. This was great for us,” Steube said.

The support faded.

To expand the evidence room, Steube wants to move the county’s employee benefits unit out of his headquarters. But Hunzeker wants to keep the benefits department there, and has asked the sheriff to store evidence in the old jail in downtown Bradenton.

Both men cite cost and security as the reasons why their idea should prevail.

Hunzeker says it would cost taxpayers an additional $1.5 million to relocate the benefits department and prepare the space to house property.

Steube points out that renovating the old jail will be expensive, especially if the cells are to be moved.

“I’ve been in that jail when they did renovations,” the sheriff said. “They tore roofs off, put temporary roofs back on. Some of the floors they want us to use have a new roof but no fire sprinkler system. It’s going to take money to fix.”

One building official at the old jail estimates it could cost millions to renovate the vacant structure, which is technically condemned because its power, fire suppression and 1980s-vintage air conditioning system have all been turned off.

“We’re saving energy,” said building supervisor Phillip Hoffmann. “No one is allowed up here.”

Each of the floors where the county administrator hopes evidence will be stored was humid, dusty and had a moldy smell on Tuesday.

“None of this is being maintained,” Hoffman said Tuesday afternoon on the fifth floor. “It’s just here.”

The county commission will decide which option to choose at an upcoming workshop.

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Manatee County building supervisor Phil Hoffmann enters one of the holding areas of the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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Manatee County building supervisor Phil Hoffmann rides an elevator to the fourth floor of the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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Manatee County Sheriff's Deputy Frank Bileth stands behind a shattered window in the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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Manatee County Sheriff's Deputy Frank Bileth makes his way down a hallway in the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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Manatee County building supervisor Phil Hoffmann stands outside of a cellblock in the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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The Manatee County Judicial Center is built around the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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Manatee County Sheriff's Deputy Frank Bileth walks into a holding room in the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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This cellblock in the old Manatee County Jail is one location where Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker is proposing that the Manatee County Sheriff's Department uses to house evidence. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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One of the holding areas of the old Manatee County Jail that Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker is proposing that the Manatee County Sheriff's Department use to house evidence. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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A telephone in one of the booths in the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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A water fountain on the wall of the old Manatee County Jail. GRANT JEFFERIES/

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International Association for Property and Evidence
"Law Enforcement Serving the Needs of Law Enforcement"
www.IAPE.org