No Charges in 2008 WPD Gun Incident
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Craig Brosman-
Hampton said the Indiana State Police investigated the federal firearms forms on a gun transaction at a local gun shop. A gun from the Warsaw Police Department evidence locker was traded at the store.
The ISP report says detective Joe Stanley took a gun that was in evidence from a credit card fraud case and traded it in for a different gun. At a later time, then-Police Chief Hunter bought the gun from another gun store after it was traded a second time.
“Federal prosecutors in South Bend had the case for almost a year,” said Hampton. “I found out I was getting the investigation from reading the newspaper.”
In January 2011, after reviewing the ISP report, federal prosecutors determined that no federal laws were violated.The case was subsequently turned over to Hampton who reviewed it and decided no state or local laws were broken.
“The investigation was thorough,” Hampton said. “The only thing that was done incorrectly was that officers broke a department rule. It’s the department’s problem.”
Hampton said the department was in the process of modernizing its evidence procedures when the incident occurred.
“The department centralized the evidence locker and electronically categorized the evidence, some of which were given bar codes,” Hampton said. “While they were changing over the evidence, the gun case came out. Changing the evidence procedures was a good step.”
After the incident, Hunter stepped down from his position as chief.
Stanley left the department on Sept. 1, 2009. Hunter has announced his intention to retire effective Tuesday, after 30 years of service.[[In-content Ad]]
Hampton said the Indiana State Police investigated the federal firearms forms on a gun transaction at a local gun shop. A gun from the Warsaw Police Department evidence locker was traded at the store.
The ISP report says detective Joe Stanley took a gun that was in evidence from a credit card fraud case and traded it in for a different gun. At a later time, then-Police Chief Hunter bought the gun from another gun store after it was traded a second time.
“Federal prosecutors in South Bend had the case for almost a year,” said Hampton. “I found out I was getting the investigation from reading the newspaper.”
In January 2011, after reviewing the ISP report, federal prosecutors determined that no federal laws were violated.The case was subsequently turned over to Hampton who reviewed it and decided no state or local laws were broken.
“The investigation was thorough,” Hampton said. “The only thing that was done incorrectly was that officers broke a department rule. It’s the department’s problem.”
Hampton said the department was in the process of modernizing its evidence procedures when the incident occurred.
“The department centralized the evidence locker and electronically categorized the evidence, some of which were given bar codes,” Hampton said. “While they were changing over the evidence, the gun case came out. Changing the evidence procedures was a good step.”
After the incident, Hunter stepped down from his position as chief.
Stanley left the department on Sept. 1, 2009. Hunter has announced his intention to retire effective Tuesday, after 30 years of service.[[In-content Ad]]
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