A former Altoona Police Detective has been arrested and charged with two counts of felony forgery, two counts of felonious misconduct and one misdemeanor count of possession of methamphetamine. The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports that on Monday, Oct. 15, 39-year-old Joshua Copeland, who had recently resigned, was taken into custody and transported to the Polk County jail. An investigation was initiated by the police department on Jan. 22 of this year and they requested assistance from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to look into the allegations that someone may have tampered with drug evidence. During the investigation, methamphetamine was discovered in a city-issued vehicle, assigned to Copeland. They also uncovered forged evidence packaging tied to Detective Copeland. The investigation into the allegations is ongoing. Copeland has been released on a $21,000 bond.
