My guess is that nobody at the PD will care until they get, at the very least, a letter from an attorney. If they still don't act accordingly and your family cares enough, serve them with a lawsuit. You'd be amazed at what turns up once people believe you are serious.
PD keeps bequest from inheritor
- Thread starter CoRoMo
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lemaymiami
Member
Like BinRat I also ran a property unit (in my case for three years). PD's everywhere have very strict rules about what can or cannot be done with property in general and firearms specifically (and more than one police chief has lost his/her job if property wasn't handled correctly). That's why I suggested they go to the head of the agency directly. If there's been some mis-conduct going on, the chief will have every incentive to do something about it without waiting until a lawyer shows up and things get public....
That said, if the weapons were taken for safe keeping the way described... they'd be "on the clock" from the moment impounded. If not re-claimed within whatever period the law allows (30 days, 60 days, one year - all will depend on what the law is in that state and most everything about seized or impounded property of any kind will usually have specific laws telling them what to do) the weapons might have been destroyed. I personally have destroyed as many as three large garbage cans filled with firearms on just one occasion, once it was legal to do so. When you're knee deep in everything from found property to items no longer needed for trial, etc. you have a strong incentive to get rid of any items you can. If it was possible to return something we would send out a letter to the last known owner (if we even had that info) giving them a certain amount of time then the item would come up for disposal if not claimed. In our case along the coastal area of south Florida disposing weapons meant a boat trip out into more than 200 feet of water....
That said, if the weapons were taken for safe keeping the way described... they'd be "on the clock" from the moment impounded. If not re-claimed within whatever period the law allows (30 days, 60 days, one year - all will depend on what the law is in that state and most everything about seized or impounded property of any kind will usually have specific laws telling them what to do) the weapons might have been destroyed. I personally have destroyed as many as three large garbage cans filled with firearms on just one occasion, once it was legal to do so. When you're knee deep in everything from found property to items no longer needed for trial, etc. you have a strong incentive to get rid of any items you can. If it was possible to return something we would send out a letter to the last known owner (if we even had that info) giving them a certain amount of time then the item would come up for disposal if not claimed. In our case along the coastal area of south Florida disposing weapons meant a boat trip out into more than 200 feet of water....
henschman
Member
I would first exhaust the "amicable" ways of trying to resolve the matter, such as talking to the chief and commissioners, just because it would save so much time and money if this resolved it. If not, you will have to sue the department for conversion of chattels. This will involve the sovereign immunity issue, so you will probably have to deal with the requirements of some sort of governmental tort claims act. If the lawsuit goes through, you can conduct discovery. If the records magically turn up at this point, they will likely settle and give you the guns. If not, or if the records don't turn up, you will have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that they wrongfully deprived you of possession of property that you had a legal ownership or right of possession of, causing damages to you. If you prove this, you collect however much the judge or jury thinks the property was worth.
Another issue you have to consider is the statute of limitations. For a tort, this usually runs from the time the injury was discovered... which would be the time that the PD informed you that they don't have any record of the guns and can't return them to you. Sometimes state law will put a shorter statute of limitations on claims against governmental units, so be careful and talk to a lawyer to make sure you aren't running out of time. If you are close to the SOL, you should go ahead and get something filed ASAP so you don't lose your rights.
Another issue you have to consider is the statute of limitations. For a tort, this usually runs from the time the injury was discovered... which would be the time that the PD informed you that they don't have any record of the guns and can't return them to you. Sometimes state law will put a shorter statute of limitations on claims against governmental units, so be careful and talk to a lawyer to make sure you aren't running out of time. If you are close to the SOL, you should go ahead and get something filed ASAP so you don't lose your rights.
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