HARTFORD-- At least $100,000 worth of Hartford Police Department ammunition is unaccounted for, according to an audit issued on the financial practices at the department's gun range.
Last year, Hartford Police Chief James Rovella requested an audit after concerns were raised about operations at the range. City auditors discovered that the lone person in charge of buying ammunition "did not account for and maintain records of the inventory." Police have identified the shooting range administrator as retired Officer Lewis Crabtree.
According to the audit, the department budgets approximately $115,000 for ammunition every year. But it states the range administrator was purchasing more than twice that amount and "circumventing the budget by purchasing ammunition on account without knowledge or consent of HPD management."
The audit also states that the shooting range administrator was trading ammunition with other police departments.
The department launched an in-depth, internal investigation in the hopes of learning exactly where the additional ammunition purchased by Crabtree may be.
"And what's important is also that we corrected the problems, that we have the policies and procedures and the supervision in place to ensure that it doesn't happen again," Deputy Chief Brian Foley said.
