The investigation into the disappearance of three kilograms of cocaine from the Gwinnett County Police Department last year has revealed serious lapses in security inside the unit that performs undercover drug investigations.
Only one of the kilos of cocaine could be accounted for after the GBI investigation.
The drugs went missing from a locker in the narcotics unit because officers did not properly document how they were handled, the investigation found, which was symptomatic of a lack of proper documentation that apparently went on for years.
Gwinnett County Police Chief Charles Walters said that no one was disciplined for the lapse. Nor will anyone face criminal charges, said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter. Both appeared Monday in a joint press conference to discuss the GBI findings.
Porter said the investigation, which taken over by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at the police department's request, was hampered by several factors:
- Officers' failure to follow established procedures, which resulted in incomplete or absent documentation of the handling of the drugs.
- Many transactions were videotaped, but the videos were lost when a new server was put in place.
- There were discrepancies between the policies for specialized units and policies for other officers.
- Security of the safe where drugs and cash were stored was compromised, because several officers knew the whereabouts of the combination and/or the keys. On one occasion, the safe was found to be unlocked and standing open.
- The supervisor who was primarily responsible for documentation at the time the lapse occurred, former Gwinnett Police Lt. David Butler, was under criminal investigation for allegedly taking $4,000 in cash from a safe and making unapproved charges on a department credit card during the GBI's probe. He has been indicted on criminal charges.
One of the kilos of missing cocaine was determined to have been used for legitimate law enforcement purposes. It was secured in the evidence room but was not properly documented, Porter said.
The other two kilos of cocaine remain unaccounted for, along with several pounds of marijuana, various pills and fake drugs used in undercover drug operations. Porter said it is possible the drugs were divided into smaller units to be used in undercover drug buys, or that they were destroyed. It is also possible they could have been misappropriated or taken, Porter said.
"Do I have questions that will never be answered? Yes," Porter said. "Do I have suspicions? Yes, I do. I think that is always a risk in our system. I'm satisfied that all the information that could be gathered was gathered, and that we've laid the groundwork to prevent re-occurrence."
Last week, two former Gwinnett County narcotics investigators were indicted on criminal charges for misusing money that had been earmarked for drug investigations. Butler is charged with theft by taking, violating the oath of a public officer and three counts of credit card fraud. He is accused of taking $4,000 in "flash money" from a safe in the department's Special Investigations Section. Arrest warrants also accuse Butler of using county funds to pay for a motel room and items at an adult novelty store.
Officer Vennie Harden was charged with three counts of first-degree forgery and violating the oath of a public officer for allegedly forging a supervisor's name to authorize a payment of county funds on three occasions.
Walters said he has already moved to tighten security and improve procedures over the past two years in the following ways:
- Drugs are no longer kept in a safe; instead they are obtained from another source such as the Drug Enforcement Agency when necessary.
- Quarterly audits have been implemented.
- All entry doors were re-keyed and audits of card key access are routinely completed.
- Four video cameras were installed to record all three entry doors and the room where the safes are kept.
- All safes now have keypad locks, instead of spin-style combination locks; each authorized supervisor has their own individual entry code so that entry history can be tracked.
- All of the managers -- a major, two lieutenants and six of eight sergeants in charge of the unit -- have transferred out, resigned or retired in the past year and a half.
"I recognize that this incident may have undermined the confidence of the citizens of Gwinnett County," Walters said. "It is my sincere hope that the measures we have taken will help restore their trust."
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