DRUGS SEIZED BY gardaí have gone missing while stored in evidence units, a review by a garda watchdog has found.

The Garda Inspectorate also found that gardaí suffer from a lack of training around holding evidence for use in court prosecutions in its report into practices for property and exhibit management procedures.

It has called for an urgent review of evidence storing practices in garda stations, alongside a review of “security arrangements” for where exhibits such as drugs, firearms and cash are stored.

The report examined the Property Exhibit Management System (PEMS) which was introduced to manage how evidence is handled after it’s seized.

Findings

One of the key findings were that some drugs seizures were “missing and there were delays in acting” when the exhibits could not be found.

Poor record keeping was also found, with the Garda Inspectorate pointing to exhibits that were stored in a locked cabinet in an office for “long periods of time with no record of them” on PEMS.

The review also “identified a high number of cases” where items were checked out to members for significant periods of time with “no clarity on why the item had been out for so long”, or where it was stored during that time.

While not specifically covered as part of the report, the Garda Inspectorate said it also observed fridges containing forensic exhibits, cash and firearms.

Most fridges were “full, exhibits dated back several years and no one was assigned overall responsibility” for their management”, the report added. It said that “unnecessarily large amounts of cash” were stored, some of which could be lodged in banks.

It noted that firearms and ammunition were securely stored but a number of these types of exhibits had been retained for extended periods.

There were also concerns highlighted in the training gardaí receive to manage the exhibits system.

The Garda Inspectorate noted that 82% of the garda workforce had not completed the on-line training course. Prior to 2019, in-person training for PEMS managers was available through the Garda College in Templeemore but had stopped after everyone who required training at that time had received it.

Recommendations

Addressing the findings of the report, chief inspector Mark Toland said the management of property and exhibits is “critically important to ensuring confidence” in the criminal justice system.

As part of its recommendations, the Garda Inspectorate said it was important to deliver in-person training for all PEMS managers and staff and to identify and appropriately resource a single PEMS store for each garda division.

It also wants an “urgent audit” of property and exhibit management to take place, alongside a review of the security arrangements for all places where property and exhibits are stored.

A health and safety audit of all PEMS storage facilities was also included in its recommendations.

With reporting by Niall O’Connor