24-015 Mandatory Listing of All Victims in Found Property Reports

The purpose of this department notice is to increase the potential of reuniting lost property with its rightful owners.

The Property Control Division consistently examines "Found Property" containing documents, passports, credit cards, etc. These items clearly list names and identities of those that may have lost the booked property. However, the review of the corresponding police report reveal that the above listed documentation is listed as "miscellaneous cards/IDs" or "passport." This practice is detrimental to reuniting lost property with its rightful owner.

When identifying information is listed properly on "Found Property" reports, reunification of lost property with its owner is greatly enhanced. Therefore, when a member receives found property that is turned in by the public or found by the member, the found property shall be searched for identifying information. If possible, every effort should be made immediately to reunite the found property with its owner by utilizing Level II (Monster), Crime Data Warehouse (search engine), and Clear (Thomson Reuter). If the found property cannot immediately be reunited with its owner, then it should be booked at the district station and a "Found Property" incident report shall be written indicating what steps were taken to contact property owner and if contact was made or not. Any and all identifying information shall be listed on the victim/witness page of the incident report. If there are multiple identifying documents with multiple victims, then all the names and documents shall be listed on the victim/witness page of the incident report. An example of this would be if a backpack is turned into a district station and that backpack contains four passports issued to a family from Spain, then each passport and member of the family is listed independently on the victim/witness page of the incident report.

/s/
WILLIAM SCOTT 
Chief of Police

Per DN 23-152, all sworn & non-sworn members shall electronically acknowledge this Department document in PowerDMS within (30) thirty calendar days of issuance. Members whose duties are relevant to this document shall be held responsible for compliance. Any questions regarding this policy should be sent to [email protected] who will provide additional information.