Dear Chief,
Chief, thanks for the inquiry,
IAPE has been teaching property and evidence classes for the last 30 years to over 28,000 professionals. In my opinion unless the assignment is in a property room from a very small department that requires a few hours a week, I would never use officers in the property room for a number of reasons.
Cost Factor: In most agencies you may be able to double your staffing numbers or hours in the property room with the same budget dollar when replaced with a civilian employee. Generally, the property room never has sufficient time to stay current with purging – they need more time or more staff.
Civilian Supervisors/Managers: Some of the best property rooms in the US and Canada are fully staffed with civilian, supervisors and manager.
Sworn or Certified Status: You don’t have to have police officer powers to work in a property room.
Training: - Sworn officers are typically trained in law enforcement tasks, not operating a warehouse or accounting procedures, thus by the time they learn all of the nuisance of the operation, they are transferred to another assignment, promoted or retire.
Job Interest: The vast majority of sworn / certified officers / deputies are assigned to property room not because they are interested in working in property, it’s frequently just an assignment.
Rotation of Assignments: All too often sworn / certified officers are rotated in and out of the assigned due to promotions and changes in job assignment, which creates a scenario where there is no ownership in making the property room work efficiently.
Professionalization: All efforts within the organization, should be, to professionalize the evidence function by making the job a vocation, not just a work assignment.
As a note, here in California, we have over 500 police and sheriff’s departments. I would guess that 90% are civilian operations. The remainders are very small departments where the property room is an ancillary duty. It is suggested that over 50% of the agency across North America (United States and Canada) have a civilian component with the property room.
We have found that the trend is to civilianize the operation and adopt a job position within of property officer, evidence custodian, evidence specialist, etc., along with avoiding the routine rotating of personnel in and out of the unit.
So… If I was a new police chief … I would civilianize the operation as a top priority.
Not a lot has been written - See our standards and California POST Standards below for a reference.
Regards,
Joe Latta - Executive Director
IAPE - Standard 1.1: Staffing - Job Classification
Standard: Property unit personnel should have a job classification title that matches the duties and responsibilities performed by that person. This may be a sworn or civilian position.
Definition: Job classification refers to the name or title of the position that performs the property officer’s duties.
Reasoning: Peace officer powers are generally not required to perform the property officer duties of receiving, storing, and disposing of property and evidence. The same applies to supervisors or managers of the property and evidence room. Using civilians generally lowers the cost to perform the duties; however, using a sworn position may permit retaining sworn personnel with permanent disabilities that don’t impact their ability to perform the property officer’s duties.
CALIFORNIA POST - Standard 1.1: Staffing - Job Classification
PROPERTY/EVIDENCE CONTROLLER
The property/evidence controller (also referred to as: property officer, property clerk, property technician, evidence technician, property property clerk, property technician, evidence technician, property supervisor/manager, etc.) is responsible for maintaining security and control in the property/evidence facility. This includes reception, storage, safekeeping, court exhibits, discovery, prosecution/defense evidence viewing, release, and disposal of property and evidence.supervisor/manager, etc.) is responsible for maintaining security and control in the property/evidence facility. This includes reception, storage, safekeeping, court exhibits, discovery, prosecution/defense evidence viewing, release, and disposal of property and evidence.
The property/evidence controller should pass an extensive background investigation before employment, possess some background or experience in warehousing, and have good interpersonal skills necessary for frequent contact with the public. The property/evidence controller should have excellent organizational skills and be able to prioritize work assignments, have a valid driver’s license, be able to operate a computer and various software applications, have good oral and writing skills, and be able to maintain a good working relationship with a variety of individuals and organizations. The property/evidence controller should be able to understand the Penal Code, Government Code, Civil Code, Health & Safety Code and any other codes that apply to evidence and the property function, and should stay abreast of the current laws and regulations in this field.
Over the years in California, the property/evidence room staff has progressed from sworn officers to civilian professionals. Some agencies have created career positions, while others assign Community Service Officers to perform property and evidence duties. Many property/ evidence sections in the Midwest and on the East Coast use primarily sworn positions; however, these agencies are slowly shifting to Civilian professionals. This change allows departments to place the sworn employees into the field, and more importantly, civilian employees assigned to property/evidence are not rotated in and out of that section every couple of years. It is recommended, whenever possible, to limit the rotation of personnel through the property room. Some of the reasons for this recommendation are: security concerns, consistency, training/knowledge, and constant changes in the law.
The property/evidence controller must ensure the integrity of property and evidence by maintaining an accurate chain of custody; securing property and evidence from theft, loss, or contamination; and being able to determine the location of all items in a timely manner.
