Kevin Kincer

A Chattanooga police property sergeant who is accused of stealing drugs from the evidence room posted bond from the county jail after he was indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury earlier this week.

Kevin Kincer, a 22-year veteran of the department, was reported to administrators Dec. 16 by another employee in the property room. He now faces three counts of official misconduct and three counts of theft -- including a felony count.

The case was the catalyst for security upgrades and forced employees to take inventory of all property and evidence in the building.

"There's a great deal of security -- there's even more so now. If nothing else, the real story is we obviously found out there was a problem and security measures were not quite intense enough," Capt. David Woosley said.

"The physical surveillance, the electronic surveillance is being multiplied many times over," he said.

It's possible the Chattanooga Police Department will also try to buy evidence control software, he said.

Woosley said he could not comment on additional details of the case.

Kincer was transferred to the property and evidence room in January 2012 to work as a supervisor. He worked in property and evidence at least one other time in 2009 when he suffered an on-the-job injury, records show.

He previously was assigned to the narcotics unit, where he worked on cases in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration, personnel records show.

Kincer was promoted to sergeant in 2006. He served as a patrol sergeant, academy instructor and SWAT team member.

The department's internal affairs unit is expected to launch an investigation after the criminal trial wraps up.

Until Kincer's case is resolved internally, he will remain on unpaid administrative leave.

Kincer had a prior sustained use of force complaint in 1998, internal affairs records show. He had several other complaints which were not sustained or were unfounded.

Contact staff writer Beth Burger at bburger@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6406. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/abburger.