Minutes from the PEAF Meeting on 04/04/2018

On Wednesday 04/04/2018 at 3:30 pm, the Chapter 8 members of PEAF held a meeting at the LeonCounty Sheriff’s Office. We had a speaker Detective Michael Crego from the Leon County Sheriff’sNarcotics Division. The talk was about the Handling of Narcotics, the following points were some of the information we received.

• Paraphernalia is often a larger hazard than the drug itself
• Use Universal Precautions always
• Home cooked Meth is becoming rare (but is still seen occasionally)
• Butane Hash Oil is referred to as wax, bitter or shatter commonly used in E-cigarettes
• Synthetic Drugs- largest difficulty is identifying the substance
• Spice- is now called on the street (Togee)
• Fentanyl and Carfentanil- Originally used as pain medication for cancer but now is taken by opioid addicts.
• Carfentanil is sold as heroin
• LSD- still sees, but seems as though there is a resurgence of use
• Prescription Pills- Carry little risk of exposure
• Opioid prescription pills are sometimes counterfeited using Fentanyl and Carfentanil

Spoke about risks associated by exposure- Absorption is the biggest risk, and Universal Precautions isalways imperative for everyone’s welfare and safety

Spoke about the Drug Narcan which can bring someone from the brink of death back with an injection (like the Epipen), stated every law enforcement officer in the area should have access to the drug. One officer stated he witnessed the use of the injection and the recovery for the patient was amazing. Locally our LCEMS and FHP carry the drug. Suggested that our members should let our leaders know how important Narcan is to the officers dealing with drug overdoses.

Steve our president came up to ask if there were any questions, and stated that another meeting would be held before the conference in late August. Our chapter will need to elect another Vice President before the end of the year, please consider occupying this seat. The meeting was then adjourned.

PEAF Disposal Roundtable Discussion

DNA- How long do agencies keep after disposition?

60 days after the appeals have been exhausted or 30 days after the sentenced has been served, whether by plea or conviction. **Prosecution may commence after the DNA identification of the accused regardless of the Statute of Limitations.

Deadlines regarding Court Orders to return property – Example: Receive a court order to return property to a relative. 2 years later, relative has not picked up. How long do you wait to dispose of evidence?

Some agencies send a certified letter to the owner as well as the attorney informingthem of a timeframe within which they’ll hold the property. Some will only hold it for 60 days unless there are special circumstances (owner is out of town, lives out of state, etc.) It’s not unreasonable to hold property for 6 months to a year after aCourt Order under those circumstances.

Attorney sends a letter asking us to preserve evidence – what is our obligation when no criminal charges were filed?

Send a letter outlining a reasonable timeline that you’ll hold the evidence. Once the Statute of Limitations has expired, send a reminder letter with a deadline. If there is still no response or action taken by the Attorney, dispose of the evidence. If your agency hasn’t filed criminal charges but another agency has, the evidence should betransferred to them. Also, you only have 4 years to file a civil suit.

Found property: phones, computers, tablets- Return to finder or dispose? We had someone call requesting a phone that was found on their property and the owner was unknown.

The most important thing is to wipe all electronics prior to turning them over to anyone. Unless a finder has expressed his or her interest in getting the property, you can dispose of it after it is wiped. If a finder does want to claim the property, some agencies charge a non-refundable fee to be paid within a few days of submitting it.

Gunbusters- Would it be ok to use Gunbusters rather than bringing our firearms to the Sheriff for destruction? If not, why not? Are any agencies currently using Gunbusters?

Currently, all agencies, except those under the Home Rule, turn their firearms over to the Sheriff after 60 days of the case being disposed. The Sheriff holds the firearms for an additional 6 months prior to destroying them.

Does property from a traffic homicide/fatality (where someone has been charged) fall under the same standard as a homicide? If not, what statute governs traffic homicide/fatality as far as the purging of items?

There isn’t a statute for this, so it should go by the Statute of Limitations for whatever the person was charged with. If the case is closed and the appeals window has passed, it should be ok to dispose of the evidence. If someone hasn’t been charged and there is DNA, you’ll have to follow those protocols.

Do you send all cases to SAO for disposal approval or just serious felonies?

This depends on your agency and its policies. Some agencies feel more comfortable having the SAO sign off while others are ok making the decision in- house. Some agencies must have the SAO sign off on the narcotics cases prior to disposal.

What do you do with the evidence for cases with multiple defendants where one has had his case expunged? Destroy everything or have the case officer review it to see what might be related to the specific expunged person?

If the case is still open for some defendants, hold all the evidence. If it’s closed, you can destroy everything. One agency’s attorney said that sealed/expunged cases have nothing to do with evidence. The longest records retention law is 7 years.

For sealed cases, do you hold the evidence for a specific period of time or destroy immediately?

If there is one defendant, the case is closed, and the record is expunged, you may destroy the evidence immediately. However, if the record is sealed, you have one year to view the evidence so don’t destroy it until the year is up.

Will the new firearm Legislation affect Property and Evidence and if so, how?

Many agencies are using FDLE’s Firearm Eligibility Service or FES when returning firearms. This puts the burden on the state instead of the agency. However, agencies’ attorneys and policies can dictate how to deal with this issue.

The meeting was held at the Intracoastal Park Clubhouse in Boynton Beach and called to order at 10:10 hrs.

Marylou Doss made a motion to accept the minutes from the January meeting which was held on January 25, 2018. Greg Parkinson seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Jacqueline Morris from Miami Gardens PD won the raffle.  There was no winner from the Ace of Hearts 50/50 drawing. The pot now stands at $57.

Special thanks to the Daniel Cline and Eric Reynolds from the Boynton Beach Police Department who hosted the meeting.

Old Business

We are still waiting on the certification pins. They will be distributed as soon as we receive them.

New Business

Registration for the upcoming PEAF conference is ongoing. All but one speaker havebeen booked. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office will be hosting the next meeting sometime in May. Time and place are to be determined.

Discussions

Roundtable discussion regarding the disposal of evidence. Please see attached. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 11:45 hrs.