Policy Text
Procedure
802Garden Grove Police Department
Procedures Manual
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2022/12/12, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentProperty and Evidence Procedures - 1Property and Evidence Procedures
802.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
These procedures will service to establish guidelines for handling acquired property and evidence,
handling seized narcotics or dangerous drugs, and the proper handling and disposal of flammable
materials gathered as evidence. These procedures will also provide guidelines for booking bulk/
large items, handling perishable items of evidence, releasing property and evidence, handling
evidence that requires drying, money verification and deposits, and the processing of stolen
vehicles.
802.2 ACQUIRED PROPERTY/EVIDENCE
All evidence or property of any kind collected by department personnel must be entered in the
property control system in the following manner:
All property is entered into the computerized evidence tracking system. The information required
is the following:
(a)The case number
(b)Item number is automatically given by computer system.
(c)Type of property: evidence, found or safekeeping
(d)A brief description
(e)Any listed serial number or owner applied identification number.6. Department
employee's name and employee number
(f)Date and time evidence, found, or safekeeping property received into custody.
(g)The item owner should be attached to the evidence table whenever applicable.
(h)All cash and narcotics should be properly counted or weighed, when possible, to reflect
an accurate account of each item.
All evidence/property, EXCEPT FOR NARCOTICS will then be packaged in an envelope, paper
bag or cardboard box and placed in a secured, temporary storage locker located in the Property
and Evidence lobby area. In the case of large items such as bicycles, auto parts, etc., the items
shall be placed in the temporary secured bulk storage lockers.
802.3 CHAIN OF CUSTODY
The chain of custody is the written record of all individuals who have maintained unbroken control/
custody of evidence/property. The chain of custody begins when an item of evidence/property
is collected and is maintained until the final disposition is made. The chain of custody assures
continual accountability. Each individual in the chain of custody is responsible for the evidence/
property during the time it was under his control.
Garden Grove Police Department
Procedures Manual
Property and Evidence Procedures
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2022/12/12, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentProperty and Evidence Procedures - 2802.4 PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING NARCOTICS/DANGEROUS DRUGS
All narcotics shall be placed in a Narcotics/Dangerous Drugs Envelope. The narcotic envelope
shall be completed in full, listing the following information:
(a)The case number
(b)What, if any of the items, requiring analysis
(c)Whether the narcotics are evidence or found
(d)The item number with a description of the narcotic including count and weight
(e)Whether a presumptive test was conducted or not
(f)The department employee's name and badge number
The narcotics, with a computer-printed label attached to each item, shall then be placed in the
envelope, sealed, and put in the secured, temporary narcotics storage locker. If the narcotics
are too large for the envelope, they are to be placed in a paper bag or cardboard box with a
completed narcotics envelope attached to the outside of the packaging. It is then placed in a
secured, temporary narcotics storage locker in the annex. The key to the locker is than placed
into the envelope and the envelope is put into the narcotics storage locker.
802.5 PROCESSING BY PROPERTY AND EVIDENCE PERSONNEL
The responsibility of processing narcotics and dangerous drugs is the sole responsibility of the
Property and Evidence Community Service Officer(s). In his/her absence, the Support Services
Lieutenant assigns the responsibility.
The Property and Evidence Community Service Officer(s) and Support Services Lieutenant are
the only department personnel with keys to temporary narcotic storage lockers and the narcotic
storage area.
On a daily basis, the Property and Evidence Community Service Officer(s) will remove the seized
narcotics from the temporary storage lockers and transfer them to the narcotic storage area for
processing. The procedure that shall be adhered to is as follows:
(a)The narcotic envelope will be used by Property and Evidence for accountability.
(b)The Property and Evidence Community Service Officer(s) will log the date, time, and
from which temporary storage locker the narcotic was received in the evidence table.
(c)The narcotics envelope should be inspected to ensure the envelope is properly filled
out, initialed and dated.
(d)The envelope and narcotics shall be placed in a narcotic storage bin, maintained within
the secured narcotic storage area.
802.6 MARKING AND PROCESSING
To assure successful processing, when practical, evidence taken into custody must be marked
and wrapped to protect the evidence value.
Garden Grove Police Department
Procedures Manual
Property and Evidence Procedures
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2022/12/12, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentProperty and Evidence Procedures - 3Each item shall have a computer printed label, generated from the computerized evidence tracking
system, attached with all required information.
Property or evidence too large to be placed in the lockers in the Property and Evidence lobby must
be placed in the Property and Evidence annex or bulk storage lockers. If Property and Evidence
personnel are available, property or evidence may be submitted to Property and Evidence
personnel.If special handling or identification processing is desired, the officer must note this
desire in the note section