Dear I.A.P.E. Member, 

The purpose of this letter is to inform I.A.P.E. members of several matters of interest that will affect the future of the organization. I am saddened to report that our founder and President Robin Trench recently passed away. Needless to say, this event created unexpected obstacles to the operation of the Association, such as continuing the current training events and those being scheduled for 1997, along with maintaining publication of the Evidence Log.

As many of you know, Robin had committed her career to professional property management, and to providing a forum for training sworn and civilian managers, supervisors, and property officers in the fundamentals of property room management. Robin's commitment, dedication and knowledge will be greatly missed. As President, Robin spent a great deal of time preparing and editing the Evidence Log, in addition to preparing the various workbooks, manuals and handouts needed for the training semmars.

The Board of Directors has spent the last two months evaluating possible courses of action. 
Robin certainly would not want this loss to be an obstacle to the Association, but rather a call to revitalize the effort leading the organization into the twenty-first century, and to renew its pledge to provide on-going, highly professional leadership and training in the field of property management.

"As a nonprofit educational training organization created by and for law enforcement property and evidence personnel, I.A.P.E. is dedicated and committed to supporting professional growth." 

Simultaneously with the writing of this letter, we are in the process of putting together a late training schedule for 1997. Generally these arrangements would have been made during the late fall and would have been published by now. Hopefully, we still can start our training classes by April, and we will try to schedule seminars in at least six locations. It is our intention to spread the seminars geographically, with classes on the East and West Coasts, in the South, Midwest, Northwest and Southwest. We will also be offering a co-host program, in which a local agency can sponsor a training session by providing a location and assisting with arrangements, and thereby receive several free tuitions for their department.

Along with the training classes, we are renewing publication of the Evidence Log with this issue. This one is backdated to 1996 to catch up a little, and the one for the first quarter of 1997 will be out at the end of next month. In continuation of Robin's desire for constant improvement, don't be surprised to see several changes and some exciting additions to the Evidence Log.

One new feature will be a regular column providing members with the latest standards that govern sound property room operation. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), International Association of Chief of Police (IACP), United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and a few state agencies have developed minimum standards in some specific areas of property management. We hope to provide standards for a specific area of property management in each quarterly issue of the Evidence Log, along with a commentary related to the issue. Policy areas which will be specifically targeted include the following:

Organizational Placement, Staffing, Turnover Rates, Hours of Operations, Responsibilities of Property Officer (job specification), Written Policies and Procedures, Temporary Storage Lockers, Property Room Design, Shelving Design, Construction Elements and Layout Design, Packaging and Storage, Security Guidelines, Refrigeration, Property Disposition, Purging, Found Property, Property for Safekeeping, Narcotic Handling and Destruction, Firearm Handling and Destruction, Currency Handling, Auctions, Property for Diversion for Official Use, Training, Audits, Inventories, Automation and Bar Coding

You may feel that this letter sounds more like a positive forecast of the future of I.A.P.E. than a requiem for a dear friend who passed away far too soon. If so, we have accomplished our intent, which is to devote all the energy necessary to see Robin's dream become reality. When every law enforcement property officer in the world has access to a forum of other professionals in the field, and a regular magazine to share the joys and the struggles of the profession, as well as regular training opportunities presented at accessible locations, then the dream will have been achieved.

That time will come. Please be patient as we get the Association back on solid footing, but also be willing to contribute your efforts toward the common goal, which can be reached only when each of us commit ourselves to being true professionals. At that point, it is our hope that someone will look back, and appreciate the contribution of the International Association for Property and Evidence, and especially its visionary founder:

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors 
International Association for Property and Evidence, Inc.