COUNCIL TO SET GUIDELINES ON SEIZED DRUGS

Changes Are Planned In The Way Police Store, Handle And
Audit Narcotics After Internal Thefts

BERKELEY -- Two years after police discovered the biggest drug scandal
in the police department's history, the City Council on Tuesday will
consider adopting more than a dozen recommendations for storing,
handling and auditing seized drugs and money.

In October, the city's Police Review Commission found that systems for
tracking drug evidence were inadequate to prevent the theft of
narcotics from the department's evidence locker, according to a
detailed and lengthy report.

The report also found that the department's probe into a former
sergeant's drug thefts was insufficient.

Since then, Berkeley police Chief Douglas Hambleton has responded to
the review commission's seven main findings and the 27
recommendations, concurring with 25 of the recommendations. Some of
the recommendations have been implemented while others are slated to
be in place by June, he said.

In January 2006, police discovered that then-Sgt. Cary Kent had
tampered with and stolen drugs from 286 drug evidence envelopes.

Police and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office conducted a
joint investigation and 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 a year in an electronic home detention program and
sent to a drug treatment program. Kent, who had retired a month
before, was sentenced to five years probation.

In its report, the review commission asked that the Advertisement
department disclose the exact amount of drugs stolen by Kent to
prevent such thefts in the future.

Hambleton said the 286 envelopes that then-Sgt. Kent tampered with
contained:

# Methamphetamine (powder and crystal): 1.6 pounds

# Cocaine (rock and powder): 1.5 ounces

# Heroin (tar, powder and liquid): 9 ounces, plus 700 cc of liquid --
about seven full syringes

# Marijuana: 5 pounds

# Hashish: 1 ounce

# Pills: 235 Vicodin, Ecstasy, Oxycontin, Tylenol/Codeine and Fentanyl

Hambleton, however, said in a memo he doesn't believe Kent stole all
those drugs.

But, except for the marijuana, there was a consensus among police
informants, outside narcotics investigators and a medical drug
treatment expert that the amounts are consistent with what a light to
moderate user would consume within a one-year period, Hambleton said
in the memo.

He also said that due to the costs and limited resources at the crime
lab, a "relatively small number of envelopes" were tested in order to
secure sufficient evidence for prosecution.

"Police staff does not believe that the contents were removed from all
of the suspicious envelopes. Since the contents of the envelopes could
have been tampered with and cut or mixed with other substances, even a
lab analysis at this time could not establish the exact amount of drug
that (was) missing," he said in a report that will be considered by
the council Tuesday. The council meets at 7 p.m. at Old City Hall,
2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

He said reopening the probe and using a crime lab to conduct further
tests could cost as much as $20,000.

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

Leading up the council's consideration of the report, Berkeley
Copwatch is holding a rally today to boost community awareness about
the drug thefts, the report's findings and the department's response.

The event, from noon to 2 p.m. today at 1730 Oregon St., will include
speeches by Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington, former Police
Review Commissioners Osha Neumann and James Chanin, Copwatch member
Andrea Prichett and others. It is co-sponsored by Copwatch and the
Disabled People Outside Project.

BERKELEY DRUG POLICY CHANGES

Since former Berkeley Police Sgt. Cary Kent was sentenced in
connection with stealing drugs from evidence envelopes the department
has implemented several policies and procedures, including:

# Moving drug evidence into a separate alarmed unit, which was not the
case before.

# Transferring an officer from outside the special enforcement unit to
have primary responsibility for handling evidence.

# 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.