livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
An audit of the security policies and weapons stash of the Department of Economic Security under its former director found shoddy record keeping, insecure storage of guns and ammunition and violations of state procurement policies.
The audit, released Friday by the Department of Public Safety, noted the DES program under which officials amassed a stash of guns and ammunition to equip armed agency employees was “rife with disorganization and inefficiency.”
DES kept virtually no records documenting training or accounting for ammunition related to its security program under former director Tim Jeffries, who was forced to resign from the agency in November.
About 60,000 rounds of ammunition were purchased in violation of state procurement laws, a misdemeanor offense. About 4,000 rounds are also missing from the “excessive” stockpile of more than 88,000 rounds. And Jeffries, along with two of his top staffers, were not in compliance with DES policies when they carried firearms at state facilities, the audit found.
Fifty-five handguns were purchased for 28 armed security officers and 23 sworn law enforcement personnel, the audit found. Jeffries, his former Chief of Staff Clark Collier and former Chief Accountability Officer Jay Arcellana carried three of those firearms while on duty even though their “assignments did not require them to be armed,” according to the audit.
Carlos Contreras, the interim assistant chief for the DES Office of the Inspector General, told investigators that Jeffries wanted every DES employee to carry a gun while on duty – regardless of each employee’s job, responsibilities, experience or desire – but that Contreras and Charles Loftus, the agency’s former chief law enforcement officer, convinced Jeffries that was not wise.
Contreras said Jeffries cited the ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at a San Bernadino, Calif., social services center as reason to purchase the weapons stockpile and “wanted to create his own police force that he would control.”
Audit concludes ammunition in excess, some missing at DES
The audit, released Friday by the Department of Public Safety, noted the DES program under which officials amassed a stash of guns and ammunition to equip armed agency employees was “rife with disorganization and inefficiency.”
DES kept virtually no records documenting training or accounting for ammunition related to its security program under former director Tim Jeffries, who was forced to resign from the agency in November.
About 60,000 rounds of ammunition were purchased in violation of state procurement laws, a misdemeanor offense. About 4,000 rounds are also missing from the “excessive” stockpile of more than 88,000 rounds. And Jeffries, along with two of his top staffers, were not in compliance with DES policies when they carried firearms at state facilities, the audit found.
Fifty-five handguns were purchased for 28 armed security officers and 23 sworn law enforcement personnel, the audit found. Jeffries, his former Chief of Staff Clark Collier and former Chief Accountability Officer Jay Arcellana carried three of those firearms while on duty even though their “assignments did not require them to be armed,” according to the audit.
Carlos Contreras, the interim assistant chief for the DES Office of the Inspector General, told investigators that Jeffries wanted every DES employee to carry a gun while on duty – regardless of each employee’s job, responsibilities, experience or desire – but that Contreras and Charles Loftus, the agency’s former chief law enforcement officer, convinced Jeffries that was not wise.
Contreras said Jeffries cited the ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at a San Bernadino, Calif., social services center as reason to purchase the weapons stockpile and “wanted to create his own police force that he would control.”
Audit concludes ammunition in excess, some missing at DES
