Jennifer Morrison COLCHESTER POLICE DEPARTMENT Business: 802-264-5556 Chief of Potice PO. Box 37 Fax; 802-264-5561 £835 Blakely Road Colchester, Vermont 05446 A etter to the Community from Colchester Police Chief Jennifer Morrison: ‘Almost a year ago Tyler Kinney was arrested on multiple federal charges related to stealing guns, money and drugs from the Colchester Police Department's evidence room. Kinney was charged with multiple federal crimes and he pleaded guilty to firearms trafficking, distribution of heroin and theft. He is currently awaiting sentencing. ‘The day of Kinney’s arrest was the darkest day in the history of this proud department. Kinney’s actions constitute one of the most egregious violations of public trust ever seen in the State of Vermont. From ‘the moment his crimes were discovered we have treated this matter in the most somber, serious and focused manner possible. Even in the fog of our initial shack and disappointment, we knew this was an unprecedented opportunity for growth. Alot has happened in the past year as a result of this event. I'd like to share with the community some of what has transpired — good, bad and indifferent ~ so that we can use the one year anniversary as closure and a jumping off point for a new chapter in CPD history. Software and Hardware purchases to ensure state of the art handling of evidence and property: ‘+ Immediate changes were made to security for “cri ical evidence items” (guns, drugs, money and valuables). We created a double locking system that requires two property managers to be present to access any items of critical evidence. . ‘+ We purchased and now use inventory control bags forall critical evidence. These are uniquely numbered bags that are tamper proof. ‘© We purchased and deployed an evidence inventory/barcoding system for all property and evidence items. We have since re-inventoried every single piece of evidence in our possession and affixed a barcode to each. While the set up and training time was significant, we now have a state of the art, streamlined system for property and evidence management, ‘+ We added three cameras to the evidence area. ‘+ We purchased additional temporary evidence lockers, ‘+ Since implementing the barcoding system, we have completed two audits of evidence with 100% accuracy and accountability on both.Training and Policy updat: We have updated Department General Orders related to Citizen Complaints and Internal Affairs Investigations, as well as all General Orders related to evidence and property. All sworn personnel have received training on the new policies and procedures. In addition, we are approaching the end of a comprehensive overhaul of every General Order. We have updated or created 35 General Orders, which represents over 85% of all policies. In the past year we have increased our overall level of training by 20% and we have sent department supervisors to a total of 880 hours of leadership development training. ‘We have conducted personnel evaluations and are continuing to refine our evaluation system to align the Town's goals and Department goals with employee development and performance. Closing In closing, I'd like to reiterate my thanks for the tremendous support shown by the Colchester community over the past year. While this has been a painful and busy year, CPD has gained much and we are a stronger and more professional organization than we were a year ago. Itis my hope that we as a community will squeeze every drop of wisdom possible out of this event. It must serve as a cautionary tale that opiate addiction is real, itis pervasive and itis all around us. Tyler Kinney was a man with a promising career, a loving family, friends and a bright future. If it can happen toa veteran police officer, it can happen to anyone. Regards, < fen Morea. Jennifer Morrison Chief of Police