As the property and evidence officer for our department, I was given the task to upgrade our existing facilities. Our current property and evidence section was located in nothing more than a closet. Room and inventory control along with the moving of property was a bookkeeping nightmare. For many years the closet system worked quite well. But the need to expand due to the influx of property/evidence had made an expansion necessary. 

With the rearranging of rooms we were able to move the property section into a larger area. With the increase in space, the right shelving and a new orderly way of storing property had to be found. In the beginning we utilized our existing shelving but all items were not the same size. A search for alternative shelving and storage for our new area was at the top of our agenda. 

The City of Maysville is participating in the national recycling program. Numerous recycling bins were purchased by the city to make the program work. We asked the director of public works for 20 recycling bins for storage. From their surplus stock of bins this request was granted and an expanded form of storage was made. With these bins we increased our storage space at least 100 percent. Once property and evidence is processed and bagged, they are placed in one of the bins. Several cases can be stored in a single bin and still keep the cases separate. On the handle of each recycling bin is a small hole. An inventory control tag is then tied on each bin to identify the cases it holds. The cost to the departments budget - zero. 

With the shelf expansion from the recycling bins, a search was on for other in room storage for smaller items. After looking at many different options, we decided to purchase two different size plastic stackable containers. The sizes purchased helped in the storage of handguns, knives and other smaller items. With the smaller bins, added shelf space was made and a more convenient inventory control was made possible. The cost of the smaller bins was less than $150.00 and well worth the expense for the job they have done. 

With our new recycling bins and smaller storage stackable bins, our shelf space organization is at its best. Everything is at hands reach and easily identified and found. No more going through stacks of bags and envelopes. Audits become less hectic and less time consuming. 

With a constant eye out looking for ways to update this section, we found two old school type lockers. The lockers are the single stand up type. Each approximately 2' x 2' X 2', containing six separate lockers. We found these lockers were perfect for the moving and transferring of property. One set of the lockers was placed outside the property room, bolted to the wall. Each locker has a lock placed on it unlocked. When an officer has property or evidence which needs to be placed in storage, they can place the item in one of the lockers, locking it until it can be removed by the property officer during regular business hours. Once the locker is locked, the property can not be removed until the property officer is on duty. An intake property / evidence form is filled out by the officer with any special instructions and pertinent information. This system for smaller items leaves the longer lockers available for other items. With this availability, the need to contact the property officer during inconvenient hours was cut to a minimum. 

When the officer needs his property or evidence for court, it is his or her responsibility to notify the property officer, who in turn issues them a key and assigns them a locker. Once the case has been disposed of, the evidence is returned to the locker and the key locked inside. The property officer will then replace the item in the main property room for final disposition. This ensures the chain of custody and the officer does not have to keep the evidence in his personal locker. The cost of these lockers was - zero. They were donated by a business who no longer needed them. Another savings to our department budget. 

At one end of our property room was a blank wall. We utilized this space for large weapons and rifles seized by the department. After a while we had several rifles and shotguns lined up against the wall. This took up a lot of space and a cure needed to be found. A local department store had gone out of business recently and had an abundance of wall shelving. We contacted the owner of the company inquiring about the purchase of the shelves. To our surprise, they donated several shelves to our department which again saved many tax dollars. With these new shelves we are able to store our larger weapons saving needed space. 

The need to expand and reevaluate space for any type section is an ongoing business. With money restraints we had to be flexible in our facility design; by utilizing used equipment and keeping our eyes open for a good deal, we have managed to upgrade our facility at the lowest possible expense. Not only did city government assist in our expansion, the business community helped with their donations. With this kind of government and public support, our continued success with our property room will continue to be on the upswing.