Over $27,000 in U.S. currency is missing and unaccounted for at Livingston Police Department

Dear. Mayor and Aldermen [Livingston]:

On March 1, 2021, Chief Greg Etherege [Livingston Police Department] reported to me that he believed there was a large amount of U.S. Currency missing from the Livingston Police Department. I advised him to immediately report this concern to the Tennessee Comptroller. I then requested that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation open an investigation.

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation conducted a cooperative investigation of the Livingston Police Department to determine if in fact currency was missing and to attempt to determine the circumstances.

On May 11, 2022, the Comptroller Investigators provided my office a copy of their investigative file for review. This office has also received the investigative reports of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The summary of the results of the Comptroller investigation are outlined generally in the Investigative Report that was released and made public by the Comptroller this morning, June 2, 2022.

After review of the investigative findings, this office has great concern over the mismanagement of evidence and currency (allegedly seized) by the Livingston Police Department. There appears to have been a complete lack of adherence to policy and best practices related to evidence and currency accountability. This condition has persisted over a period of several years.

The investigation reveals, in part, that over $27,000 in U.S. currency is missing and unaccounted for. The investigation further reveals that U.S. currency was stored in various locations within the police department to include the evidence room, a safe located in the evidence room, a safe located in the secretary office and a safe located in the detective office. Currency was regularly left unsecured and undocumented.

Issues of serious concern include the fact that for quite some time the key to the evidence room was kept in the dispatch area where many people had access to the key. No controls were in place. This condition was so problematic that on one occasion a jail inmate trusty gained access to the evidence room due to lack of proper supervision and controls.

The investigation revealed that the key to the safe in the evidence room was lost at some point. When that safe was later forced open, it was found that evidence bags marked as containing currency had been cut open and found empty.

The safe located in the secretary office was also used to store currency. That safe was left unlocked and unsecured frequently.  The combination to that safe was written on the door frame of the secretary office where anyone could have access to the combination. The secretary office itself was never locked.

U.S. currency was left stored for long periods of time in various locations in the Livingston Police Department in areas and under conditions where an any number of persons had access. In addition, there are no records or insufficient records documenting alleged forfeited currency.

It is my strong belief that a theft of U.S. currency has occurred from the Livingston Police Department. It was also my desire to initiate criminal charges to hold the responsible party accountable. Unfortunately, due to the total lack of controls, lack of records, failure to follow policy and wide open access, it is impossible to prove who may have taken the currency and when it may have been taken. Frankly, almost every employee of the Police Department and even visitors to the building had access and opportunity to the missing currency.

The conditions revealed by this investigation have placed this office in a position where we cannot prove who the thief may be. In addition, the lack of controls over evidence collected by this police agency has jeopardized every criminal case where evidence has been stored.

This is an awful circumstance which must be corrected immediately. I strongly suggest that the City Mayor and Board of Aldermen [Livingston] immediately seek outside assistance and conduct a full and complete inventory of the department. This police agency must then implement a proper inventory system and evidence control system.

Sincerely concerned,

Bryant Dunaway, District Attorney General, 13th  Judicial District