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Manual of Policy and Procedures / Volume 5 - Line Procedures / Chapter 4 - Property and Evidence Procedures

5-04/000.50 - Procedures in the Event PRELIMS Is Unavailable


5-04/000.40 - File Number Change / Master File Number
5-04/000.60 - Station/Unit Commander's Responsibilities

In the event PRELIMS is unavailable due to routine system maintenance, application maintenance, system failure, and/or inability to access the Sheriff’s Data Network (SDN), the PRELIMS Contingency Operations Plan shall be activated.  The PRELIMS Contingency Operations Plan shall be readily available at each station/unit that books and handles property and evidence.

Designated forms and labels as outlined in the PRELIMS Contingency Operations Plan shall be used to manually book and transfer property and evidence items. The watch sergeant shall be responsible for maintaining a sufficient quantity of these forms and labels in the watch sergeant’s Office. 

The station/unit Evidence and Property Custodian (EPC) shall be responsible for:

  • Entering information from these forms and labels into PRELIMS when PRELIMS returns to service;
  • Signing and dating the completed forms when entry into PRELIMS is completed;
  • Scanning and attaching any manually completed forms to the case in PRELIMS;
  • Affixing an evidence label generated from PRELIMS adjacent to (not over) the hand printed label or label generated via the Sheriff’s Data Network (SDN);
  • Updating PRELIMS with the item’s current evidence location and scanning any manually generated Department forms and attach them electronically to the case in PRELIMS for chain-of-custody purposes.

All completed PRELIMS Emergency Ledger forms (SH-CR-514a) shall be maintained in the PRELIMS Contingency Operations three-ring binder and shall be kept for no less than one year from the date of creation.  After the one-year time period, the completed forms shall be kept in their respective case files.

To the extent possible, all other evidence and property protocols outlined in Volume 5, Chapter 4 of the Manual of Policies and Procedures (MPP) shall be followed during the period of time when PRELIMS is unavailable.  Any necessary transfers or releases of evidence or property, (e.g., for court, transfer to an investigator, release to owner, transfer to Central Property, transfer to the Crime Lab, etc.) shall be recorded on the hard copy of the PRELIMS Emergency Ledger form (SH-CR-514a) for that particular item.

During the time period that PRELIMS is unavailable, it is recommended that all interim removals or transfers of evidence or release of property be limited. Necessary transfers of evidence, such as for court purposes, release to owner, or transfer to the Crime Lab for analysis may be manually completed during this time period utilizing the appropriate Department forms, and such transfers or releases shall be recorded on the hard copy of the PRELIMS Emergency Ledger form (SH-CR-514a). Once PRELIMS becomes available, it shall be the responsibility of the station EPC to update PRELIMS to include the item’s current location (should the item be in the physical custody of the station/unit) and scan the PRELIMS Emergency Ledger form (SH-CR-514a) into the system for chain-of-custody purposes. Evidence and/or property should not be transferred to the Central Property custodian until it has been electronically entered into PRELIMS unless exigent circumstances exist.

In the event evidence items need to be sent to the Crime Lab for analysis during the time period that PRELIMS is unavailable, such transfers shall be documented on the PRELIMS Emergency Ledger form (SH-CR-514a) for each item.  The station/unit having physical custody of the item when PRELIMS returns to service will be responsible for printing and affixing a PRELIMS label and updating PRELIMS with the current evidence location.  The station/unit EPC where the item was originally booked shall be responsible for entering the item into PRELIMS from the information noted on the PRELIMS Emergency Ledger form (SH-CR-514a).