Burlington Police Department Announces Successful Independent Evidence Audit

Chief Michael Kent is pleased to announce that the Burlington Police Department performed exceptionally well in a recently concluded independent audit of the department’s evidence storage practices. Chief Kent proactively sought out independent accounting and consulting firm Blum, Shapiro & Company, P.C. (doing business as “blumshapiro”) to conduct an audit of the department’s evidence seized from 2017 through August 2020. Blumshapiro chose a representative sample of 20 percent of the evidence in the department’s possession, as well as a 100 percent examination of all seized cash, narcotics and sexual assault kits. The review found that all the selected evidence was “maintained in the most exemplary manner,” and blumshapiro rated Burlington Police’s evidence storage as excellent, and that its protocols are sound and in compliance with department policies, and are in line with industry best practices. Of the 119 pieces of evidence it examined, blumshapiro identified just four items that were erroneously categorized and were corrected on site. “Properly maintaining evidence is among our most important responsibilities as a law enforcement agency, and so it’s important to us that we periodically undergo a thorough review of how well we are doing that work from time to time,” Chief Kent said. “I’m proud of the results of our most recent review, which shows that we’re doing very well, while also indicating some room for improvement in administrative processes and approaches.” The audit concluded last month was the second such proactive voluntary review the department has sought out and undergone in the last three years, with a prior audit taking place in early 2017. ###