State auditors dinged the city of Vancouver for not having systems in place to adequately track Vancouver Police Department equipment, such as firearms.
As a part of the 2023 audit of the Vancouver’s operations, the Office of the Washington State Auditor investigated the police department’s handling of small and attractive assets, which includes firearms, tactical and safety equipment, cameras, cellphones, radios and body-worn cameras. The audit, released Thursday, found the department does not properly account for all equipment.
The audit found the agency:
- Used three different tracking systems that were not synced to ensure completeness and accuracy.
- Lacked oversight when employees changed their equipment’s listing in the tracking system.
- Did not have a process for independent inventory checks.
- Did not properly document equipment disposals.
In 2022, the department identified six guns — four handguns and two rifles — that appeared to be missing, the audit states.
In a statement Thursday, the city officials said they have since found the guns.
A trace completed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms found four of the guns were issued to Vancouver police officers and two were issued to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, according to the city’s statement.
Vancouver police later determined the Vancouver Police Officers Guild had purchased the four handguns as retirement gifts for officers, as a part of the agency’s retiree firearms transfer policy. The retired officers confirmed they still had the guns, according to the city.
The department determined the two rifles issued to the sheriff’s office were used by the regional Honor Guard and were likely entered into Vancouver police’s inventory by mistake, according to the city.
The statement said the city has made changes to the agency’s systems to ensure similar errors don’t happen again. Those changes include:
- Implementing an updated firearms inventory policy that includes separate employees managing each system.
- Biannual internal inventory audits to identify and resolve any discrepancies.
- Moving firearms to an inventory management system that doesn’t combine firearms with other agencies’ inventory.
“As an organization, we value continual improvement, and both internal and external audits highlight areas for improvement in process and internal controls,” the city statement said. “We are confident that the updated procedures we have in place will avoid any inventory discrepancies in the future.”
The auditor’s office did not have any other findings city of Vancouver’ performance audits.
