THEFT RATTLES HIGHWAY PATROL'S POISE

Breaking into the Highway Patrol's evidence room wasn't hard. The thieves
just smashed the glass in a door at the back of the building on U.S. 301,
turned the lock and walked in.

There were no surveillance cameras or burglar alarms to deter them. Nobody
else was in the building. The outside door didn't have a dead bolt.

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It appeared that someone broke down the wooden door to the evidence room,
which is just down the hall from the outside door. The break-in was
discovered Thursday morning.

Lawmen say the thieves made off with 500 pounds of marijuana valued at
between $500,000 and $600,000.

They left behind an embarrassed Highway Patrol.

Patrol Sgt. Everett Clendenin said the break-in will cause the Highway
Patrol to improve security at the Fayetteville headquarters. Clendenin said
the patrol is also "looking at each district statewide to make sure that
this doesn't happen in another district."

Other Cases Reported

The Fayetteville break-in wasn't a first for the Highway Patrol. In 1999
and 2000, a theft ring stole guns and drugs from four Highway Patrol
district evidence lockers in northern North Carolina. Three in Virginia
were also broken into. Four people were charged in that case.

About the same time, Clendenin said, the Highway Patrol beefed up security
as part of an effort to meet accreditation standards. Among other
improvements were heavy steel evidence lockers for each district.

But Clendenin said the large volume of marijuana that was stolen in
Fayetteville wouldn't fit in the locker. It was left outside, along with
another piece of evidence that wasn't disturbed during the break-in, he said.

The marijuana came from a state Division of Motor Vehicles seizure during a
traffic stop on Interstate 95 on Dec. 23.

Clendenin said the Highway Patrol took over the evidence around Feb. 1,
after the Division of Motor Vehicles merged with the Highway Patrol.

He said the marijuana had been in the patrol's evidence room for about six
days.

"This has happened in the past and it's unfortunate and we can probably
offer all kinds of excuses, but we just have to look at all the systems we
have in place and try to improve on that," Clendenin said.

The State Bureau of Investigation, which is handling the case, reported
nothing new Friday.

Deterrents Necessary

Joe Latta, an instructor with the International Association for Property
and Evidence, said evidence rooms should be secured with video cameras,
burglar alarms, good locks and other theft deterrents.

But Latta said theft from evidence rooms isn't unusual, largely because
security is often lacking. He said he has a file of about 3,500 newspaper
stories from around the country detailing thefts from evidence rooms.

"It just never stops," Latta said. "Every day there is something new out
there."

Latta, a retired police officer, travels around the country teaching law
enforcement agencies how to police and secure their evidence rooms.

He had been scheduled to teach a course on the subject at the Justice
Academy in Salemburg in April. The Highway Patrol had not signed up to
attend, but it may now.

"We are always looking for ways to improve our process and our business,
and that is something we will take into consideration," Clendenin said.