Policy Text
Policy Delano Police Department
804 Delano PD Policy Manual
Property and Evidence
804.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This_policy provides for the proper collection, storage, and security of evidence and other property.
Additionally, this policy provides for the protection of the chain of evidence and those persons
authorized to remove and/or destroy property.
804.2 DEFINITIONS
Property - Includes all items of evidence, items taken for safekeeping and found property.
Evidence - Includes items taken or recovered in the course of an investigation that may be used
in the prosecution of a case. This includes photographs and latent fingerprints.
Safekeeping - Includes the following types of property:
• Property obtained by the Department for safekeeping such as a firearm
• Personal property of an arrestee not taken as evidence
• Property taken for safekeeping under authority of a law (e.g., Welfare and Institutions
Code § 5150 (mentally ill persons))
Found property - Includes property found by an employee or citizen that has no apparent
evidentiary value and where the owner cannot be readily identified or contacted.
804.3 HANDLING SUSPECTED FENTANYL
Purpose and scope
The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines and procedures to patrol officers for the
safe handling of the drug Fentanyl.
Information
Fentanyl is the most potent opioid available by prescription in the U.S. it is now illicitly
made and according to the drug enforcement administration (DEA), it can be 80 times more
potent than morphine and hundreds of times more potent than heroin.
Fentanyl can cause respiratory depression sufficient to cause the user to stop breathing.
Fentanyl is readily absorbed through the skin, eyes, and mucosa. It is also an inhalation
risk. It is available in powder, tar, liquid, pill (counterfeit) and patch forms.
The greatest risk is from the secondary transfer. You touch the drug and then touch your
radio, pen, paperwork or uniform, unaware of the transfer. It can take as little as 2mg of
Fentanyl to provide a lethal dose.
Exceptional handling
Officers shall remove the substance from its original packaging.
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2019/12/06, All Rights Reserved. Property and Evidence - 1
Published with permission by Delano Police Department