Ask Joe...Each month, IAPE's primary instructor and Executive Director, Joe Latta, answers one of your questions pertaining to your everyday property and evidence room questions.

To submit a question for Joe, Contact Us

I was recently asked in court about the chain of custody of a 98-inch large format TV and where it

was stored when it was submitted as it was on a weekend and the property room is closed. Being

under oath, I explained our temporary lockers aren’t large enough for this type of evidence, so the

officers routinely stack large items in front the of the Property Room door. After much argument in

court, the issue was resolved because there was a camera in the hallway and it showed the

item was not moved, cross contaminated or tampered with. My question. “What do departments

typically do with items such as this?”

Michael

Some departments will provide a type of cage or securable room(s) for the temporary storage of a

large item as shown below. These areas should be designed in a manner that once the gate or

doors are closed there can’t be any re-entry so as to protect the chain of custody. Never

commingle items from different cases.

The following set of photos illustrate how the temporary storage for large items have been

imbedded in an exterior wall from the officers parking lot. Items are submitted on the front side

and removed from the property room on the other side.

I hope this information from the IAPE Professional Standards will help you in the future

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Celebrating our 30th Anniversary with you by hosting 30 classes

Though chroming now has a broader definition, the name came from the act of sniffing chrome-

based paint as a means to get high, according to the National Retail Association.

An article from the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Research revealed that long-term abuse of

inhalants can lead to cognitive impairment, such as the inability to concentrate, memory loss, a

lower IQ and impaired judgment.

Australian teen Esra Haynes, 13, spent more than a week in the hospital before eventually dying

from chroming. Abusing inhalants can also lead to sudden death. “Sudden sniffing death

syndrome” can happen after just one single session of chroming, according to the National

Institute of Health.

Drug Free World reported that a US survey using data from 2002 to 2006 found that an average

of 593,000 teens aged 12 to 17 used inhalants for the first time in the year prior to participating in

the survey.Of those who died from sudden sniffing death syndrome, 22% were first-time users

and had no prior history of chroming.

According to American Addiction Centers, chroming is popular among Gen Z, and is also

prevalent in populations that cannot afford or do not have access to other drugs.

SEE ALSO

Experimentation rates for chroming among those aged 16 to 24 have soared post-pandemic.

Some celebrities have taken part in the trend as well.

“Jackass” star Stephen Gilchrist Glover — more commonly known as Steve-O — told the New

York Times in 2021 that he had been hooked on inhalants and was concerned about the influence

of social media.

“It’s definitely more, like, relevant now,” he said, revealing that he’d seen musicians and friends

experimenting with nitrous oxide on Instagram.

TMZ recently reported that actor Drake Bell, 36, was seen in his parked car outside his home in

Los Angeles, apparently inhaling from a fully inflated balloon. A canister that resembles a nitrous

oxide container could be seen in the car, the outlet alleged.

In 2021, the Times reported that young Americans were being exposed to these practices online.

On TikTok, users of inhalants post videos under the term “Whiptok” — referring to the term

“whippit” — with clips that have racked up more than 412.6 million views.

Over the last thirty years IAPE, has consistently been on the lookout for items being submitted to the

Have you stopped by the ShopIAPE store lately?