Thief’s reputation helped him steal

Published 12:17 am Tuesday, November 27, 2007

LYNNWOOD — His reputation may have been the ultimate cover.

Former Lynnwood Deputy Police Chief Paul C. Watkins was well-liked and respected. His honesty and integrity were never in doubt. He was the last guy anyone would suspect of stealing.

Maybe that’s why no one questioned his failure to follow department policies when it came to keeping track of money and property seized during criminal investigations. They trusted that he was telling the truth when he said he was returning the money to the rightful owner.

The department had safeguards in place to keep track of evidence but Watkins was able to circumvent those procedures primarily because of who he was and the reputation he had built, Lynnwood Police Chief Steve Jensen said.

“Our procedures and methods were sound,” he said. “Our enhanced security was thwarted. We trusted the wrong person.”

Watkins has since admitted to stealing thousands of dollars between 2001 and 2005, when he was the commander of investigations and oversaw seizure and forfeiture of property. He pleaded guilty to one count of theft in U.S. District Court in Seattle. He is scheduled to be sentenced in February. Prosecutors believe he stole about $95,000 from the department.

Watkins, a 24-year Lynnwood police veteran, attempted to resign Wednesday.

“I hope and pray that my legacy is not that of scandal but one of dedicated service to the city of Lynnwood and to the men and women with whom I proudly served,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

Jensen instead opted to fire Watkins that same day.

Now the department, with the help of the state Auditor’s Office, will re-evaluate how it keeps track of evidence, Jensen said. They’ll look at requiring more documentation when property is removed from the storage facility and how it is returned to the owner or city.

The department conducts internal audits once every four months. Neither its audits nor those done by the state turned up any problems.

Many of the records that could have alerted auditors to Watkins’ thefts were stolen by him as well.

They were found at his house when agents searched in October, said FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Steven Dean.

The police department’s internal audits, and those done by the state, are spot checks among thousands of case reports, Jensen said. By taking away evidence reports, Watkins made it even more difficult to detect missing money, he said.

In hindsight, evidence officers should have reported that they hadn’t received receipts from Watkins proving that he had turned over the money to its rightful owner or the city, Jensen said. He believes Watkins’ reputation likely kept the officers from growing suspicious.

“At some point you have to trust someone,” Jensen said.

There was never any indication that Watkins could be stealing, he said. Jensen never received a phone call from a creditor that Watkins was having financial problems.

“We cannot answer why an honest police officer turned into a thief,” Dean said.

There was no evidence that Watkins used the money to pay off mounting debts, the FBI agent said.

The city will attempt to get the money back from the former deputy chief.

Jensen thanked the FBI at a press conference Monday. He had asked federal agents to investigate Watkins in June after it was discovered that more than $14,000, two guns and cocaine seized during a 1996 robbery investigation were missing. Watkins signed for the evidence but told Lynnwood officials he’d dropped it off in an evidence locker. That led Jensen to look deeper into the problem and ultimately call for outside help.

“It took a lot of courage to open up his department to scrutiny and do the right thing,” Dean said.

FBI agents continue to probe who might have tipped Watkins off that he was under investigation. He was seen throwing out bags full of shredded documents in public trash bins the night before FBI agents planned to search his Everett-area house. He has told investigators he wasn’t tipped off but grew suspicious when he was asked to attend a meeting with the FBI, Jensen said.

Working with suspicion and then learning that the fears were valid has taken a toll, Jensen said. “The Lynnwood Police Department has been saddened and extremely troubled by the actions of Mr. Watkins. We are also cognizant of the damage that Mr. Watkins’ actions have inflicted on the members of his family and his friends.” Jensen said. “I feel very much our organization was betrayed.”

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.