July 24--A former veteran Chicago police custodian was convicted Thursday after being captured on video surveillance stealing money, jewelry and a camcorder out of an evidence facility, officials said Friday.
Pamela Brown, 59, of the 10000 block of South Emerald Avenue, was ordered held on $40,000 bail in March after she was charged with felony theft and official misconduct for taking items from a police evidence facility, according to police.
Brown was caught on video stealing city-owned property including items such as foreign money and jewelry, according to a news release from the Cook County State's Attorney's office.
Brown was a $57,8282-a-year property custodian who had worked for the city since May 1990, according to court records. Her responsibilities included sorting through prisoners forfeited property, and turning in valuable items or money to her supervisor at the end of her shift, prosecutors said.
Brown became the subject of a department internal investigation in February 2012 when supervisors noticed a change in inventory records. Police investigators then set up a video camera to record Brown performing her duties. The footage instead captured Brown stealing several items, prosecutors said.
After seeing the footage, officials decided to conduct an "integrity check," in which 26 bills totaling $200 of prisoners' forfeited cash was placed in Brown's area. But Brown did not forward the cash to her supervisor at the end of her shift, and was caught with the money as she tried to leave work, prosecutors said.
After Brown was convicted Thursday, Cook County Judge Clayton Crane revoked her bail and ordered her to remain in custody until sentencing on Aug. 19.
