Vancouver police pitche fix after audit finds firearms went unaccounted in 2023

(The Center Square) – The Vancouver Police Department was flagged in a recent audit for lacking adequate internal controls of small assets, including firearms, but the department says it has already made improvements.

The Vancouver Police Department maintains small assets such as firearms, tactical and safety equipment, cameras, cell phones, radios and body cameras. The city is responsible for monitoring, tracking and safeguarding these assets.

The Washington State Auditor’s latest audit from Thursday found that while the Vancouver Police Department has processes to manage these assets, it does not have adequate controls to ensure it accounts for them.

For instance, the department uses three different systems, but does not reconcile these systems to ensure the listings are complete and accurate.

The audit also found that there is no independent review of employees responsible for updating asset information in the tracking systems to ensure the information is complete and accurate.

Audit findings highlighted six firearms listed in the Vancouver Police Department’s inventory that could not be located during the audit procedure in 2023. However, the department notes that they have been located since then.

According to a press release from the department, Vancouver police staff were already reconciling the department’s firearm inventory and established that the six firearms were and continue to be in possession of their legal owners or another agency.

Four of the firearms were issued to the Vancouver Police Department and two were issued to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Internal research found that the Vancouver Police Officers Guild legally purchased these four handguns as retirement gifts for retired Vancouver police officers, who still possess the firearms.

The Vancouver Police Department said the two rifles issued to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office were likely entered in error into the department’s inventory system when they were used in the early 2000s.

The audit notes that police management said they do not have adequate staff to effectively segregate duties for internal management of small assets. Additionally, department staff did not know they needed to retain disposal documentation or that their practices were insufficient.

The Vancouver Police Department said it will conduct inventory audits twice a year to compare and reconcile inventories. The city is also in the process of migrating firearms to an inventory management system that doesn’t combine assets with other agencies.

“As an organization, we value continual improvement, and both internal and external audits highlight areas for improvement in process and internal controls,” the department said in a press release on Thursday. “We are confident that the updated procedures we have in place will avoid any inventory discrepancies in the future.”