BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
A judge has
ordered an inventory check of the evidence room inside the new 19th Judicial Courthouse
in Baton Rouge where nearly 50 pounds of cocaine was stolen.
Greg Brown
is the chief deputy at the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court Office. He is tasked
with carrying out a court order issued by District Court Chief Judge Mike
Erwin.
"It is
hereby ordered...that the clerk of court conduct a full and complete inventory
of all of the evidence that is within the custody of the clerk of court and
take any and all measures appropriate therewith," the order reads in part.
"A
national accredited consultant firm to come in and give us the opportunity to
evaluate our process, our present process, and improve upon that, so that
something of this magnitude never ever happens again," Brown said.
"Right
now, the evidence room, the clerk of court's evidence room, the room has been
locked down," added District Attorney Hillar Moore. "It's secure, it
has a completely different lock system, so for now, nobody is going in that
room unless it's absolutely necessary because we know the judge is going to
order an inventory. So, right now, the room is secure and we're happy with
what's going on in there right now, but we want a complete inventory as well.
We want to know what's there."
Recently, 22
kilos of cocaine was stolen from the evidence room. The theft led to the
arrests of five people, including two courthouse workers. Now, two keys are
required to open the room.
"We
can't get in without them. They can't get in without us. We think that's a good
step. But, we are going to have to put cameras in different places. We know we're
going to have a key pad with a thumb print to get in there. We're going to have
a lot of procedures and we're going to have an independent audit every
month," Brown explained.
The clerk's
office is reaching out to bring in a quality inventory inspector.
"Until
the auditor, the nationally recognized auditor, comes in and do the inventory.
As you know, Judge Erwin has a court order to conduct an audit of the whole
evidence room for the East Baton Rouge Clerk's Office," Brown added.
The auditors
are expected to arrive just after the first of the year. They will also devise
a plan for the clerk's office to use once they leave, in order to make certain
the room is not pilfered again.
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reserved.
19th Judicial District Courthouse
