MISSING DOPE SPARKS TOUGHER POLICE EVIDENCE-ROOM RULES

The Madison Police Department has put in place new procedures for the
police property room, after a Madison detective seriously injured in a car
crash allegedly removed heroin from the property room on several occasions
under questionable circumstances, officials said today.

"The immediate changes ... are designed to make the system more proactive,
while maintaining the integrity already built into the existing chain of
custody procedures," Chief Noble Wray and other leaders said in a statement.

The primary change is a requirement that any officer seeking release of
sensitive evidence such as drugs, firearms or weapons from the property
room must have a supervisor's signature on the request form.

The changes were made without fanfare on Nov. 28, a little more than a week
after Madison Detective Jeffery Hughes crashed his car while off-duty.

Investigators found a ripped-open evidence bag of heroin, with some of the
drug missing, and other drug-related materials at the crash scene near
Edgerton.

Police records show that Hughes, 39, of Milton received that bag of heroin
from the property room hours before the Nov. 20 crash, saying he needed the
drugs for "testing." Hughes' request that day and on at least 10 prior
occasions raised red flags, police said.

He usually was not the primary detective assigned to the cases for which he
received the evidence, and the drugs he requested often already had been
tested and in some cases had been slated to be destroyed.

On the day of his crash, Hughes appeared "dazed" and "high" when he
requested the drugs, according to the property room clerk on duty that day,
court records say.

Today's statement does not address whether property room clerks, who are
civilians, can deny requests from officers, nor does it indicate whether
clerks are required to report suspicious behavior to supervisors.

It's not clear whether the clerk who released the heroin to Hughes on Nov.
20 reported her concerns before she was interviewed by a Dane County
sheriff's deputy three days later.

Also unclear is what the procedure is for re-checking evidence returned by
officers and whether any periodic checks are done to monitor the status of
removed evidence. It does not appear that Hughes' prior removals of drugs
were noticed until after records were checked following his crash.

In their statement, the officials say the system is designed "to thoroughly
document the chain of custody" of evidence, and that the property room
"provides a good, accountable, tracking system."

"A paper trail exists for all occasions when property is moved and clerks
are able to ascertain where evidence is at any point in time," the
statement said.

The statement also says there can be good reasons for an officer to request
temporary release of evidence from the property room, such as for
"photographing, processing and testing."

Items also may be needed in court to serve as a visual exhibit and may be
needed for witnesses and prosecutors to see at other times.

Police said evidence marked for destruction also can still be needed by
investigators, such as when new drug evidence must be compared to old evidence.

The statement said police are continuing their assessment of all property
room and evidence procedures and that more changes may be made.

"The goal is to protect the integrity of evidence and to provide a system
for which the public will have the highest confidence and trust," the
statement said.

Police also said that Wray will speak publicly about the case involving
Hughes after the Dane County Sheriff's Office finishes its criminal
investigation. Sheriff Dave Mahoney today said he could not say when that
would be, noting he was waiting for drugs tests to be completed on Hughes'
blood, among other things.

On the day of the crash, Hughes was thrown from the car and he remains in
critical condition in an induced coma at UW Hospital, Mahoney said. Police
have not been able to talk to him.