Policy Text
DEFINITIONS:
ABANDONED PROPERTY - All tangible personal property that does not have an
identifiable owner and has been disposed of on public property; property in a wrecked,
inoperative or partially dismantled condition or has no apparent intrinsic value to the
rightful owner including derelict vessels.
DEPARTMENT PROPERTY - Department owned or leased property, equipment or
supplies procured through the Department’s fiscal management procedures.
2/16/22; 11/29/23
EVIDENCE - Instruments of a crime, fruits of a crime, weapons, contraband and forensic
materials. Physical evidence may be classified as any weapon, object, or item recovered
by an employee from the scene of a crime, the possession of a defendant or from other
sources or locations. In addition, any physical item obtained from the scene of the crime,
or the possession of a defendant, which, when subjected to a technical examination or
comparison, may aid in establishing the identity of the perpetrator of a crime, a vehicle, a
weapon or tool used or associated with a criminal act.
FOUND PROPERTY - Found property may be classified as any property or item(s)
whose ownership is either known or unknown, recovered as a result of Department
action, or found on the street or other location within the city by an officer or citizen and
delivered into Department custody for safe-keeping or any recovered stolen property
when the owner or complainant is either known or unknown. PEU will make an effort to
identify and notify the owner or custodian of property in the Department’s custody.
[84.1.1f]
INVENTORIED PROPERTY - Inventoried property may be classified as any property or
item(s) whose ownership is known or unknown, may or may not be evidence related to
any criminal activity and is property being held for evidentiary purposes or for the purpose
of safeguarding a person's property. PEU will make an effort to identify and notify the
owner or custodian of property in the Department’s custody.
[84.1.1f]
LOST PROPERTY - All tangible personal property which does not have an identifiable
owner and which has been mislaid on public property, upon a public conveyance, on
premises used at the time for business purposes, or in parks, places of amusement,
public recreation areas, or other places open to the public in a substantially operable,
functioning condition or which has an apparent intrinsic value to the rightful owner.
PUBLIC PROPERTY - Lands and improvements owned by the Federal Government, the
state, the county, or a municipality and includes sovereignty submerged lands located
adjacent to the county or municipality, buildings, grounds, parks, playgrounds, streets,
sidewalks, parkways, rights-of-way and other similar property.
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY/EVIDENCE - Any tangible personal property, including cash,
which was seized by a law enforcement agency, was intended for use in a criminal or
quasi-criminal proceeding, and is retained by the law enforcement agency or the Clerk of
the Court for 60 days after the final disposition of the proceeding and to which no claim of
ownership has been made.
PROCEDURE: