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HomeMy WebLinkAbout61-09 RESOLUTIONRESOLUTION NO. 61-09 A RESOLUTION AMENDING POLICY NO. 84.1.1 "PROPERTY MANAGEMENT; ACQUIRED AND IN -CUSTODY PROPERTY" TO THE FAYETTEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S POLICIES, PROCEDURES & RULES MANUAL. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas, hereby amends Policy No. 84. 1.1 "Property Management; Acquired and In -Custody Property" to the Fayetteville Police Department's Policies, Procedures & Rules Manual. A copy of the Policy, marked Exhibit "A," is attached hereto and made a part hereof. PASSED and APPROVED this 17a' day of March, 2009. APPROVED: ATTEST: By: E. SMITH, City .a ;FAYETTEVILLE; FAYETTEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND RULES Effective Date Number March 17, 2009 1 84.1.1 Subject PROPERTY MANAGEMENT; ACQUIRED AND IN -CUSTODY PROPERTY Reference Distribution All Personnel I. PURPOSE Special Instructions Calea 84 Reevaluation Date 1 -Year No.Pages -7- The purpose of this directive is to establish a property management system for property acquired by and in -custody of the Fayetteville Police Department. II. POLICY The Fayetteville Police Department will establish and maintain a property management system that will ensure continuity and consistency in the control and accountability of all evidence, lost and found property, seized, as well as, all items retained for safekeeping or investigations in its custody. This policy sets forth strict measures for the handling, security, and disposition of all such property in department custody. A. CONTROL OF PROPERTY 1. Control The department property management system shall maintain exclusive control and accountability of all found, recovered, seized, items kept for safekeeping and evidentiary property. a. In no event will officers store evidence in their personal lockers or desk. b. All officers coming in possession of found, recovered, seized, items for safekeeping or evidentiary property shall record such property by way of an incident report, evidence submission or receipt form [Calea 84.1.1 a,c]. In addition, all officers shall (84.1.1) Page 1 deliver the property to the Property Evidence Manager as defined within this policy before going off duty [Galea 84.1,1 b]. C. The department recognizes exceptional circumstances may be present during which property might not be submitted to the Property Evidence Manager before the officer goes off duty. In such circumstances, the officer should notify his supervisor who will assist the officer in taking efforts to make sure another officer maintains the property in question, or in a secure location, until such time it can be presented to the Property Evidence Manager [Calea 84.1.1 b]. 2. Submission of Evidence Fayetteville Police Department personnel, regarding all evidence, lost and found property, seized and items retained for safekeeping or investigations will [Calea 84.1.1 d]: • Properly package each item • Items with blood and/or other bodily fluid should be air dried in the Criminal Investigations Division Laboratory or drying cabinet to prevent cross contamination before being properly packaged. • Items of similar qualities may be packaged together, i.e., cassette tapes, money. • Properly label/identify each item on a Fayetteville Police Department Property and Evidence Submission Form. • If submission occurs at a time when the Property Evidence Manager is not present the supervisor will provide the officer with an evidence token and the evidence is to be placed in a vacant evidence locker [Calea 84.1.3]. 3. Accountabilit The utilization of property logs, property and evidence submission forms, inventories and other documents, shall ensure all records provide an up-to-date and correct accountability of found, recovered, items held for investigation, safekeeping and evidentiary property. The following information should be either placed on a Fayetteville Police Department Property and Evidence form or recorded in the system by way of a receipt form or incident report for each item of evidence [Galea 84.1.5]: a. Location of property within the department, b. Date and time property was received and subsequently released, C. Description, type and amount of property on hand, d. Chain of custody from time property was received until final disposition should be maintained by an evidence submission form, receipt form or incident report. There may be circumstances in which an item of property is not turned over to the Property Evidence Manager, for example: (84.1.1) Page 2 C • Items returned immediately at the scene of collection, • Items sent to the State Crime Lab before it was entered as evidence (property evidence submission form required), • Items going to the Detective Division and returned to owner. e. The date and results of all inspections, inventories, and audits of record. 4. Property Evidence Manager for Found, Recovered and Evidentiary Property Evidence Manager will have the right to refuse The Property any item Evidence Manager shall be designated as property custodian and held accountable for all property accepted by and stored in the department's property storage areas. corrections. 5. Receipt of Package Deliveries Property and Evidence Division personnel are responsible for receiving all deliveries from the Arkansas Crime Lab. An entry should be made in the evidence tracking system indicating the receipt of the number of unopened packages. 6. Riaht of Refusal The Property Evidence Manager will have the right to refuse acceptance of any item submitted improperly. The Property Evidence Manager will notify the appropriate supervisor and make arrangements for the submitting officer to make necessary corrections. B. APPOINTMENT OF NEW PROPERTY EVIDENCE MANAGER In the event a new Property Evidence Manager is appointed, a joint inventory with the outgoing property manager shall be held to ensure proper documentation and accountability [Calea 84.1.6 b]. 1. The purpose of such an inventory shall be to guarantee the continuity of custody and ensure the system's integrity and property accountability. 2. The incoming Property Evidence Manager shall ensure all records are up-to-date and properly annotated. 3. All discrepancies shall be documented prior to the transfer of property accountability to the incoming Property Evidence Manager. C. INSPECTION AND INVENTORY The Chief of Police shall require the Property Evidence Manager to conduct a semi-annual inspection of recovered and evidentiary (84.1.1) Page 3 property to ensure adherence to procedure [Calea 84.1.6 a]. This inspection shall verify the following: 1. Department orders and directives concerning property management are being followed, 2. Property is stored in such a manner as to protect it from damage and deterioration, 3. Proper accountability procedures are being maintained, and, 4. Property having no further evidentiary value is being disposed of promptly. The Chief of Police shall require an annual inventory of property and evidence held by the police department. This inventory will be conducted by the Chief of Police, or a designee not routinely or directly connected with control of the evidence division [Calea 84.1.6 c] Unannounced inspections of the property storage areas should be held when the Chief of Police so directs at least once a year (Calea 84.1.6 d]. 1. The Chief of Police shall appoint an individual and a time period to conduct spot inspections. 2. Property accountability and security procedures shall receive primary attention during spot inspections. 3. The majority of the spot inspection shall consist of a random comparison of records with actual property items. D. DISPOSITION OF FOUND, RECOVERED, SEIZED AND EVIDENTIARY PROPERTY [Calea 84.1.1 g] 1. All attempts shall be made to return found and recovered stolen property to its rightful owners (Calea 84.1.1 f]. 2. Evidentiary property may be returned to the owner prior to the court case with written permission from the prosecutor, lead investigator, or judge. 3. Recovered or evidentiary property returned should be photographed when possible. This photograph should include the person receiving the item, or the item with a valid driver's license of the person receiving the item. 4. Final disposition of all found, recovered, seized and evidentiary property shall be accomplished within six months after legal requirements have been satisfied [Calea 84.1.8]. If the property in question is not returned to the owner, the Property Evidence Manager will obtain a court order to have property (84.1.1) Page 4 converted to departmental use, sold at auction or destroyed [Calea 84.1.7]. E. TRAINING AIDS [Calea 84.1.4] Narcotic detection training for police canines is vital to ensure the success of the canine program. The following procedures will be adhered to in order to ensure strict and correct accountability of narcotic training aids. 1. Each canine handler will check out narcotic training aids from the Property and Evidence Division as needed. The Property and Evidence Manager will maintain records of these transactions as detailed below: a. Training aids shall be packaged and prepared by the Property and Evidence Manager in the following manner: • The substance will be weighed and contained in a double heat -sealed plastic package. • The package will further contain a clearly visible label identifying the substance, its weight, the date and time of packaging and the signature of the Evidence Manager and witness. • The label will further have a specific training aid number unique to each training aid package. b. The Property and Evidence Manager will issue seized narcotics that have been adjudicated by the court for use in canine training. • The narcotic training aids should be removed from use in training at least every year and replaced with recently adjudicated narcotic items if possible. 2. A logbook will be created by the Property and Evidence Manager and will be utilized to maintain a record of the training aid packages. a. It shall be the Canine handler's responsibility to show the Property and Evidence Manager, or his designee, the narcotic training aid packages every 30 days. Each package will be detailed in the logbook indicating the substance, training aid number and handler to whom the item is checked out. b. Each package logged out to the canine handler will be checked against the logbook entry and for any apparent tampering or damage. C. The Property and Evidence Manager, or his designee, will sign and note the date and time of the inspection for each entry in the logbook. d. The Property and Evidence Manager will fully inspect the training aid packages to ensure their integrity. If any questions arise in reference to this inspection, the training aids will be logged into evidence and the canine supervisor will be notified. (84.1.1) Page 5