Houston Police Department and Harris County District Attorney's Office It announced a change this week to how evidence is stored and handled in criminal cases after a rodent infestation caused some problems.
Police Chief Noe Diaz announced in a press conference that HPD noticed the rats in October Old marijuana use In the Evidence Property Room
“400,000 pounds of marijuana, storage and only rats enjoy it,” Houston Mayor John Whitmer said.
Houston Mayor John Whitmer walks through the evidence room of the Houston Police Department. (Houston Police Department)
“Think about it, they're drug-addicted rats. They're hard to deal with,” said Peter Stout, CEO of the Houston Forensic Science Center.
The overarching problem, Whitmire says, is that so much evidence is stored that it is no longer needed.
“The problem is that so much evidence is retained and stored that it is no longer needed; this has no impact on solving that problem.” The charge of that conviction, “Or even that innocence,” he said during the press conference.
He went on to announce that they will work with the DA to make sure the evidence is handled properly and if it is no longer needed, there will be room for important property.
Police Chief Noe Diaz announced in a news conference that HPD noticed in October that rats were consuming old marijuana in the evidence room. (Lukman Vural Ilibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
HPD says there are 1.2 million pieces of evidence currently being stored that are no longer relevant.
Before then, evidence such as sticks, tennis rackets, bicycles and even rocks were kept for decades sometimes from long-solved cases.
They say that a combination of communications and laws is the main source preventing the timely destruction of evidence.
They also said this caused mice and mold to build up in the evidence locker, threatening to contaminate new evidence.
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Houston police cruiser with department insignia. (Houston Police Department)
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“Now that this has come to light, I think you're going to see a lot of pushback on the part of the defense about the integrity of the evidence used against the people they represent,” said Anthony Owusu, a Houston criminal defense attorney.
All drug evidence obtained before 2015 will be removed from shelves and destroyed in cooperation with the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the Houston Forensic Science Center.
Evidence records will be kept indefinitely.
