LR officer says handgun, ammo, cuffs, other gear stolen from his SUV

Little Rock police were investigating after $840 in equipment, including a department-issued handgun, were stolen from an officer's locked personal vehicle, according to a police report released Tuesday.

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Officers were called the morning of July 28 to the home of officer Roosevelt Sanders, whose address was redacted from the report. Sanders, a patrolman in the department's downtown division, said his Chevrolet Tahoe had been burglarized sometime overnight, the report states. A .40-caliber Glock handgun, 46 rounds of ammunition, two pairs of handcuffs, pepper spray, a gun belt and a flashlight assigned to Sanders were stolen.

Police spokesman Lt. Steven McClanahan said Tuesday that the gun's serial number had been entered into a stolen-property database. None of the stolen equipment has been recovered, McClanahan said.

Department policy restricts officers from keeping agency-issued firearms in personal vehicles.

Sanders had not been disciplined Tuesday, according to McClanahan. The theft remained under review.

Police reported Sanders' SUV had no signs of forced entry. Sanders, 42, said he believed someone was driving around using a key fob to remotely unlock vehicles.

Police spokesman officer Richard Hilgeman said the keyless-entry devices of certain vehicles operate on the same signals, and "professional thieves" have increasingly taken advantage.

"We've had memos come out to look out for this kind of thing ... You're going to see it more in New York and Dallas and some big cities. But, like everything else, once it gets popular, it starts moving," he said.

Officers noted a vehicle "in the area" of Sanders' home was burglarized under similar circumstances the same night. Bertha Neal, 68, reported that someone "went through everything" in her Dodge Minivan at 3 Arnold Palmer Cove, but it was unclear how the burglar got inside. Nothing appeared to have been taken from the vehicle.

Investigators recovered fingerprints from the scene, a police report states. No arrests had been made.

Sanders' pistol was stolen less than two months after Chief Kenton Buckner reported one of his two department-issued handguns as lost or stolen. Buckner said June 11 in a letter to City Manager Bruce Moore that he'd moved to a new home over Memorial Day weekend and hadn't been able to find his .40-caliber Glock 27.

Moore issued a written reprimand to Buckner for improper or negligent handling of city property.

Buckner reimbursed the city $457.80 for the cost of the gun. It remained missing Tuesday.

The department's policy on storage of city-issued equipment, known as General Order 108, states: "Officers who have lost, damaged or destroyed any equipment issued to them by the Department shall immediately report such to their immediate supervisor. The officer may be required to make restitution if the loss or damage is the result of negligence on the officer's part."

The department, in a response to a request under the state's Freedom of Information act filed in June, was unable to provide data on the number of guns the agency has reported lost or stolen.

McClanahan said he could recall about 10 such instances in his 21-year career with Little Rock police. He said Buckner's and Sanders' guns, "to my knowledge," were the only two reported lost or stolen this year.

Metro on 08/05/2015

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