Internal documents show Windsor police moved slowly on changes to drug vault after cocaine disappeared
Despite losing $25,000 worth of cocaine, it took the Windsor Police Service 1½ years to install a new camera system in its drug vault, internal documents obtained by the Windsor Star show.
Sarah Sacheli, Windsor Star
Despite losing $25,000 worth of cocaine, it took the Windsor Police Service 1½ years to install a new camera system in its drug vault, internal documents obtained by the Windsor Star show.	Tyler Brownbridge / Windsor Star
"This is a long overdue step," reads one of the documents, an internal memo from 2015 with the names of the author and recipient redacted.
The Windsor Star filed a request on April 3 under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for documents relating to nine ounces of cocaine seized in 2013 and later found to be missing from the secure vault. The fact of the missing cocaine became public only earlier this year when the case went to trial and police had no drug evidence to bring to court.
The drugs were seized during the arrest of a Windsor man, Miles Patrick Meraw, 31, on Aug. 21, 2013. According to the internal police reports, the cocaine was secured in the drug vault the next day and became known as Exhibit 13-246. According to the reports, the exhibit was subsequently discovered to be missing on Oct. 30, 2013.
What prompted the discovery, the documents say, was the arrival of a drug analysis report from Health Canada. An officer opened the report and took it to the drug vault to append it to the corresponding exhibit. "Exhibit 13-246 was missing from its designated storage space," an internal report says.
The report, dated Dec. 2, 2013, is entitled, Exhibit 13-246 / Whereabouts Unknown.
The drug vault was searched twice. On Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, 2013, two officers took inventory of all the items in the vault — 213 bins full of items.
Access to the drug vault is controlled by a proximity card, the report states. The author says he or she and another officer checked the cardholder access records and watched what surveillance video was available.
The report notes three "anomalies" found by comparing the video with the cardholder access report.
In one case, an officer's card was used to access the drug vault, but there's no video of him entering the room. The lack of video might have something to do with the light switch, the author notes. "It is unknown if the surveillance video runs continuously, or if it is activated when the light is activated and/or motion is detected."
Another anomaly involved the author of the report entering the drug vault seven times in one day. The entries were reflected in the cardholder access report, but there was no video on that day. The lack of video might be due to a power outage, the author notes.
The report notes that drugs had been removed from the drug vault for disposal after the missing cocaine had been placed there. "I am compelled to consider that it may have been disposed of during a disposal process," the report concludes. The report chalks up the error to a "momentary lapse of focus."
The drug vault is accessed through another room. There was a surveillance camera in that room, but not in the drug vault itself. Furthermore, the report states, "The view is limited and partially obstructed."
Blocking the camera view was a temporary storage locker and boxes containing supplies for the drugs and guns enforcement unit.
Internal emails show the security deficiencies were addressed in April 2015 when police installed new video surveillance equipment in the drug vault. The new equipment included a 13-channel HD video surveillance system with 13 cameras. The system cost $2,000 and was installed by two constables in the criminal investigation division.
After the missing drugs became public in March, police Chief Al Frederick ordered an spot audit of the contents of the drug vault. Inspector Jim Farrand and other unnamed officer checked the exhibits from 25 random cases. According to a subsequent report from Farrand, nothing was amiss.
The last time an audit had been conducted was in 2015, after there had been a change in the officer in charge of the drug enforcement unit. That audit uncovered minor problems with 16 of the 442 exhibits. Some of the problems should have been discovered in a 2011 audit, but were missed, according to the 2015 audit report.
The 2015 audit report recommended that all future audits of the drug squad should not be a random sampling, but an inspection of every exhibit.
The documents released to the Star this week are not the final word on the missing cocaine. Officials from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, invited by Frederick, are coming to Windsor to conduct an independent audit of the drug vault.
ssacheli@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/WinStarSacheli
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