Policy Text
TOM DaRé , CHIEF OF POLICE
Professional Standards Division NUMBER: 2019 -07
ISSUED: November 1 , 2019
Like many agencies in California, Garden Grove PD has seen an overwhelming increase
in homeless related calls for service and investigations involving homeless/transient
individuals. Dealing with the hom eless/transient subjects involves an added set of
challenges in that many of them often have a large amount of personal property that
needs to be accounted for, if they are taken into custody.
California Civil Code 2080.10 states, “When a public agency ob tains possession of
personal property from a person for temporary safekeeping, the public agency shall take
responsibility for the storage, documentation, and disposition of the property.”
Incidents involving the custody and booking of subjects into OCJ involve taking non -
perishable and non -contaminated items and booking them into P&E for safekeeping;
where the individual has 60 days to reacquire them before disposal. Perishable items,
such as food, and contaminated items, such as soiled linens and damp c lothes, should
be left at the scene if the crime is on private property or discarded upon arrival to the
jail facility.
In the event of a misdemeanor or citable offense from the jail facility, officers and the
department are still responsible for an indiv idual’s personal property up to the point
when they are released from police custody. Lockers and bike racks installed by GGPW
outside the jail facility are to be used to assure proper retur ning of belongings to the
arrestee upon their release.
It is high ly recommended that officers use their body worn cameras (BWCs) to
ask and verify if the arrestee has anything of value inside their property, prior
to securing or locking it inside the locker unit .
Each locker will have an attached/designated lock to tha t particular locker. Upon officer
arrival, the individual’s belongings are to be secured and locked inside the locker. The
officer will then take the key from that specific locker and place it with the suspect’s
property (ie.wallet and cell phone) that is brought into the jail. The officer shall notify
the jail staff about these belongings outside and give them the key. The jailer will later
use this key, upon arrestee release, to unlock the locker and assure all items inside are
removed and taken off depar tment property by the individual.
TRAINING BULLETIN
The same method will also be used in accordance with bicycles. Each bicycle slot will
have an attached/designated locking device on it. The locking device will also have a
marked key specific to that bicycle slot. Officer s are to lock the bicycle in place, take the
key, and give it to the jail staff while notifying them the arrestee has a bicycle outside.
The jailer will later use this key, upon arrestee release, to unlock the bicycle(s) and it
will be taken off department property by the individual.
Prepared by:
Master Officer Bryan Meers