In the last issue we talked in generalities about the areas of property room operation that needed governing policies. In this issue, we want to carry that a step further and identify specific policies which should definitely be part of your Policy Manual.

          The Right of Refusal is a critical policy element. Each property room employee must have the right to refuse to accept any property which is improperly packaged or incompletely documented. This policy needs to supersede rank. A property clerk should be able to tell a Patrol Sergeant that a piece of property is unacceptable until the Sergeant corrects the error or has someone else correct it. There should never be an excuse for a property clerk accepting a money envelope without a witness signature, sharps with the points not protected, or marijuana in a sealed plastic bag.

          The Two Person Rule is as much to protect the reputation of the property room and its employees as to prevent theft. In certain situations, it must be mandated that two people are present. These include opening a money envelope, entering the property room outside of normal business hours, and destroying property. When there is property missing or contaminated, it is not enough to say that you trust your employee. You must show through policy that the theft or contamination could not have been committed by the employee.

          A policy of Restricted Access to the Property Office minimizes the opportunities for improper conduct. Each person who is authorized to be in the Property Office should be itemized by position (e.g. Property Unit employees, Support Services Lieutenant, and Services Division Captain). Restrict custodial service, if any, to times when other employees are present. The Property Office is not a place for visiting during breaks; it is a no-nonsense working office. Access to property storage rooms should be even more restrictive. Only Property Room employees should have solo storage room access, and even that could be further limited to require two-person entry to the vault.

          By having Highly Restricted Off-Hours Access established by policy you can eliminate opportunities for theft. During off-hours, nobody in the station should have access to the Property Office or storage rooms. If it is felt that emergency access must be made available to the Watch Commander, then a key should be sealed in a container. Any Watch Commander breaking the seal must document it in writing to the Division Captain, and have a witness to the seal breaking, whatever action is taken in the property area, and the resealing of the key. The witness should initial the written documentation as well.

          Policy must clearly state the Department's commitment to Continued Security Through Final Disposition. Items no longer needed for court and signed off for release are not candidates for lesser security. In fact, they are even better targets of theft, because the likelihood of them being requested by owners or needed for court is essentially eliminated. Security must continue at a high level until the disposition is finalized and witnessed. If an agency throws guns eligible for destruction into a bin, and then destroys "one bin of guns,' they have compromised their entire security system. There must be a confirmation and witnessing of each serial number as the weapon is destroyed to maintain credibility of the system. Likewise, if narcotics released for destruction are stored for a period of time before being transported for destruction, a sample must be tested at the time of destruction to confirm that there has been no switching of the contents.

          Policy must require that there be key and combination changes upon any personnel change in the property unit. An additional step would be to have a maximum time limit, which could be as long as a year or two, and require that keys and/or combinations be change( at that interval even if there have not been personnel changes. The purchase and acceptance of new locks and keys should be witnessed to refute any accusation that the person receiving them had gotten an extra key at that time

          These specific policy statements should be considered by every property unit. Also see Joe Latta's article, "The Plan, The Purge, and the Move," beginning on Page 7 of this issue, for a number of related policy issues which deserve consideration.