Police Chief of Adair, Iowa

[charlie sherrill]

It was common for the arresting officer to keep a crime gun after a case had been completed if the judge or one of the prosecutors didn't get it first. Somewhere in the 70's things changed. The weapons then had to be recorded and became the property of the local governing agency. After a case is settled the weapons are either auctioned off or destroyed. I had a few knife and gun murder weapons from those days, mostly junk. I kept them at the time for the memories of a case I was involved in. Then came the horrible boat accident where all were lost, except for the "Machete of Death". Luckily it wasn't on the boat because I had purchased it legally from another department at an auction. I knew the investigator on the case and he told me the victim got hit 37 times. It's got some rust spots on it from all the blood. I've got a few "found guns" where someone throws them down and they are not linked to a crime. Officers around here are still allowed to keep those as long as they report them and they are not linked to a crime. My partner and I picked up seven of them one night in one bar, including a S&W model 36. We gave the customers a little incentive to ditch their guns. I wrote about this here one time. Maybe I will again.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

During my early days in law enforcement (1970s) the disposition of seized firearms was decided by the courts. If ordered to be confiscated they became department property, and the department held a sale once per year. Couple of local dealers were invited to value each piece, then the officer who seized the weapon had first choice to purchase at that price. If that officer did not buy it any other officer could do so. Anything not sold to a cop was sold to the dealers. All funds went to the city treasurer.

Of course, any illegal firearm would not be sold. NFA weapons were usually delivered to BATF, although a few were kept as display pieces (examples of the kind of things generally prohibited by federal law) for educational purposes. This was in a city with several active military bases and lots of retired military personnel, so a lot of interesting toys found the way into police custody.

Any form of property taken into custody for any reason was required to be documented and turned in to the property office. Failure to do so was a firing offense, and could result in prosecution (seldom done due to concerns over negative publicity). Guns, cash, booze, drugs, whatever, all treated the same; it ain't yours Officer, turn it in or be ready to turn in your badge.