19.5 Releasing & Disposing of Property/Evidence

Centreville Police Department Title: Releasing & Disposing of Property/Evidence Directive #: 19.5 Issued: 10.1.2016 Revised: 10.1.2016 Approved by: Charles M. Rhodes, Jr.

Chief of Police A. Policy Property and evidence will be released and disposed of in accordance with this directive.

B. Procedures

1. Overview

a. Officers are charged with safeguarding property and should take steps based on the circumstances to ensure that property held by the CPD is released to the rightful party.

2. Officers will not convert to their own use or have any claim to any property that is lost, mislaid or

recovered.

3. All property and evidence will be disposed of within six months after all legal requirements have been

satisfied unless a request is received from the State’s Attorney’s Office to hold the evidence for a longer period of time.

4. Should property or evidence be held in excess of six months, custodial officers will document the

reason in the Property Control Book.

5. The custodial officer will verify the need to hold evidence by routinely reviewing Judiciary Case Search

or contacting the investigating officer to obtain the case status.

2. Found Property

a. Unclaimed, abandoned property in the care of CPD for three months.

b. The custodial officer will make a notification of the intent to dispose of property when:

(1) there is a last known owner or a known party who delivered the property; and

(2) the property has not been released by the end of the fifth month following the date it was

obtained by CPD.

Page 1 of 4 c. The notification may be made by telephone if a contact number is available; details of the notification will be noted in a supplement to the original Incident Report.

d. If the owner cannot be contacted by phone, notification will be sent via certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address of the last known owner and will include the:

(1) date the property was stored;

(2) Property Record number, if applicable;

(3) Incident Report number;

(4) last date the property may be claimed;

(5) location and times where the property may be claimed; and

(6) required identification and proof of ownership.

e. The original copy of the notification will be attached to the Property Record.

f. If a Property Record was not completed, the notification will be attached to the Incident Report.

g. Property that is not claimed within 10 days of the last claim date, or by the first date it is available to the party other than the owner, will be disposed of.

3. Owners and Authorized Representatives

a. The owner and the owner’s authorized representative may receive property that is released.

b. Each release may require different forms of authorization.

c. Items that may be considered to establish the right of possession are:

(1) Verbal Authorization

(a) Under limited circumstances, verbal authorization may be acceptable (e.g., when the owner

specifically identifies an authorized representative to accept property on his behalf).

(b) The authorized representative must provide identification.

(2) Third Party Releases

(a) Third party releases require additional documentation.

(b) Forms of authorization may be:

(i) a notarized letter from the owner;

(ii) a court order (e.g., divorces, judgments, incarcerated persons etc.);

(iii) legal documents (e.g., wills, power of attorney, etc.); or Page 2 of 4 (iv) the ability to specifically identify property in detail (e.g., engravings, markings, serial numbers, insurance photographs) prior to the person viewing the property.

4. Documenting Released Property

a. When all items listed on a Property Record are released, the releasing officer will complete and sign the release section in the lower portion of the form.

b. If only some of the items are released, the partial release column in the middle of the form will be completed and signed by the officer.

c. When the last item (or group of items) is released following a partial release, the officer will not complete the partial release columns, but will complete and sign the release section in the lower portion of the form.

d. The officer will type or print the name of the person to whom each item is released and have that person sign in the same space.

5. Property Destroyed Locally

a. When worthless property or property with an estimated resale value of under $25 is eligible to be destroyed, the custodial officer will destroy the item locally.

b. Examples of property that may be destroyed locally include DVDs and video tapes, used clothing, scales and CDS paraphernalia without CDS residue.

c. In addition, cellular phones may be destroyed locally because they cannot be resold.

d. In addition to the custodial officer, a second officer who is a supervisor, will witness the destruction.

e. Worthless property destroyed at the local level will be documented as “Destroyed Locally” on the Property Record or the Form 67 (if applicable).

(1) The custodial officer will document the date of the destruction on both documents.

(2) The custodial officer and the witness will sign the Property Record or Form 67.

f. Property with an estimated resale value of more than $25, may be auctioned, sold or donated to a non-profit organization, at the discretion of the Chief. Such property may include:

• Bicycles

• Radios

• Tools

• New Clothing

• Televisions

• Jewelry

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6. Currency

a. See Directive 30.4

7. Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS) and Paraphernalia

a. If the CDS was seized as evidence, it shall be held until the criminal case has concluded, as well as, the possibility of appeals.

b. Once the appeals period has passed and it has been determined that the CDS is no longer needed, the custodial officer will dispose of CDS by incineration.

c. A supervisor will accompany the custodial officer and observe the incineration and verify same by signing on the Property Record.

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