ALLEGED EVIDENCE THIEF FIRED

By Evan McLean
Staff writer

    No one is above the law, not even those who work for it. That includes Staci Allison, who was recently fired from the Clallam County Sheriff?s Office for allegedly stealing cash evidence.

    Allison, a records specialist, was fired April 4, after having been on paid leave since Nov. 28, 2006, pending a Washington State Patrol investigation into missing money.

    ?Usually when you terminate an employee you wait until you have sustainable evidence, especially with charges this serious,? Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said. ?We are the ones that found the problem and acted upon it immediately. What took time was parceling the investigation out to another agency so there would be an appearance of fairness.?

    According to the State Patrol report, $51,251.33 is missing from the evidence room. It links $8,644.19 of the missing cash to evidence files that Allison manually deleted from the computer system in May 2006 without authorization.

    The investigation began with a separate Sheriff?s Office employee finding 129 used evidence bags in a plastic tub in the evidence room, 128 of which originally had cash in them and had been part of the evidence system. The bags represent 79 cases, 74 of which yielded the $51,251 in missing cash.

Evidence files
    Between March 1 and Nov. 26, 2006, Allison made two valid deletions from the computer evidence files. She also performed 49 unauthorized deletions on May 24, 2006, one day prior to an evidence audit. The audit did not turn up any missing items, cash items were not audited.

    The investigative report shows all of Allison?s movements through card-key doors as well as her computer station log in times and actions taken. She had been sending personal e-mails shortly before deleting the files. She used her own name and card-key.

    Allison?s deletions relate to eight cases, most of which stemmed from drug possession with intent to deliver. One case led to a conviction that is under appeal, one was dismissed, another pleaded guilty to drug charges, two cases are awaiting trial and three are open investigations.

    Benedict said that his decision to terminate Allison?s employment was based upon the State Patrol report and that it was his understanding that Allison will be charged criminally for the crime of theft.

    ?Criminal activity by members of this organization cannot, and will not, be tolerated,? Peregrin said in Allison?s notice of termination.

Will charges hold?
    The report has been forwarded to the county?s prosecuting attorney, Deborah Kelly, who said she wants more information before deciding to file charges or not.

    ?The report I received that the trooper turned in was somewhat of a summary,? Kelly said. ?What I asked for was the underlying information because the defense is entitled to discovery and much of that needs to be furnished quickly once charges are filed because of the right to a speedy trial.?

    Allison?s computer file deletions relate to 18 of the 129 evidence bags that led to the State Patrol investigation, or $8,644. The report does not directly connect Allison to the remaining $42,607.14 missing from the evidence room.
   
    Allison?s notice of termination states that her termination was based on the alleged theft of money as well as additional infractions of criminal misconduct and unbecoming conduct of an officer.

    The effects of the alleged thefts on the cases in which the evidence was collected is still to be seen. The impact will depend on the nature of the allegations, or if monetary evidence was relevant to the crime.

    ?It is my understanding that only cash in involved and it?s very rare that cash is actually evidence,? Kelly said. ?But I always say the defense can and should look at all the evidence and circumstances around it.?

In-house changes
    Undersheriff Peregrin was adamant that the department has sought to clear the slate with mistakes of the past while doubling efforts to make sure they do not continue.

    ?Mistakes were made in the past and there?s a new administration that wants to do things by the numbers,? he said. ?We?re examining the processes and procedures in place looking for weaknesses where we can improve.?

    He said the department is installing different recording units, like cameras in the evidence area, where right now the only record is the magnetic key-card lock. He said that the entire evidence filing system is in the process of being restructured with updated policies.

    ?This whole event with the evidence led to a complete inventory of over 14,000 items, which is nearly complete,? he said. ?We?re making considerable movement toward a secure system of evidence collection and documentation.?

    The discovery that money was missing in late 2006 came a year after misconduct allegations shook the department, leading to two high-ranking resignations, a fired deputy and a reprimanded commanding officer.