By Steve Berdrow - In my 25 plus years in law enforcement, I have seen many different ways of storing hand guns for evidence purposes. Because of their various sizes and shapes, it is difficult to find one system that works well for all.

Our primary consideration is to protect the evidentiary value of the weapon. This means protecting it from incidental damage during storage, and storing it where it can be found when needed...

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By Steve Berdrow - At the Burbank Police Department, our Property Section had a problem storing certain oddly shaped items, such as baseball bats, steering wheel locks, hockey sticks, bolt cutters, etceteras, ad infinitum. We would stack them up in a comer, or put them in a barrel, but trying to find a specific item was very difficult...

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By Steve Berdrow - This article will present some thoughts regarding evidence depository lockers that we developed during the design development phase of our new police building. These ideas came from numerous site visits as well as our own experience...

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By Steve Berdrow - In this edition of the Design Comer we will take a look at some considerations to keep in mind when designing a Property Room, whether from scratch or a remodel.

It is recommended that the Property Section be housed in the main police station because of security and employee safety concerns. This is not to say that remote storage facilities...

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LOST EVIDENCE MEANS TROUBLE... Prompting Need For Advanced Evidence Management & Automation developed by FileOnQ.

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IAPE Membership Requirements

Active Members

The following persons shall be eligible for active membership:

Property/evidence officers, technicians, specialists, clerks, or custodians directly assigned to the property/evidence function or supervisors have actual supervision of the property/evidence function and receive salaries from any legally constituted national, state, provincial, county, municipal, or other duly constituted law enforcement agency/jurisdiction including railroad police system, railway police express, or public police or sheriffs department.

Active members retain their active status upon retirement, provided there is no interruption in membership.

Associate Members

Any person not eligible for active membership but qualified by training and experience in law enforcement activity or by professional attainments in police science or administration shall be eligible for associate membership in the association.
Associate members shall have all the privileges of active membership, except for holding office and voting.

The following classes of persons are eligible and qualify for associate membership:

• Personnel employed by a public law enforcement agency.
• Employees of the city, county, state, provincial, and national agencies with technical responsibility for law enforcement-related storage of property/evidence.
• Prosecuting attorneys and their deputies of city, county, state, provincial, territorial, and national governments.
• Employees of accredited colleges and universities engaged in teaching, research, and other phases of criminal justice.
• Staff or employees of crime institutes, governmental research bureaus, coordinating councils, law enforcement associations, and similar agencies engaged in research involving the property/evidence storage function.
• Persons who have made a significant contribution to the field of law enforcement property and evidence.
• Any retired member of a law enforcement agency.