The San Ramon Police Department maintains a property and evidence room and an additional 400 sq. ft. storage facility. The current facilities store over 15,000 items classified as evidence, safekeeping, or found property collected from the San Ramon Police Department.
The Property and Evidence Coordinator receives all property taken as either evidence, safekeeping, or found property. Property and Evidence received by the division includes, but is not limited to, cash, jewelry, guns and various weapons, narcotics, vehicles, bikes, blood samples, urine samples and other evidence related to assaults, homicides and other crimes. Biological items are stored in cold storage until they are transported to the lab for analysis.
The Evidence Coordinator and Technician are responsible for logging, and maintaining all property received on a case until there is final court adjudication. Following the final adjudication of a case, all property that is still in control of the police department is released to the owner. If property was booked for safekeeping or as found property, the division can be release it to the rightful owner or properly dispose of it.
There are various statutory requirements concerning the storage and disposal of property. These laws specify the time period items must be retained by law enforcement agencies and the format of required notifications. Any serialized property must be queried through a computerized database to determine whether it has been reported as lost or stolen. All seized illegal narcotics and related paraphernalia are destroyed pursuant to court order. Confiscated guns and other illegal weapons are also destroyed. After a specified amount of time, unclaimed property can be sold at auction or destroyed if there is no appreciable value.
Access to the property room is strictly controlled. Any movement of property in or out of the property room is documented on an official “property record.”
Property and Evidence responsibilities include:
- Processing of all property and evidence entered into the system
- Response to crime scenes, when requested, to take custody of collected evidence.
- Maintenance and disposal of property and evidence in accordance with state audit requirements, departmental and accreditation standards.
- Maintains a record of all property movement transactions within the facility as well as movement to the courts, crime labs, investigations, and property viewings.
For information or any questions regarding property and evidence, please contact the Property and Evidence Division at (925) 973-2765.
All items are released by Appointment Only