This program is intended to guide police departments through a careful internal review of their policies, procedures, equipment, facilities and operations to ensure they are providing efficient and effective delivery of service while protecting individual rights, according to the release.
As part of this process, SPD contracted with a consultant to assist with improving the efficiency of the evidence room by completing a full inventory and purging old evidence, with staff working on purging evidence in January 2022.
During this process, it was discovered that SPD staff had not followed proper procedures and evidence was destroyed contrary to the department's administrative policy.
The city states there have been no criminal violations found against SPD staff and this is being addressed as an administrative issue within the department.
According to the city, the error has affected 1,378 cases between 2007 and 2018 in Bexar, Comal and Guadalupe counties.
At the time of the release, none of the identified cases were related to open and/or pending criminal cases.
For validation and accuracy, Schertz is working with the three counties and having county attorneys vet the review.
According to the city, it has been confirmed that approximately 40% of the purged evidence had already met the statute of limitations, and the police department will work with the counties to determine how to best move forward.
Newly appointed Police Chief James "Jim" Lowery commented on the issues and apologized on behalf of the department.
“The goal of the Schertz Police Department is to provide exemplary law enforcement service, and unfortunately in this instance we failed to meet that standard. On behalf of the department, we apologize for this mistake. I hope that our residents know we are committed to learning from this situation and will work to ensure something like this never happens again,” he said. “In light of these events, all department staff will undergo additional training and review of our policies and protocols with oversight from our partners at the county attorney’s offices.”
The situation is still under review, and additional information will be shared with the public as it becomes known, according to the city.
