Clinton Police Standard Operating Procedure - Property & Evidence Control PDF

Clinton Police Standard Operating Procedure Chapter 35 CALEA Reference: 84 Property & Evidence Control Policy Proper documentation, collection, preservation and submission to Forensic Laboratories of physical evidence may provide the key ingredients of any police inve...

Clinton Police Standard Operating Procedure Chapter 35 CALEA Reference: 84 Property & Evidence Control Policy Proper documentation, collection, preservation and submission to Forensic Laboratories of physical evidence may provide the key ingredients of any police investigation. Purpose To provide guidelines and procedures for collecting, processing and preserving physical evidence. I. Procedures for receiving all evidence and found property A. Any officer that obtains any property or evidence shall document that seizure in RMS. The RMS report shall include the following information (CALEA 84.1.1c): 1. Date of Seizure 2. Time of Seizure 3. Description of Property and circumstance by which the property came into officer’s possession. 4. Location/Person Property was obtained from. 5. Disposition or Storage Location of that property B. All property or evidence shall be packaged and labeled in accordance with Clinton Police Department Policy on Evidence Collection. The SBI Evidence Submission Manual should be used as a guide for evidence packaging. (CALEA 84.1.1d) C. The following must be documented on an Evidence/Property Report prior to entry or after removal of Evidence/Property from the Clinton Police Evidence Storage Room: 1. Any chain of custody for any transfer of evidence. 2. Disposition of any evidence/property. D. The SBI Lab Submission Report may be used in lieu of an Evidence/Property Report when submitting items to the SBI Lab. E. All evidence/property seized will be logged in with EMS before the officer ends his/her tour of duty. Any exception to this policy must be authorized by the duty supervisor in writing. (CALEA 84.1.1a) F. All evidence/property will be placed under the control of the Evidence Room before the officer ends his/her tour of duty. Exceptions must be authorized by a supervisor and documented in RMS. (CALEA 84.1.1.b) G. Evidence shall only be stored in areas designated for evidence storage by the Clinton Police Department. The storage of evidence in desks, personal lockers, vehicles, residence, etc. is prohibited. II. Evidence Storage A. All in-custody and evidentiary property will be stored within the Evidence Room. This is a secured area that may be accessed only by the designated Evidence Control Officer. (CALEA 84.1.2) B. All in-custody and evidentiary property will be documented in the EMS and inventoried using the bar coding system. C. Storage of in-custody or evidentiary property when the Evidence Room is closed will be done utilizing temporary storage lockers located in the police department. Officers will log in the evidence with the EMS, bar code it, and lock it in a temporary storage locker. If the property’s size prevents the use of the temporary storage lockers, an Evidence Control Officer should be contacted about storage. (CALEA 84.1.3) D. Evidence Control Officer will register in EMS all in-custody and evidentiary property placed in the temporary storage lockers. The EMS will contain records that (CALEA 84.1.5): 1. Reflect the location of the property; 2. Date and time when the property was received or released; 3. Character, type and amount of property on hand; and 4. Chain of custody from the time the property was stored unit its destruction and or other final disposition. III. Security Measures for handling exceptional, valuable, or sensitive items of property. (CALEA 84.1.1.e) A. All firearms will be placed in designated cardboard boxes with a bar code label placed on the exterior of the box. Magazines and ammunition are the only items allowed to be packaged with the firearm. Officers will unload the firearm before packaging. The box will be left unsealed so the Evidence Control Officer may verify the firearm is unloaded. The box containing the firearm will be sealed by the Evidence Control Officer after registering it into EMS. B. Controlled substances shall be packaged in tamper-proof protective packaging when submitted to the Evidence Room. The Evidence Control Officer will register the controlled substances in EMS and store that evidence in a locked Security Cabinet separate from other evidence stored in the Evidence Room. C. U.S. Currency will be registered in EMS by the Evidence Control Officer and then deposited to an interest free bank account designated by the City of Clinton. Unique items of currency (money with blood on it, marked bills, etc.) that cannot be deposited in the bank shall be stored in the locked Security Cabinet separate from other evidence stored in the Evidence Room. The Evidence Control Officer will be contacted before U.S. Currency evidence that exceeds $3,000.00 is stored in temporary evidence lockers. D. Seized U.S. Currency will be counted by the seizing officer before entering into EMS. The currency will be placed in an evidence package, bar coded, but not sealed. The Evidence Control Officer will count the currency before registering the currency and then sealing the package. Evidence Control Officer will notify the submitting officer and his/her supervisor if there is a discrepancy in the currency count. E. Counterfeit money will be registered in EMS by the Evidence Control Officer and then stored in the locked Security Cabinet separate from other evidence stored in the Evidence Room. F. Precious metals and jewelry will be registered in EMS by the Evidence Control Officer and stored in the locked Security Cabinet separate from other evidence stored in the Evidence Room. G. Body fluids/blood shall be marked as being a biohazard and shall be kept in the Evidence Refrigerator after being registered into EMS. DWI Evidence Collection Kits may be stored in Temporary Evidence Lockers until the Evidence Control Officer registers the item. H. Any item of evidence exposed to body fluids/blood shall be marked with a biohazard label. I. Gasoline, oil, other petroleum products, chemical, etc. will not be stored in the Evidence Room. The Evidence Control Officer will be contacted about the storage of these type items. J. Bicycles will be logged in with EMS by an officer, bar coded, and placed in the temporary storage cage behind the PD until the evidence custodian registers the bicycle into Evidence storage. K. Any exception to this policy must be approved by a Commander and documented in RMS. L. Evidence of a hazardous nature (ammunition, explosives, fireworks, lighters, items with batteries, chemicals, etc.) shall be appropriately packaged and stored or disposed of in accordance with established agency policy and State and Federal Law. 1. Remove batteries from digital scales and other items before entering into evidence 2. Vape Pens are not to be entered into evidence as their batteries pose a serious fire hazard. The cartridge can be turned in as evidence if needed. If the cartridge cannot be separated from the battery, photograph item and dispose of same safely, and document action taken IV. Seized Vehicles (CALEA 84.1.2) A. All vehicles seized as evidence shall be transported and stored by a police department approved Rotation Wrecker Service, which by agreement, shall provide a secure area for vehicles. The officer making the seizure shall ensure the chain of custody and secure storage for that vehicle. The officer will document the seizure in the RMS report. B. Vehicles towed as evidence will be inventoried and documented on the CPD Tow Report in RMS after being processed. Any property that is seized for evidence or safe keeping will be logged into EMS and submitted to the Evidence Room for storage. This seizure will be documented in RMS. C. Impounded/Seized Vehicles for drug seizures will be stored inside the fenced area at the City of Clinton Maintenance facility. The officer will log the vehicle in EMS. The vehicle will be inventoried and documented in RMS using the CPD Tow Report in Officers Activity Log. Any property that is seized for safe keeping will be logged into EMS and submitted to the Evidence Room for storage. This seizure will be documented in RMS. D. Any property that is seized for safe keeping during an inventory of a vehicle that was towed by the Clinton Police for any other reason will be logged into EMS. This seizure will be documented in RMS. V. Inspections, Inventories, Audits (CALEA 84.1.6) A. The Evidence Control Officer or his/her designee will conduct a semi-annual inspection to determine adherence to procedures used for the control of property. Designated officers will provide case dispositions for evidence stored during this semi- annual inspection. (CALEA 84.1.6a) B. Evidence dispositions to include court orders will be obtained by the Evidence Control Officer or his/her designee: 1. Dispositions ordered by a Judge on the court date and recorded by the Clerk of Court will be used as a disposition order. AOC-G152 disposition form will be used for all property except deadly weapons and alcoholic beverages. 2. AOC-CR-920M disposition form shall be used for the disposition of all alcoholic beverages. 3. AOC-CR-218 disposition form shall be used for all weapons. 4. Found or unclaimed property will be disposed of in accordance to North Carolina General Statutes. 5. Destruction of any item of evidence shall be done by the Evidence Control Officer or his/her designee in the presence of another officer. The destruction will be documented in EMS. 6. All disposition forms will be forwarded to the records division. C. An annual audit of property and evidence held by the police department will be conducted by the Operations Commander or his/her designee. If a designee is used, that person will be a supervisor not routinely or directly connected with the control of property and evidence. (CALEA 84.1.6c) D. The Chief of Police will direct an unannounced inspection of the property storage areas once a year. (CALEA 84.1.6d) E. An inventory of property will occur whenever the Evidence Control Officer is assigned to and/or transferred from the position and is conducted jointly by the newly designated Evidence Control Officer and a supervisor designated by the Chief of Police. The inventory will be conducted to ensure that records are correct and properly annotated. (CALEA 84.1.6b) F. A reconcile report will be done monthly using the monthly bank statement for the U.S. Currency evidence bank account by the Evidence Control Officer. The amount of money in the account will be reconciled with the money amounts listed in EMS. VI. Laboratory Submissions and Testing A. Investigating officers are responsible for completing the SBI Lab submission form for items of evidence designated for analysis. The completed form will be given to the Evidence Control Officer. B. The Evidence Control Officer or his/her designee will be responsible to submit and retrieve evidence at the SBI Lab. An appointment with the Lab will be made within 5 working days after the seizure of a trafficking amount of controlled substance. Additional submissions may be made depending on investigative needs. C. Evidence returned from the Lab by U.S. Mail, UPS, or other shipping will be directly turned over to the Evidence Control Officer. If the Evidence Control Officer is not available, then that evidence will be stored in a temporary evidence locker. D. All seized firearms will be submitted for IBIS testing by the Evidence Control Officer. E. The shell casings collected by test firing seized weapons and submitted for IBIS/NIBIN analysis are not evidence. These shell casing will be retained for one year then destroyed. Destruction of these shell casings do not require a disposition or court order. VII. Identification and Notification of Owner of Property. (CALEA 84.1.1.f) A. All members of the Clinton Police Department who collect property shall make reasonable attempt (s) to identify and locate the owners of property and notify them of the following: 1. Status of property 2. Reason for the property coming into the agencies custody. 3. Procedure to have property returned to owner if applicable. VIII. Temporary release of Property from the Evidence Room.(CALEA 84.1.1.g) A. Property may be temporarily released for use in investigations, court, witness identification, crime lab, or other authorized purposes. This release must be documented in EMS. B. Canine officers will maintain controlled substances, weapons or explosives for canine training aids. These aids shall be maintained in a secured locker with the canine officers having keys. The canine officer shall maintain an inventory list of controlled substances and weapons stored in the secured locker. The Evidence Control Officer will inventory the items annually and provide a written report to the Operations Division Commander. All court orders used to obtain training aids will be maintained in the Records Section. (CALEA 84.1.4) IX. Final Disposition/Release of Property from the Evidence Room (CALEA 84.1.1g) A. Property in the department’s custody may be released permanently under the following conditions; 1. To the owner or agent if the collected property is no longer needed for court. 2. Found property may be released to a verified owner or agent with picture identification. 3. Property may be released to the Internal Revenue Service per written order. 4. Evidence introduced into and retained by the courts. The officer in control of the evidence shall obtain a signed Evidence Property Report indicating the evidence was turned over to the courts. 5. Unclaimed property which the owner is unknown or refuses to pick up may be released to the City of Clinton to be sold at auction after 90 days. 6. Unclaimed property which the owner is unknown or refuses to pick up may be destroyed or diposed in accordance with NCGS after 90 days if the property has no evidential or monetary value. 7. All firearms that have disposition orders shall comply with NCGS 15-11. 8. The Clinton Police Department will not return any seized ammunition to the public. Any qualified ammunition will be released to the Clinton Police Department to be used for NIBIN test firing after the ammunition no longer holds evidentiary value. Any other ammunition will be disposed of in accordance with Clinton Police Department policy and North Carolina General Statute when it no longer holds evidentiary value. 9. A court order mandating a specific disposition for that property. 10. Written authorization from the District Attorney’s Office for release to the owner or agent of any property which has evidentiary value prior to the court date. Photographs of these items should be taken before release. 11. A QDOF (Query for Disposition of Firearm) will be completed by a DCI certified member of the Administration Division at the request of the Evidence Custodian prior to the release of any firearm that was seized by the Clinton Police Department to the public. Proof of purchase or ownership will be provided either through an ATF E Trace, a court order, or by the individual attempting to obtain the firearm. The firearm will be released in accordance with Clinton Police Departmental policy if no disqualifiers are indicated in the QDOF. If a disqualifier is indicated during the QDOF, the individual will be provided with a NICS Deny pamphlet with their NTN (NICS Transition Number) and a departmental letter stating that the court will be petitioned for permission to dispose of their firearm after 30 days in accordance with North Caolina General Statute unless they can provide information that their disqualifier has been disposed of. The Evidence Custodian will complete a Firearms Petition and submit it to the courts requesting the firearm be disposed of after the 30 day period. X. Accountability for Civil Seized Property All property acquired through the civil process function or asset forfeiture proceedings are accounted for and documented in a file maintained by the Patrol Division Commander. Any disposition of this property will be pursuant to legal authority and documented in this file. XI. Audit A. A written report will be generated listing the items of property and evidence retained by the police department that were inventoried during any audit. This report will be maintained by the Records Section. XII. Destruction of Evidence A. The Evidence Control officer and witness shall sign the chain of custody report showing the disposal of the evidence/property item(s) at the time of destruction. XIII. Evidence Disposition Verification Process A. Officers who are assigned to an investigation are responsible to track the evidence that is collected for that case. When evaluating the need to seize and store an item, officers should consider what is necessary to prove the elements of the crime under investigation and the identification of the suspect. B. Evidence items will be disposed of at periodic intervals, depending on the type of case. To facilitate this process, items of evidence will be listed on an Evidence Management System generated form. The listings will be forwarded to the officer having the authority to indicate dispositions. Upon receipt of this listing, officers will review their cases and determine if there is a need for continued retention. The Services Commander, or designee, must review all completed property disposition forms. C. Evidence that was seized from misdemeanor narcotics charges and drug paraphernalia charges that have a court disposition of VL (Dismissed with leave) can be destroyed by the evidence custodian after seven years from date of arrest. Pictures of the items will be taken and attached to the original report in RMS prior to destruction of the evidence. D. If there is a need to retain the evidence, the officer must be able to justify the added retention time during the yearly audit with the Services Commander, or his designee. If case officers do not know the court status of their cases, such information can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk of Superior Court. E. Officers have the responsibility of authorizing disposal of the evidence gathered by them. In arrest cases, officers are responsible for requesting court disposition of evidence items that are involved in their court proceedings. Property that is seized can only be released to the rightful owner by receipt of lawful court order or after the case officer authorizes the release of said property. F. Property originally seized as potential evidence in cases that do not reach judicial proceedings, such as cases closed “Leads Exhausted, Unfounded, Prosecution Declined”, etc., shall be disposed of if the following criteria is met. G. NCGS § 15A-268 regulates the retention periods required for biological evidence pertaining to certain felony conviction cases. Biological evidence, as defined by this statute, includes the contents of a sexual assault examination kit or any item that contains blood, semen, hair, saliva, skin tissue, or other identifiable biological material, whether that material is catalogued separately on a slide or swab, in a test tube, or some other similar method, or is present on clothing, ligatures, bedding, other household materials, drinking cups, cigarettes, or other evidence. For disposition purposes, the retention period for biological evidence pertaining to the following convictions shall be as follows: 1. For a conviction resulting in a sentence of death or life in prison, the retention period for stored biological evidence shall be 75 years. 2. For a conviction of a violent felony as defined in NCGS § 14-7.7(b), or an offense requiring sex offender registration, the retention period for stored biological evidence shall be duration of the sentence. H. Officers will list the date of the sentence expiration as the “future destroy date” on the Property Disposition Form(s), and provide the Services Commander with a copy of the AOC printout that displays the court disposition of the case. I. Storage space is critical and property should be disposed of as soon as possible. In cases which do not reach judicial authority, the officer will authorize disposition. I. Final disposition of found, recovered or evidentiary property will be accomplished within six months after all legal requirements have been met. J. If, after two years in misdemeanor cases and three years in felony cases (felony cases that do not meet the criteria for unsolved violent crimes), it becomes apparent that evidence being held is of no value and will not contribute to the investigation of the case, the evidence should be disposed of using the following criteria: 1. The evidence does not specifically identify a suspect, and/or it does not specifically prove an element of a crime. 2. No suspect has been developed and there is no likelihood that one will be developed. 3. No extenuating circumstances exist which would justify retaining the evidence. 4. The supervisor of the officer or detective concurs with the decision to dispose of the evidence.  5. Once it is determined that the property is of no value to the case, the property in question will be released to the rightful owner (with the exception of contraband) or disposed of in the appropriate manner. XIV. Destruction Verification A. The Services Commander and his designee, witness, must sign the chain of custody report in EMS before the destruction of any evidence. B. The proper documentation must be attached to the RMS report directly following the destruction of any evidence that is logged in EMS. (AOC form showing disposition, Court Order, etc.). C. The disposition forms are to be forwarded to the Clinton Police Department records section, if no CR# is attached, to be filed or sent to the Clerk’s Office to be filed with the AOC case# listed.