On June 23, 2017, Oregon State Police troopers and detectives arrested former Oregon State Police Evidence Technician Mark Matlick, age 57 of Klamath Falls. Matlick was employed with the Oregon State Police from 2007 through 2015 at the Klamath Falls Area Command. In October of 2016, command staff from the Klamath Falls Oregon State Police Area Command became aware evidence had been unlawfully removed from the evidence lockers located in Klamath Falls and Lakeview. A lengthy investigation was conducted by Oregon State Police detectives, OSP support staff, and investigators from the Oregon Department of Justice. The investigation was conducted in consultation with Klamath County and Lake County District Attorney’s Offices. The investigation regarding the Klamath Falls evidence locker revealed the following: between the dates of November 13, 2007, and June 30, 2015, Mark Matlick, while acting in the capacity of the evidence technician for the Oregon State Police stole over $10,000 of money from the OSP evidence locker. Additionally, Matlick forged written instruments and tampered with the OSP evidence database (public records) to facilitate his thefts. Matlick was lodged on the following charges in Klamath County: One count of Aggravated Theft, 29 counts of Computer Crime, 19 counts of Tampering with Public Records, two counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, 19 counts of Official Misconduct in the First Degree, one count of Theft in the First Degree and four counts of Theft in Second Degree. The investigation in Lake County is on-going. In the last couple of years, the Oregon State Police have made efforts to improve the integrity and security of evidence maintained under the control of the Oregon State Police Evidence Program. In regards to currency, OSP no longer holds any more than $100.00 in evidence at any given point in time. When the total combined amount of currency rises above $100.00, the currency is secured in a bank account. Additionally, annual inventories are conducted in all evidence lockers which is a practice consistent with the national standard and the destruction policy has been improved with additional layers of oversight.
