Policy Text
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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9.2 Collection and Preservation of Evidence
9.2.2 Evidence Processing and Submitting Procedures (Revised: 8/5/23 )
All evidence and property coming into the custody of Department personnel during the course of
their duties shall be secured in the designated storage area prior to the end of duty. The
temporary storage of any item of evidence in desks, lockers or other D epartmental facilities not
specifically authorized for that purpose, is prohibited, except in special circumstances. With the
permission of the Watch Commander, evidence can be stored in temporary storage for a
reasonable period until the officer can bring the evidence into the designated storage area. The
officer shall contact an Evidence and Records Technician as soon as possible to make
arrangements for the transfer of the temporary stored item.
Officers are required to document, in the police investigation report , how physical evidence or
property came into their possession (e.g. , collected at the scene by the officer, given to the officer
by a witness or v ictim, received in the mail ).
The collection and transfer of all physical evidence or property from the field to an appropriate
evidentiary repository shall be documented. The d ocumentation will include a de scription of the
evidence item, collection location, who collected the evidence and where it was stored.
A. General
1. Physical evidenc e and other property collected by officers shall be packaged and
marked immediately. Every effort will be made to mark evidence in a location
and manner that will not mutilate or destroy the value of the item. Information
describing the importance of the e vidence and why it was collected will be
documented in the police investigation report .
2. If evidence is too large or unwieldy to package in a container, a property tag will
be securely attached to the item and the label on the tag properly filled out.
Oversized item(s) shall be placed in the Property Intake Room cage and secured
by padlock.
3. Items removed from within a larger container will be labeled with the container’s
item number and a detailed list of contents located within.
4. Whenever submitted evidence requires additional or specific processing, the
officer will make an appropriate notation on the Evidence label and attach the
completed additional forms to the evidence.
5. All evidence seized will be submitted to the Property Room by the end of the
officer’s shift and will include the UCSF Police Department Property Label. All
evide nce to be submitted to the SFPD Crime Laboratory shall include the
Analyzed Evidence Request form or any other required SFPD Crime Laboratory
documents, in addition to the UCSF Police Department Property label. Latent
prints that are to be submitted to SFP D Crime Laboratory for comparison/analysis
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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shall include the SFPD Crime Scene Investigations Latent Fingerprint Request
form.
6. A UCSF Police Department incident report and Property Record Label shall
accompany all properties submitted and will contain t he following information:
a. Date the property is submitted by the officer
b. Location property was recovered
c. Agency and case number
d. Number of items and officer’s name
e. Owner/victim/finder/suspect’s name, address and telephone number
f. Type of pro perty (evidence, found, or safekeeping) and whether property
is to be destroyed
g. Description of evidence, including make, model and serial number if
applicable
h. Recovering officer’s signature and badge number
i. When a receipt for seized or surrendered evidence is issued, the signature
of the person who the evidence was taken from should be obtained.
7. All property placed in the evidence locker shall be logged in the RMS property
module.
8. Officers or d etectives forward ing evidence to either the SFPD Crime Laboratory
or California DOJ Crime Laboratory for processing will check out the evidence
item from the UCSF Evidence Property Room, complete the appropriate evidence
tracking documentation and transport the item to the appropriate laboratory in
person. The officers or d etectives are required to have the receiving laboratory
technician sign the appropriate documentation to maintain a record of the chain of
evidence. The chain of evidence documentation will be attached to the official
record.
B. Seizu re/Collection of Blood/Body Fluids from Persons
1. In any arrest or investigation where it is necessary to obtain a sample of blood or
other body fluid from a person, the sample will be collected by SFGH as
authorized by California statutes and following p rocedures established by
California POST.
a. All officers must obtain approval from the Watch Commander prior to
obtaining a forced blood sample from a DUI or felony suspect.
2. All samples submitted as evidence, with the exception of rape kits and DUI blo od
work, will be placed in the designated Property Intake Room refrigerator. The
Evidence and Records Technician receiving the evidence will place it in the
Evidence Room refrigerator. Storage temperature should be maintained between
30 and 38 degrees Fahr enheit.
a. Drivers suspected of DUI who consent to a blood test shall be tested for
one of the following:
(1) DUI ‒ Alcohol
(2) DUI ‒ Drugs.
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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b. Tests for DUI ‒ Drugs will not be ordered unless the officer requesting the
test has listed the specific suspected drug(s) for which the blood will be
tested. Officers shall write the names of the suspected drugs on the
evidence envelope. Samples without