Missing Copper at the Naval Supply Warehouse

Priorities and case plan

• Establish the loss timeline before naming suspects. Reconcile receiving, issue, and transfer records; compare them to access logs and video gaps. A missing-document pattern is more probative than an after-hours entry by itself.
• Preserve perishable evidence. Export the access-control logs and the video in native format with hash values; obtain the video-system maintenance records to explain the 90-minute gap. Do not let IT overwrite footage.
• Identify the custody chain for the 14 pallets. Determine who signed receipts, who had forklift access, and whether scrap-metal buyers or haulers were used. Request shipping and disposal records through the appropriate legal process.
• Separate interviews by role. Start with the night-shift lead and receiving clerks, then move to the three after-hours employees. Group interviews contaminate memory and create coercion risks.
• Manage the command's Friday deadline explicitly. Provide the command with a written case plan showing tasks, owners, deadlines, and why arrest before record reconciliation could fail. Explain that premature action may alert subjects and destroy evidence.

A defensible case plan tracks evidence, legal process, interview status, and decision points. The Friday arrest demand should be met with a realistic briefing, not an unsupported arrest.

Reject the group interview. Bringing three employees together creates cross-contamination, invites collusion, and can look coercive. It also makes later statements harder to attribute and impeach.

Recommended sequence:

1. Night-shift lead first-a witness, not yet a subject-to establish warehouse routines, who had keys, and whether the video gap was known.
2. Receiving and shipping clerks-to verify signatures, weights, and whether pallets ever arrived or were diverted.
3. The three after-hours employees separately, beginning with the person with the least apparent access or motive. Use open-ended questions about routines before narrowing to specific dates.
4. The retired supervisor last if evidence supports it, because his status and prior rank may require additional coordination and because interviewing him early could signal the direction of the case.

Document each interview separately, record start and stop times, and avoid revealing evidence from one interview to another except deliberately during confrontation. The goal is to test explanations, not to produce a quick confession.

Records and physical evidence require different authorities.

• Timecards and routine administrative records may be obtainable through command channels or a subpoena, depending on privacy and labor agreements. Confirm with the staff judge advocate whether consent or a specific legal process is needed.
• Email content generally requires a warrant or comparable legal authorization; metadata may be obtainable by lesser process. Do not rely on a supervisor's verbal permission to read an employee's email.
• Lockers may have a reduced expectation of privacy under command policy, but that depends on the written policy, notice to employees, and whether the locker is personally secured. If the employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy, seek search authorization or consent.
• Consent should be voluntary, documented in writing, and limited in scope. A consent search can be withdrawn at any time.

Because this is a federal workplace with possible criminal conduct, coordinate early with the legal advisor and document the theory of access for every item seized. The command's desire for speed does not replace lawful process.