Posted on 05/26/2021 6:06:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
When a police department is dissolved, pending criminal cases remain active.
Amid scattered nationwide calls to defund or dissolve individual police forces, a rural Virginia hamlet finds itself a possible harbinger of what could happen if larger jurisdictions decide to zero out their own law enforcement agencies.
With its barely 1,000 people, the 2.6-square-mile town of Pound, Va. voted this month to disband its police department — and was left with no one in charge of an evidence locker containing documentation on pending criminal cases.
"You have to have a chain of custody or else the evidence is no good, and criminals can walk free," Pound's interim town manager, Drew Mullins, told Just the News. "This is completely uncharted territory for us, and nationwide as well."
The situation in Pound evolved gradually, as the community wrestled for months with budget issues. After two police officers took jobs elsewhere this year, Mullins said, the cash-strapped southwest Virginia town placed the remaining two officers — one part-time detective and the chief — on furlough. On May 18, the town terminated the entire department.
Town officials immediately realized that the police evidence locker had been figuratively cast adrift.
"It left no one in the chain of custody for the evidence locker," Mullins said. And, with no law enforcement officers remaining on duty, police were locked out of the evidence room.
The area's Commonwealth's Attorney, Chuck Slemp, asked a judge to step in to preserve the chain of custody. The judge noted, though, that the terminated police chief could not give the records and evidence to his successor as required by law, because there is no successor. Nor could the judge force the town to reestablish the freshly abolished department.
The evidence and records could be given to another police agency. But none wanted them.
"No department was willing to take delivery," Mullins said.
Last week, a judge ordered that the newly fired police chief, Tony Baker, relinquish the locker key to a Virginia law enforcement officer. The deadline was 4 p.m. on May 19. Baker appeared with the key at the appointed time outside Town Hall. After 45 minutes, when no one had arrived to collect the key, Baker and two witnesses left the scene.
During a heated May 20 emergency meeting of the Pound council, local officials announced a temporary fix. The town would bring in an evidence expert from the Fairfax County Police Department in northern Virginia, to do an inventory on the evidence room. Then the town would appoint an appropriate official to commandeer the key.
Although Pound is not a hotbed of crime, the county struggles with drug laboratories and an increase in heroin use, Mullins said. The ongoing criminal cases represent efforts to prosecute lawbreakers.
In larger jurisdictions, chains of custody are treated with gravity, one former security official said.
"The evidence room has to be able to stand on its own," said Dale McElhattan, a retired special agent with the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. "You must have procedural and physical security of everything in that room. If anything fails, the evidence is compromised."
In one instance years ago in Miami, thousands of dollars in cash disappeared along with other items in an evidence locker, McElhattan said.
"It was a big deal," he said. "A calligrapher came in, the upheaval in the office was amazing." The perpetrator was caught and prosecuted.
Despite not having a police department, prosecution still is in process for outstanding criminal cases in Pound, Mullins said. The town has appointed a temporary chief to stand guard over the evidence in those cases. Local officials will convene in June to decide whether to reinstate some form of a police department.
The process has in some ways served as a tutorial.
"A municipality can choose whether to have a police department, but there are certain steps to take when you dissolve the police department," said Mullins, who began his interim post in April. "It's been an eye-opening couple of months."
In the meantime, the local sheriff's office will respond to police calls in Pound.
Sounds like a good place to ship the illegal aliens. Pound sand VA
But no chain of custody for absentee ballots is ok???
I’m sure criminals love this.
Town and its residents and contents will now be targeted.
Stupidity on display.
Pound VA. Open for business. Criminal business. No police. Rural. Perfect place for a meth lab.
I’m sure the teachers are flush.
They're not even necessary since the county has a sheriff's department.
Where I live in S.E. Michigan, my township has no personal police dept., all calls are handled by the county Sheriff's dept.
The nearest towns should add to the traditional entering XYZ signs “Criminals keep going. The next town doesn’t have any police. Enjoy”
Even though we get castigated by smaller municipalities in the county for "free riding", the fact of the matter is that we pay taxes to support both the county and the Pennsylvania State Police, many of whom live in our neighborhood and park their cruisers in the driveway.
The idea that every 'burgh needs their own PD is based more upon local pride than reality.
In one instance years ago in Miami, thousands of dollars in cash disappeared along with other items in an evidence locker, McElhattan said.
"It was a big deal," he said. "A calligrapher came in, the upheaval in the office was amazing." The perpetrator was caught and prosecuted.
I feel a bit dumb for asking this but how would a calligrapher help with that problem?
So I wonder how this would work for them since they have a Red Flag Law:
“The “Extreme Risk Protective Order” establishes a way for law enforcement to temporarily separate a person from their guns if they could become a danger to themselves or others.”
I want to break into someone’s house. I file a Red Flag Law complaint against them. After the police disarm them, I break into the house and don’t worry about an armed citizen.
Someone who studies signatures?................
We’ve passed through Pound several times on our way to Clintwood, which is just down the road. Pound is a dirty little place that never impressed me.
I’ve lived in small towns most of my life. Our current nearby town has a population of about 3,000 and contracts the county Sheriff’s dept to do the cop work. The town I grew up in had their maintenance man double as their cop and also had a sheriff’s deputy live in town.
My point is, they do not need their own force, just contract with the county. Get a deputy to live there.
Pound can pound sand with any criminal cases. They deserve what they get.
Hey, all bad guys, here’s a super duper soft target.
“My point is, they do not need their own force, just contract with the county. Get a deputy to live there.”
Exactly. In Virginia, towns and non-independent cities are creatures of the county in which they exist, in this case Wise County. The Wise County sheriff’s department is the logical, and I would assume, legal successor for documents, etc. associated with the former Pound police department.
This appears to be a budget issue, not a pro-BLM statement by Pound, and it is a common one in small rural towns.
Generally, like in California and Arizona, cities can contract with the Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services.
However, these services are not paid for by the usual recurring taxes. The cities determine how many deputies they want per shift and then into a contract with the county to pay the county for the services.
The cost is over and above the property tax paid by the residents of the cities.
.......is called a graphologist.
See #18. Meant to include you in the response...
So, they CALLed-a-graphologist..................
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