PRESS STATEMENT by DA Quick

In light of recent media reports regarding evidence unaccounted for by the Broomfield Police Department, Broomfield Police Chief Tom Deland and District Attorney Don Quick offer the following:

1. Chief Deland and DA Quick understand concerns when questions are raised about the location of evidence, and they share those concerns. Chief Deland previously reported that it appears much of the questioned evidence was destroyed or returned after the cases were completed. Unfortunately, there was a failure to document when this evidence was returned or destroyed. After speaking with the Broomfield Deputy District Attorneys, DA Quick reports there were no missing evidence issues during the prosecution of these criminal cases in the Broomfield District and County Courts.

2. Chief Deland and DA Quick have now reviewed the records and verified that in each individual case, there were no problems with missing evidence during prosecution of the criminal cases. The evidence in question is associated with 166 police incident reports. These cases were also reviewed to determine their final dispositions. The review found no criminal case outcomes were impacted as a result of evidence loss or destruction.

* The review found 74 of the incident reports were Broomfield criminal court cases:
* 45 were felonies, 29 were misdemeanor or traffic cases
* 59 cases resulted in dispositions (pled out or went to trial)
* 15 cases did not result in a plea or trial:
* Two cases were referred to the DA Diversion Program and successfully completed,
* One case the defendant pled guilty and received a deferred sentence,
* Four cases were dismissed as part of pleas in other cases,
* Four cases were dismissed after the DDA reviewed facts of the cases and the DDA determined that criminal charges should not be pursued in the interest of justice (three juvenile cases and one traffic offense),
*Four cases are still open.

3. To ensure these issues will never arise again, the Broomfield Police Department has implemented a new bar code system to track evidence and adding an additional level of police supervision. This evidence tracking system will be reviewed in 90 and 180 days. Results of these reviews will be reported to Broomfield City Council and the public.