All evidence gathered as a result of all investigations will be entered into the Evidence Manager or Tow Manager programs and property documented in a police report.
Unit head duties regarding properties held for her/his unit are set forth under previous section entitled “responsibilities.” The Evidence Manager and RMS programs will keep a running inventory of all properties being held for investigative units and investigators. This list will enable unit heads and investigators to effect authorization for final dispositions of items on a “timely” basis. Laws, policy, and guidelines for such disposition have been set down according to the Ramsey County Evidence Retention Protocol
Final Disposition of Property – Procedures:
Ramsey County Evidence Retention Policy (RCERP), court orders, written order from the city attorney or prosecuting attorney and in accord with the statutes and ordinances of the State of Minnesota and City of Saint Paul and department policy.
Programming has been provided in RMS and the Evidence Manager program to allow for investigators to indicate the type of disposition to be made, (i.e., destroy, sell/auction, T.O.T. owner, T.O.T. trust account, T.O.T. Cancer Home, T.O.T. police department/fire department for conversion to department use, etc.) The type of disposition to be made will be indicated by the unit head and/or delegate in the “to be” column under final disposition. However, no property of any sort recovered by this department may be removed from the property room for department use without written approval from the chief or an assistant chief.
Should the commander/delegate indicate “T.O.T. owner” (or estate representative, etc.), that commander/delegate will be responsible for making reasonable effort to determine the owner and to notify that owner of their right to reclaim their property. At a minimum, notification to an owner should be made via the mail to the last known address for the person. Whatever method used to notify the owner, the investigator shall document said notification in a supplementary report and in RMS. This is provided for property that is no longer of evidentiary value.
The property clerk will, upon receipt of this dispositional notice through the Evidence Manager, effect only the type and number of dispositions authorized. Should there still be items for which disposition has not been authorized, a final disposition date shall be set by the commander/delegate in the Evidence Manager.
Court orders or written direction from the prosecuting attorney’s office regarding property dispositions are to be scanned and entered into the Evidence Manager record associated with the specific time of property. These court orders and supporting documentation will be forwarded to the records unit for scanning and storage
Revised June 7, 2016