PD destroyed my gun

[geeknow]

Here's the short version;
12(ish) years ago, a handgun was stolen from my apartment. it was duly reported as such at the time. Approximately 6 months ago, I received a bunch of calls from the local DA, local Public Defender, and a local Police Detective notifying me that 1. the gun was recovered on the person of a bad guy and 2. that I needed to testify at the trial.

Great.

During this whole mess I was informed that I would receive my property back once the case had been resolved, permission by the DA (WTF?) had been granted to return MY property, a fee had been paid to the state (to re-register the same gun that I already paid to register), and I had received a "law enforcement gun release" letter from the DOJ.

Well, I did all that and still no gun.

Now I have been told by the PD property room that they will not release my property until the detective that worked the case sends them some "paperwork". The property guy wouldnt tell me what "paperwork" they need, he only informed me that if the detective doesnt fill it out in time, that they WILL destroy my property on the 30th day.

Just to keep the facts straight, the DOJ letter was dated 12/17/08. That means that they will destroy MY property on 01/18/08. The only (according to them) person that can release my gun is the detective (who is now on vacation for the holiday's).

I am considering just showing up at the PD, waving my letter around, stomping my feet, and demanding my property be released immediately. Likely, that will not end well.

My questions for the brain trust are;
1. Can they put additional release requirements beyond the DOJ?
2. Given the circumstances, what would you do to recover your property?

Thanks,
g

[gbp]

Something similar to this happened to me. I had paperwork signed by the judge, the da, my attorney and all of the paperwork from the doj and the chief of police was still not willing to release the guns to me. he said he needed a personal call from the da to release them and the magazines. i finally got the da to call this guy directly and sort it out. the next issue was that only one person had the keys to the property room and he was on vacation. all of this pushed the time limit on the doj paperwork to within days of expirey but i did get my property back.

all i can say is good luck and i know what you're going through.

[geeknow]

Something similar to this happened to me. I had paperwork signed by the judge, the da, my attorney and all of the paperwork from the doj and the chief of police was still not willing to release the guns to me. he said he needed a personal call from the da to release them and the magazines. i finally got the da to call this guy directly and sort it out. the next issue was that only one person had the keys to the property room and he was on vacation. all of this pushed the time limit on the doj paperwork to within days of expirey but i did get my property back.

all i can say is good luck and i know what you're going through.

yeah, it's kind of a wringer right now. I guess I knew it was going to be, though. During the first call I made, the PD stated that they normally dont return confiscated guns. Rather than argue with him about property rights, I simply stated that it was my intention to see that my property was returned to me and that the type of "property" had no bearing.

[CSACANNONEER]

I new someone who went to pick up a gun from an LASO station with court orders to have it released to him. He is an attorney for a state LE agency. The SO refused to release the brand new Kimber to him. He actually had to use his cel phone to call the judge and explain the situation to him. Well, the judge, who had signed the order, wasn't too pleased and ended up talking to the deputy who was refusing to comply with his orders. Needless to say, the gun was finally released but, even then, the SO tried to keep the mags and holdster because they were not named in the judges orders. Well, the judge did speak to the property clerk again and the attorney finally recieved everything. Remember, he had the judges numbers preprogramed in his phone, he was an attorney for a state LEA, he had a court order to release property to him and the LASO still refused to release it until the judge personally talked with some deputy who was probably threatened jail time unless he complied with the orders. We have a great legal system, don't we?

If they illegally destroy your property, I wonder if you could sue them for damages?

Good luck!

[alex00]

If you have the name of the detective, call and ask to speak to his supervisor. You should be able to make arrangements with his supervisor to have the necessary paperwork filled out. In law enforcement, being on vacation seldom means unreachable. His supervisor should be able to contact him by phone and complete the necessary paperwork.

If you don't have his name, the Deputy District Attorney that handled the case should be able to give you the detective's name.

[geeknow]

If you have the name of the detective, call and ask to speak to his supervisor. You should be able to make arrangements with his supervisor to have the necessary paperwork filled out. In law enforcement, being on vacation seldom means unreachable. His supervisor should be able to contact him by phone and complete the necessary paperwork.

If you don't have his name, the Deputy District Attorney that handled the case should be able to give you the detective's name.

Been there done that. Yes, I know the Detectives name (i've spoken with him more than once). Yes, he does have a supervisor who told me that his detective is on vacation and that he (the detective) is the only one who can send the "paperwork".

My gut tells me that this is nothing more than a stall tactic.

To the poster that told of a gun finally returned, but stripped. That is my fear too (other than not getting my property returned at all). I have heard many stories of guns coming back from the PD property room totally stripped bare.

As I was present at the trial, courtesy of a few subpoenas, I know that the gun was loaded with a round in the chamber at the time of arrest. That would indicate the presence of magazines. I want them too. We will see.

I have received many suggestions via PM to contact this person or that person with "connections". While I appreciate them, the idea of needing a "connection" to accomplish this chaps me. I am the victim. This is the law. It is there for me too.

[alex00]

Been there done that. Yes, I know the Detectives name (i've spoken with him more than once). Yes, he does have a supervisor who told me that his detective is on vacation and that he (the detective) is the only one who can send the "paperwork".

My gut tells me that this is nothing more than a stall tactic.

There may be a legit reason, but I can't think of one. Have you contacted the clerk for the judge that heard the case, and gave the order to release?

[cadurand]

Man, I feel lucky.

I had a pistol stolen (well a few actually) while I was living in Fremont, Ca.

5 or so years go by and I get call from the Fremont Police saying one of my pistols has been recoved by another local police department. The Fremont cop gave me the phone number of a cop in the other city and said to call them to arrange to pick up my pistol. He didn't know which pistol had been recovered at this time.

So I call the other police department and get a very nice Sgt who says "It's a Desert Eagle, 50 cal I think. Come up and get it."

And that's what I did. No hassles, just had to show my ID to prove who I was.

It sounds like I was pretty lucky. The biggest hassle was the original call from Fremont PD came in the middle of the night. When I asked the cop why he was calling me at 3am he said "Because that's when I work."

[geeknow]

There may be a legit reason, but I can't think of one. Have you contacted the clerk for the judge that heard the case, and gave the order to release?

In this situation, it doesnt work that way. The DA had to authorize the gun to be released (she did), then the case had to be settled (it was). Then I had to go to the DOJ website, print out a "law enforcement release", fill it out, send a check to cover another background check (I am an FFL, have a COE, and have been Live Scanned already by the DOJ, and none of that mattered), which I have done. Then the DOJ sent me a copy of the "release" which states both that the case is over with and that I can get my gun back (which i have in hand). The judge that heard the case had nothing to do with holding up or returning my property.

I did all of that.

The Police Department is refusing to return my property until their detective says it is ok and the clock is ticking (as they have informed me).

This is crap.

[alex00]

Outside of calling the commander of the detective bureau, I don't have any more suggestions. I can't believe they would be so willing to destroy a gun that they know belongs to you, while you are in the process of getting a release. It sounds like dirty pool to me.

[Sig226]

This may be extremely naive, but perhaps the ATF can help you out?

I mean your pistol is effectively being stolen from you according to our state's DoJ at this point....

Or maybe Internal Affairs might be interested in officers not following state law or dept. policy?

[Colt]

During this whole mess I was informed that I would receive my property back once the case had been resolved, permission by the DA (WTF?) had been granted to return MY property, a fee had been paid to the state (to re-register the same gun that I already paid to register), and I had received a "law enforcement gun release" letter from the DOJ.

Well, I did all that and still no gun.

Now I have been told by the PD property room that they will not release my property until the detective that worked the case sends them some "paperwork". The property guy wouldnt tell me what "paperwork" they need, he only informed me that if the detective doesnt fill it out in time, that they WILL destroy my property on the 30th day.

Do you have all of this in writing, complete with signatures of the folks giving you the run-around? If not, ask these folks to sign something to the effect of what they're telling you. If they won't put it in writing, ask why not.Then start sending copies of said signed documents to anyone and everyone that may help...

Good luck.

[Ford8N]

I hope LEO's understand why civilians dislike "The Man". And it is a lie if this "detective" is the only one who can release the private property. Bald face LIE!

[weekend_plinker]

I would Say go Back to the judge and have him call the superviser and talk with him, abought your property

[JDoe]

Call the FBI?

Cut and paste (emphasis mine) from http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/color.htm

In the case of deprivation of property, the color of law statute would be violated by unlawfully obtaining or

Color of Law