Property and Evidence

Composition and Responsibilities

The Property and Evidence Unit of the Marina Police Department is staffed by a Property and Evidence Technician. The technician is responsible for the storage and tracking of all property maintained as evidence, all property kept for safekeeping, and all property that is turned in by members of the department or the public that has been found where no owner can be located. The Property and Evidence Technician is responsible for submitting items of evidence to the crime laboratory when an officer or investigator requests a particular analysis. The Property and Evidence Technician also obtains court orders for the destruction of firearms and drugs that are seized from suspects.

Property and Evidence Retention

Items of evidence are stored until the involved case has been adjudicated or the statue of limitation has expired for the crime being investigated. All found property is kept for 90 days. Property taken in for safekeeping is held for 60 days. Unclaimed property that is held beyond those dates is disposed of in accordance with the law.

Release of Property

If you have already received a letter from the Property and Evidence Technician indicating that your property can be released, please call (831) 884-1267 to schedule an appointment as soon as possible after receiving the notification. If you are seeking the return of your property that was found or held for safekeeping, you may also call to schedule an appointment for release.

Property will be released to the rightful owner, or their designee, with photo identification such as a driver’s license, ID card or passport. Because the Property and Evidence Technician also has other duties within the department, property will be released only by appointment. Appointments for property release are used so that the Property Technician can be available at the designated time and be able to handle the release without interruption.

If you are seeking the return of any property that was taken in as evidence, you must first have a District Attorney’s Disposition stating that the property can be released. This is done only after the case against all suspects involved has been adjudicated. If you need to contact the Monterey County District Attorney regarding a disposition of the case where property is to be released, you call them at (831) 755-5070 (Salinas Office) or (831) 647-7770 (Monterey Office).

If a firearm is among the items requested to be returned, a background investigation must be conducted in order to verify that the legal owner is eligible to posses the weapon. All handguns must be registered and a Law Enforcement Gun Release Application form (LEGR) must be submitted to the Department of Justice. You can download a form.

If the property you are seeking to be returned was taken was under a search warrant, a court order is required for the release.