Question of the Month???  

Ask Joe  

Q Dear Joe,    

I recently attended a class in Las Vegas and during the module about Found Property you asked the class, "How many of you have a written policy that defines who is responsible for researching and finding the owner?" I was amazed when only one person out of 60 raised their hand.   When I returned, I reviewed our policies and there is no guidance on the WHO question.  I guess my question to you is, WHO is responsible for researching the case and getting the property back to the owner?

A Dear Found No Policy,

During the last year, I have been asking that question in all of the classes, only to find that one or two in a class have a written policy. In most circumstance,the submitting officer thinks property personnel are doing the research. Property thinks investigations are doing the research.   In many cases, investigations may not see the report or believe the submitting employee or property room is handling it.  So... What happens??? We are finding that no one is following up in many, many departments...

Everybody... I want my stuff back!! To answer your question, I don't care who is responsible. What I do care about is that our policies define what the officer is supposed to do, what property people are responsible for and if investigation is involved in the process.  

The most common practice is that when the officer, deputy or trooper takes possession, he or she should attempt to return to the owner if owner information is available and the owner is local. If a release is made, it needs to be documented to protect the officer against any later allegations of misconduct. If the owner is contacted and the property is not returned due to distance or time of day, the officer, deputy or trooper needs to book the found property in on a separate Property Record (for tracking purposes). Write a short Found Property Report with a case number describing the circumstances of the find, description of property and any notifications that were made to the owner.  When the reports are processed in the Record Bureau a copy of the incident report and Property Record is forwarded to the property room, where the research is conducted in property. In those cases where the Found Properly appears to be recovered from a crime or a firearm the case should be directed to someone in investigations.

The most disturbing part of the inquiry at our class is that the majority of students all agree that no one is following up!. If I lost my phone, Ipad, etc., I want it back!  With a little investigation in many cases, that information  is retrievable and we can unite the "stuff" with the owner.

Joe 

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