Evidence is considered property that can be used in court
to prove or support the charge of a criminal act. It
is collected by the department and stored in the agency’s
evidence room. All evidence
is strictly safeguarded and a chain of custody thoroughly documented
until it is returned to the owner or disposed of. If the Garden
City Police Department has an item of yours that was collected
as evidence, and you have a need for its return, here is some
information you should know:
- Evidence can be released
prior to adjudication only with authorization from the investigating
officer.
- Property, other than contraband and some firearms,
can be released to an owner once it is no longer needed
for investigative or court purposes.
- Owners must provide
identification prior to the release of property.
- A court
disposition order or officer authorization is needed for
the release of evidentiary property.
- Contraband will be not be returned.
Similar to evidence, property is collected and held by the
agency. However, instead of being used in court proceedings,
property is held for safekeeping purposes. Other than
contraband or evidence, items either found
by an employee, or turned over to an employee by a citizen,
fall into this category. The owner of the property may or may
not be known.
- Unclaimed or abandoned property can be turned over to any
officer, and is stored by the Evidence Unit.*
- Property with
a monetary value, or items that appear to be stolen property,
will be recovered and an aggressive effort made to identify
the origin of the property.
- Abandoned property that has no evidentiary,
monetary, or serviceable value will not be collected by
the Department. Unless they pose a specific safety hazard,
examples of these items would include newspaper boxes, appliances,
broken televisions, real estate signs, traffic barrels, traffic
cones, etc.
The Garden City Police Department makes
a substantial effort to determine the owner of abandoned property.
If the legal owner is known, or identified, he will contacted
to come pick up the property. If property needs to be shipped
or mailed to the owner, the department will assist in getting
this accomplished. To pick up property please bring with you:
- A photo ID to verify identity.
- Proof of ownership such as a proof
of purchase, photographs, videos, etc. A thorough description
of the property may also used to determine ownership.
Found property will be processed through the superior court
after 90 days if an owner cannot be located, or if the located
owner fails to respond to written notification.
*Finders of property have no rights of claim to found property
if the owner cannot be located.
