Jul. 26--A high-ranking Dallas County Sheriff's Department official who had an unregistered 1940s-era Thompson submachine gun for the past six years without paperwork was demoted one rank to captain Tuesday after an internal investigation found he violated policy. Larry Locke's demotion from assistant chief deputy is effective immediately. His new assignment in the detention division will begin Monday. Capt. Locke, a 26-year veteran of the department, did not follow procedures for the chain of custody when the machine gun was turned over to him about six years ago, the Sheriff's Department said. The "Tommy gun" should have been listed as found property and signed into the agency's property room for safekeeping. A sheriff's news release said that if no owner comes forward, such weapons are typically destroyed or otherwise disposed of. The gun turned up during an audit ordered by Sheriff Lupe Valdez. She promoted Capt. Locke to assistant chief deputy shortly after she took office last year. She said she will decide soon whom to promote to replace Capt. Locke, who had been assigned to general services, which includes patrol and warrants. She said that because of the nature of the case, she did not fire him. "It happened six years ago, and there's contradictory statements," Sheriff Valdez said. In a written statement, she said disciplining him was difficult. "I have grown to know him as a valued member of the department and a friend," Sheriff Valdez said. "The former chief made an error in judgment, and it was something neither I nor the department could overlook." When she was campaigning for office, Sheriff Valdez pledged to restore public trust in the department after a lengthy investigation into the relationship between the former sheriff and a jail vendor. Capt. Locke said last month that he kept the gun in his personal locker in his office after two officers turned it over to him. He said his boss at the time, Larry Forsyth, then the executive chief deputy, told him to lock it up for safekeeping. Capt. Locke said he had the only key to his locker. The machine gun was found in a gun case next to a garbage bin behind Ray's Sporting Goods in Dallas, and the store owner said he called the Sheriff's Department to come get it. It had never been registered with the federal government, as required. Capt. Locke was the captain in charge of the now-defunct drug unit when he took custody of the gun about six years ago. The gun has since been returned to the property room, and Sheriff Valdez has sent paperwork to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to register it. Sheriff Valdez said she would like to display the machine gun for the public. A separate investigation into the disappearance of two handguns that belonged to the drug unit is ongoing.
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