Each month, IAPE's primary instructor and Executive Director, Joe Latta, answers one of your questions. Consider writing us if you have a question that needs an answer. We would love to hear from you.
|
|
|
|
Dear Joe,
I have a question regarding evidence room inventories done by peers or by part of my chain of command. During an inventory, is the person who is doing the inventory allowed to unseal evidence in order to verify what is inside and then reseal it? Is this acceptable?
Any information or guidance on this would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
CM
Dear CM,
Very good question and the first time it has been asked! The IAPE Professional Standard (15.1 Inventory Standards), addresses having a policy on opening packages during an inventory, but doesn't go any further. As a result of your inquiry, I'm going to suggest to the IAPE Board that the standard be expanded with some of the following thoughts.
First of all, any time there is a need for a package to be opened / unsealed and examined during and audit / inspection, by non property room personnel, the auditor or inspector for their own protection, should have a second party witness the opening and verification of the contents. When the package has been validated, I would suggest, the package be re-sealed and include both the initials and serial numbers of the parties involved. Lastly, I would make sure the actions are documented and dated in the property record.
As a side note, when I'm personally doing an audit and need to inspect the contents, I will always have the Evidence Technician, with the approval of their Supervisor, open in my presence!
IAPE STANDARDS SECTION 15 - INTERNAL CONTROLS
Standard 15.1: Inventories
In the event that a sealed package contains numerous items under one case number, compare the tracking number (case or control number) with the property record in the file. It may not be possible to reconcile each item without opening the package for inspection.
The decision to open sealed packages should be determined by management. If it is determined that a package must be opened for inventory purposes, it is recommended that the agency have a written procedure which provides step-by-step guidance to be followed as well as the documentation of the actions.
This is important in the event of a challenge regarding the chain-of-custody during a trial or hearing.
Regards,
Joe
|
HEADLINES
Clovis Police detective charged with embezzling
CLOVIS, N.M. - A Clovis police detective has been charged with embezzling $166 from a man he arrested in June. Francisco Hernandez, 33, faces misdemeanor charges of embezzlement and tampering with evidence, court records show.
According to a criminal complaint filed Friday in magistrate court:
-
Hernandez took $166 in cash from a criminal suspect after the money should have been logged into evidence.
-
In December, Police Capt. Roman Romero found $144
in crumpled cash while searching Hernandez's desk in his office;
Romero was looking for drug paraphernalia that had gone missing in an unrelated case.
-
Hernandez told Romero the money was his that he'd been saving from Christmas. But investigators matched the serial number on a $100 bill found in Hernandez's desk with a $100 bill that had been taken from the man arrested June 29.
-
The investigation began on Dec. 3 after an evidence custodian noted a glass pipe was missing from evidence connected to a suspected drug arrest. The custodian notified Romero about that case as well as another involving Hernandez - one in which a woman complained police had not returned between $100 and $200 she said had been taken from a man after he was arrested in June.
-
No cash was entered into evidence related to the June 29 arrest, but investigators saw $166 in cash on a table while reviewing video from that arrest. The serial number on the $100 bill, in that case, was matched to the $100 bill Romero said he found in Hernandez's desk.
-
No charges have been filed in connection with the missing pipe.
Margate cop fired after cocaine went missing
January 11, 2020
A Margate police officer has been fired after falling under suspicion of taking a man's cocaine and later testing positive for drugs, according to newly released police records. An anonymous police employee tipped off the police department about how Officer Christopher Kanan, 31, and a second officer
didn't turn in apparent drug evidence to the agency
, according to police records released Thursday.
The two officers had shown up to Northwest Medical Center on July 1 when a nurse found a baggie of drugs in the wallet of an emergency room patient. Kanan was the lead officer, according to the investigation
nothing had been turned into the agency's property evidence room.
And when they interviewed the nurse who had called for help, she said she saw Kanan take "possession of the baggie," which she believed to be drugs. The hospital patient also told police he saw Kanan holding his "bag of cocaine," according to the report.
On July 8, Police Chief Jonathan Shaw ordered "a full panel drug test" and the next day, a captain escorted both Kanan and his backup officer to a Fort Lauderdale lab, where they were ordered to submit hair samples for testing, according to an internal affairs report.
The backup officer's hair did not test for any drugs, and he was found to not be at fault.
Kannan's test came back positive for amphetamines and methamphetamines, according to the internal report, at an "amount needed to confirm multiple ingestions." Investigators then pulled hospital security video and saw him leaving the hospital "wearing black latex/rubber gloves on both hands and he appeared to have an object cupped in his right hand."Because of the Margate hospital case, Kanan was put on leave with pay on July 16 because "evidence exists" he took the cocaine.
Then he was
arrested in Lantana
in September after an undercover drug-bust. Lantana police used an informant to nab Kanan on charges of trying to buy an ounce of methamphetamine for $500 and a liter of GHB, a depressant, for $300, according to an arrest report.
Commentary on temporary .....
I'm guessing they didn't read the most recent issue of the Evidence Log which was sent to IAPE Members
on January 23, 2020. We featured an exhaustive article about booking in your evidence by the end of shift. Most all recognized standards suggest the same. However these two department may not have gotten the message. Just days after our major news story!!
|
Become a
Certified Evidence Specialis
t
Along with the IAPE's extensive
evidence training courses, the IAPE offers our members the opportunity to become Certified Property and Evidence Specialists.
Certification is available to our law enforcement agency members as well as our corporate members. The designation of CPES or CCPES indicates that the holder is a professional who has completed requirements in training; has worked in the field for a required period of time; and has demonstrated their knowledge of professional standards through a written test. More than 2,000 IAPE members have achieved the CPES or CCPES designation.
|
|
Be sure to ender code
$5 OFF
at checkout
to save $5 off of
$25 minimum order
Offer good till 02/10/20
|
|
|
|
Be sure to check out
Be sure to ender code
$5 OFF
at checkout to save $5 off of
$25 minimum order
Offer good till 02/10/20
|
2020 CLASSES
February 24 - 25, 2020
March 10 - 11, 2020
Supervisor Class
March 19, 2020
March 24 - 25, 2
020
March 31 - April 1, 2020
April 29 - 30, 2020
May 6 - 7, 2020
May 20 - 21, 2020
June 9 - 10, 2020
June 25 - 16, 2020
June 24 - 25, 2020
July 15 - 16, 2020
July 20 - 21, 2020
Supervisor Class
July 22, 2020
August 5 - 6, 2020
August 10 - 11, 2020
August 19 - 20, 2020
September 1 - 2, 2020
September 21 - 22, 2020
Supervisor Class
September 23, 2020
October 6 - 7, 2020
October 13 - 14, 2020
November 9 - 10, 2020
December 7 - 8, 2020
Classes Being Planned
in 2020
Minneapolis, MN
|
|
|
 |
Can't Travel?
IAPE also offers
ONLINE TRAINING
Save money on lodging, meals and travel!
To learn more about the IAPE's ONLINE TRAINING
or to register please visit:
Call for details on
sponsoring a class!
|
IAPE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Need training but tight budgets and
limited funding holding you back?
|
Got a Job?
Need a Job?
IAPE is delighted to announce that we have a new section for posting a job announcement or checking job opportunities.
|
|
 |
|
