Change in evidence policies is urged for SLO County Sheriff's Department

A grand jury report shows evidence is safe but that the rules for property rooms and directives for handling evidence are dated
Bob Cuddy - bcuddy@thetribunenews.com


Evidence secured in law enforcement property rooms throughout the county is safe, but the Sheriff’s Department needs to update its policies and procedures, the county’s civil grand jury said in a report released last week.

“In examining the sheriff’s policies for property rooms and his procedure directives for evidence handling, the jury concluded they are dated,” the report said.

The report also touched on DNA evidence, warning that in the near future, the “sheer volume” of DNA evidence could overwhelm limited storage facilities.

The department has recently added a second large refrigerated storage locker, jurors noted.

The Sheriff’s Department has already taken action, according to Undersheriff Steve Bolts.

“As a result of the grand jury’s review, the department became aware of occasional locker space insufficiencies at our patrol stations and took immediate corrective measures,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Tribune.

“The department has updated property and evidence policies and station inspection procedures to eliminate security concerns,” Bolts wrote.

The grand jury visited all seven city police departments as well as the sheriff’s North County, South County and Coast patrol stations, the sheriff’s main property room, and the District Attorney and Superior Court evidence rooms.

“Careful securing of evidence in criminal cases provides an essential basis for trial,” jurors wrote.

“In the event of a crime, law enforcement agencies must collect evidence. In order to protect the rights of the accused and to preserve the integrity of the legal proceeding, this evidence must be held in a manner that preserves the ‘chain of custody,’ ” the grand jury wrote.

“Extreme care must be taken to document the seized evidence and trace its path from the crime scene to the courtroom. It must be accounted for and stored in a secure manner at all times,” the jury wrote.

The grand jury found no indication of any compromise of the chain of custody.

Grand jurors said “city police departments throughout the county were found to maintain particularly secure property rooms.

“In all cases, including the Sheriff’s Department, the evidence handling procedures appeared secure, with careful attention to logging in evidence, sealing it in envelopes and preventing tampering.”

Police departments all follow California Police Officer Standards and Training (POST), the jury wrote, and some comply with the more rigorous International Association of Property and Evidence standards.

However, the jury recommended that the sheriff’s property room policies and procedures “be updated to meet current industry standards and that evidence handling procedures in all sheriff’s facilities be regularly monitored.”


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