Investigation of Stanfield, OR Police Department Yields No Criminal Charges

The Oregon State Department of Justice has wrapped up an investigation into allegations of misconduct by the Stanfield police department, but nobody is going to be charged. But, the Department says some of the allegations were "troubling."

The investigation was launched after one of Stanfield's own officers reported violations.

In the report the Department listed the following incidents:

• Lt. Troy Tombs seized two illegal pot plants last June from a home, then later noticed they were molding and rotting and needed to be destroyed. He reportedly told the City Public Works director to throw them in the compost heap, but documentation of the actual destruction of the plants was never performed. The city has no record if they actually were taken care of.
• Chief Byron Zumwalt confiscated a weapon during a DUI arrest and it was taken for safe keeping. However, instead of properly locking up the firearm, investigators found the gun was actually placed under the back seat of Zumwalt's department pickup. Other than the vehicle being locked, the gun was not properly stored.
• The Department of Justice also found that Lt. Tombs did not perform the proper and necessary criminal backround checks on a recently hired officer named Jesse Newton. Tombs acknowledged he had not done so.

The Department called these allegations 'troubling," but declined to press any criminal misconduct charges. The Stanfield police department has only four workers, the Chief, Lieutenant and two officers.