The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office Property & Evidence Unit is currently confined to a 2,405 sq ft space which houses a daily average of 72,000 pieces of property and evidence, office space, and workspace for deputies to process and package evidence. In the year 2000, the unit was responsible for an average of 10,000 property/evidence items – which means in 25 years, the unit has seen a 622% increase in their inventory. However, neither staff nor space has kept pace with the inventory growth.
The unit is currently staffed with two full time employees and one part time employee, and is responsible for numerous tasks – to include but not limited to:
Entering Evidence Submissions: The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office Property & Evidence Unit is currently confined to a 2,405 sq ft space which houses a daily average of 72,000 pieces of property and evidence, office space, and workspace for deputies to process and package evidence. In the year 2000, the unit was responsible for an average of 10,000 property/evidence items – which means in 25 years, the unit has seen a 622% increase in their inventory. However, neither staff nor space has kept pace with the inventory growth.
Purging eligible items from inventory: The unit is currently staffed with two full time employees and one part time employee, and is responsible for numerous tasks – to include but not limited to:
Returning property to owners: As our Deputies and Detectives work cases, evidence is collected – Once that evidence is collected, the behind the scenes process begins! Items must be reviewed for any possible discrepancies; this could be anything from proper packaging, accurate documentation on processing forms, and verifying items submitted correspond with the forms submitted.
Processing work orders: The HCSO Property and Evidence Unit follows all law and best practice standards for property/evidence retention. Once items are eligible to be purged from our inventory and/or destroyed, our Property/Evidence Specialists are notified. Notification is then sent to the deputy who placed the item(s) into our Property/Evidence storage, along with their current supervisor (usually a sergeant). Once items are approved for disposal, our Property/Evidence Specialists get to work disposing of the eligible items in order to make space for new items.
FDLE submissions and returns: One of the responsibilities of our Property & Evidence Unit is to returned property to owners, when the owner’s information is readily available and the items are eligible to be returned. Our Property Evidence Specialists are responsible for sending notifications to the owners; however, it is up to the owner of the stored property to come to the Main Office to retrieve their items within 60 days of notice. After 60 days, then items will be marked as unclaimed and disposed of.
Gun and drug destruction: Each day, our Property Evidence Unit receives numerous work orders. These work orders include requests such as the State Attorney’s Office requesting evidence be pulled for court, Deputies and/or Detectives requesting items be sent to the HCSO Forensics Unit or FDLE for analysis, and our Digital Forensics Detectives requesting items be pulled for their analysis.
Standby for search warrants: Due to limited resources for testing evidence, items are frequently sent to FDLE for processing and analysis. This includes items such as drugs, guns, and clothing being sent for analysis by FDLE specialists. HCSO Property Evidence Specialists are responsible for the management of these items, and must ensure proper documentation is created regarding when then items are sent out and returned.
Gun and drug destruction: When firearms are eligible for destruction, they are pulled from storage through a two person verification process. The serial numbers must be double checked and then run through various databases to ensure it’s not reported stolen or missing by another agency, both in Florida and nation-wide. Once all components have been verified, an outside company is contacted to retrieve the firearms.
The HCSO has locations across the county for prescription drug drop-off. Once those drop-boxes are filled, a Property Evidence Specialist will collect the contents of the drop-off box and package them for destruction. The Specialist will then collect evidentiary drugs eligible for destruction from storage. After a court order is signed, the drugs are then brought to the Pasco County Landfill to have all of the boxes incinerated – Typically, the specialists have to be accompanied by 2-3 deputies, depending on how many drugs are set for destruction!
Standby for search warrants: The HCSO has locations across the county for prescription drug drop-off. Once those drop-boxes are filled, a Property Evidence Specialist will collect the contents of the drop-off box and package them for destruction. The Specialist will then collect evidentiary drugs eligible for destruction from storage. After a court order is signed, the drugs are then brought to the Pasco County Landfill to have all of the boxes incinerated – Typically, the specialists have to be accompanied by 2-3 deputies, depending on how many drugs are set for destruction!