POLICE REVIEW COMMISSION FAULTS MISHANDLING OF DRUG EVIDENCE

BERKELEY -- The city's police watchdog group has found that systems
for tracking drug evidence were inadequate to prevent or catch the
theft of narcotics from the police department's evidence locker and
the department's probe into a former sergeant's drug thefts was insufficient.

In a lengthy report compiled following an 18-month investigation,
the Berkeley Police Review Commission subcommittee slammed the
department, some officers and Police Chief Doug Hambleton for
failing to notice, report and act in a timely matter when then-Sgt.
Cary Kent tampered with and stole from 286 drug evidence envelopes.

Kent was feeding a drug habit that had severely impacted his job as
a police sergeant, the findings said.

"The personal failings of one (officer) may be forgiven. The
systematic failure of a department to identify and remedy major
lapses in security, personnel management and administration must be
addressed immediately," the report states.

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 spend a year in an electronic
home detention program and sent to a drug treatment program. Kent,
who had retired a month before at age 55, was also sentenced to five
years probation.

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

Kent has never given a statement to the department or the media
about the case or his activities while employed by the police department.

The evidence theft subcommittee, which is comprised of five
community members, including a criminal defense attorney and a
member of Copwatch, will discuss the report's findings and recommend
improvements for monitoring drug evidence at a meeting Wednesday night.

Although policies and procedures for dealing with drug evidence
exist, they were not implemented and monitored regularly while Kent
was in the department, the report says.

"We did not do as thorough an examination of those envelopes as we
should have ... we did not hold the envelopes up to the light to
inspect and see that there was no tampering with the edges,"
according to a statement from Hambleton in the report.

Since Kent was sentenced last year, the department has implemented
several new policies and procedures to prevent drug thefts and tampering.

Changes made include:

* Moving drug evidence into a separate alarmed unit.

* 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.

Additionally, the City Council earlier this year repealed a
20-year-old law that outlawed drug and alcohol testing of police and
firefighters. Drug testing has not started because the rules for
when an employee would be tested have not been agreed upon with the unions.

Firefighters and police would not be tested randomly; tests would
follow reasonable suspicions or after a serious on-duty accident.

Lastly, drug evidence may be moved to a different department and
monitored by a city employee outside the police department, Hambleton said.

The report says that although 21 officers "noticed that Sgt. Kent
had problems," and four officers told a colleague or supervisor they
suspected a substance abuse problem, the chief "was never informed
and did not suspect any drug abuse until November 2005."

In the report, Hambleton states that "supervisors are supposed to
let us know if they get informal complaints about an officer, we
review officer's attendance records. ... Individual supervisors are
responsible for monitoring their employees and bringing the issues
about the performance to our attention."

Hambleton said Monday that he will ensure that those policies are
followed in the future.

Hambleton said there is some helpful information in the report.

"I think there are some pieces that will help us clarify some of our
policies," he said. ~"Their goal is to make us a better department
and make sure nothing like this happens again. I think when you get
right down to it, I have the same goal, too."

Hambleton will respond to the report in writing before it goes to
the council for consideration.

The investigation also found that the police investigation of Kent
was insufficient because valuable evidence was not secured in a
"timely fashion and no other individuals were investigated to
determine if they knew or were involved in the theft of drug evidence."

Hambleton defended the investigation on Monday.

"We did that investigation in conjunction with the Alameda County
District Attorney's office," he said. "I feel the investigation was
adequate. He's been convicted of several crimes so I think that
investigation was adequate."

The Police Review Commission meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday at 1901
Hearst St. The full report can be viewed at www.berkeleycopwatch.org.