Property & Evidence

Call for Appointment to Release Property

The Property and Evidence Unit of the Greenfield Police Department is responsible for the storage and tracking of all properly maintained as evidence, all property kept for safekeeping, and all property that is turned in by members of the department or the public that has been found where no owner can be located. The unit is responsible for submitting items of evidence to the crime laboratory when an officer or investigator requests a particular analysis. The unit also obtains court orders for the destruction of firearm's and drugs that are seized from suspects.

Property & Evidence Retention

Items of evidence are stored until the involved case has been adjudicated or the statute of limitation has expired for the crime being investigated. All found property is kept for 90 days. Property taken in for safekeeping is held for 60 days. Unclaimed property that is held beyond those dates is disposed of in accordance with the law.

Release of Property

If you have already received a letter from the Property and Evidence Unit indicating that your property can be released, please call 831-674-5111 to schedule an appointment as soon as possible after receiving the notification seeking the return of your property that was found or held for safekeeping, you may also call to schedule an appointment for release. Property will be released to the rightful owner, or their designee, with photo identification such as a driver's license, ID card or passport. Because the Property and Evidence Unit also has other duties within the department, property will be released only by appointment.

If you are seeking the return of any property that was taken in as evidence, you must first have a District Attorneys Disposition stating that the property can be released. This is done only after the case against all suspects involved has been adjudicated. In some cases, dealing with serious cases evidence may not been released even after adjudication. If you need to contact the Monterey County District Attorney regarding a disposition of the case where the property is to be released, you can call them at 831-755-5070 (Salinas Office) or 831-647-7770 (Monterey Office).

If a firearm is among the items requested to be returned, a background investigation must be conducted in order to verify that the legal owner is eligible to possess the weapon. All handguns must be registered and a Law Enforcement Gun Release Application (BF 119) form (LEGR) must be submitted to the Department of Justice.  You may complete and submit a form online from the State of California Department of Justice Bureau of firearms website.