But undercover officers aren't the only MPD employees with access to this cash.
Financial records show it is used as a convenient, oversize petty cash fund.
Cash from the vault has paid for department employees to travel the country, has fed international police officials visiting Memphis and funded improvements to the OCU gym. Ribs and pork shoulders were purchased for an OCU cookout. Funded by a wellspring of state and federal drug forfeitures, this OCU bank is designed to provide officers with an accessible source of cash to do their jobs. A petty cash fund is something we have throughout the city . . . This one just happens to have more in it.