Jul 17, 2013 1 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The county controller says nearly $16,000 is missing from an account holding inmate funds at the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, along with two laptop computers and a digital camera.

Controller Chelsa Wagner says she’ll refer the matter to police if jail officials can’t find the missing money and equipment.

But Warden Orlando Harper, who was hired in October, says he’s implementing better controls over the account which contains inmates’ spending money and says an internal analysis has already located nearly half the money Wagner says is missing.

Wagner’s findings are contained in a 32-page report that examined jail procedures from 2010 through 2012.

The missing laptops and camera were bought with money raised by the prison commissary and fees collected from inmate phone calls.

Harper says employees will be held responsible if the equipment isn’t found.