Council accepts internal-audit plan after report finds police evidence storage strained

Carlsbad accepted an internal audit update and approved the city's FY 202627 internal audit plan at its meeting, after the internal audit manager warned that the police department's property and evidence storage is running out of space.

"The available storage space is very limited, and they're running out of it," Internal Audit Manager Tufik Tabshuri said during his presentation to the council, which also reviewed two police-focused audits: the buy fund and property and evidence storage.

Tabshuri said the buy fund largely adhered to procedures, though an earlier audit's recommendations had not all been implemented. On evidence storage, he attributed growth in retained property in part to changes in California law that increase retention periods and said the city is planning a long-term solution: a storage facility at the Orion Center that auditors and staff expect will meet future needs. The audit recommended procedural improvements; management agreed and implemented at least one change prior to the meeting.

Tabshuri also noted two specific policy choices: the police department now charges a fee for voluntary firearm storage and has limited storage to residents for the near term, steps that the city included in its master fee schedule approved June 16. "One of the recommendations was to consider a fee for firearms storage," Tabshuri said; the fee was added to the master fee schedule.

Council members thanked the auditor for the work and pressed for regular follow-up. Councilmember Shin asked about staffing in the audit office; Tabshuri said he is currently the sole auditor and plans to provide periodic updates to the council.

The council unanimously approved the audit reports and the proposed FY 202627 internal audit plan, which prioritizes audits of utilities/wastewater operations, library and cultural arts, workers' compensation and leaves a small pool of unallocated audits for management requests or emerging issues.

The immediate next steps are to finish the outstanding IT security audit and begin audits listed in the new plan; Tabshuri said he will return to the council periodically with updates.