A report released this week by the Nevada County Grand Jury found that the county’s law enforcement entities have largely rectified issues found several years ago within their evidence handling units.
In 2016, the grand jury released a report examining how local law enforcement agencies collect and retain evidence, which was critical of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office and Nevada City Police Department on several issues.
This year’s grand jury chose to explore the status of the evidence handling units with an emphasis on the progress made by each agency in implementing the recommendations made in earlier reports.
The report noted that Nevada City now has a trained and certified Community Services Officer and a sworn officer staffing the unit. The city still needs a biennial audit, which was last done in 2013. A request was made in October 2016, but has not been scheduled due to a lack of available POST personnel. A recommendation that the Sheriff’s Office update its operations manual has been met, with the adoption of a manual in July 2018.
The report noted that with the election of a new Sheriff and the promotion of a new Nevada City police chief, both agencies are required to conduct an inventory of all evidence.
Grass Valley was found to be in compliance with its biennial audits, with the next one due this year. A recommendation that Grass Valley and Nevada City consolidate their units remains under consideration, the report said.
The Truckee Police Department has made substantial improvements to its evidence handling unit with more space, upgraded security and storage, a new software system, certification for staff and completion of an audit in April 2017.
June 4, 2019
The Union of Grass Valley
By Liz Kellar
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