W.D.M. POLICE TAKE CONTROL OF EVIDENCE IN DALLAS CASE

Control over criminal evidence at the embattled Dallas County
sheriff's office has been turned over to police in West Des Moines,
where an employee stole seized drugs and cash last year.

A Dallas County deputy has charged that a portion of the nearly
$800,000 in suspected drug money discovered during a traffic stop
last month disappeared before it could be counted.

Deputies said the cash was stashed in a car driven by a California
man pulled over March 15 near De Soto. The driver received only a
ticket for over-tinted windows, and allegedly claimed that the money
was not his.

Allegations that some of the cash later vanished prompted an
investigation by state crime agents, who searched Sheriff Brian
Gilbert's home on March 30. No arrests have been made.

The state probe has since expanded to cover an estimated $2 million
seized by Dallas County authorities over the past five years.

Door locks on the county's evidence room were changed Friday. West
Des Moines police and state auditors have the keys, said Police Chief
Jack O'Donnell.

The evidence will remain at the sheriff's department, he said, and
West Des Moines will provide a full-time officer to collect, record
and monitor it "until after the audit is completed," O'Donnell said.

Chief Deputy Kevin Frederick said Division of Criminal Investigation
agents requested the move.

County Attorney Wayne Reisetter made the recommendation, which county
supervisors have yet to approve. Reisetter did not return telephone
calls for comment. An e-mail to Frederick said the decision "appears
advisable to assure accountability and chain of custody" of evidence
in the room.

West Des Moines police underwent an internal audit after the
department's former evidence room technician was charged last fall in
the theft of $10,000 and drugs from the evidence room. Charles Edward
Graham, 43, of Cumming pleaded guilty last month and was sentenced to
10 years in prison.

Police officials have since overhauled evidence room policies and
added additional levels of oversight. For example, cash is no longer
kept at the department if the evidence is not needed immediately.