70.1 Evidence Flashcards
The objectives of law enforcement investigations are to (5):
(1) Determine if a crime has been committed, and if so, what crime.
(2) Identify and secure evidence of a crime.
(3) Identify the offender.
(4) Locate the offender.
(5) Apprehend the offender.
Unless directed otherwise by a supervisor, the:
will act as the custodian of evidence and assume security responsibilities.
primary investigating officer
T/F
Juveniles who are arrested must be advised of their rights regardless of questioning.
True
Audio recordings taken with a digital recording device or other device, where the possibility exists that the recording could have evidentiary value, (shall/should/may) be booked into evidence.
Shall
T/F
Evidence gathered during an administrative investigation shall be treated the same as evidence gathered during a criminal investigation.
True
The evidence shall be retained for a minimum of (#) years or the:
whichever is _______.
five
life of the investigative file
longer
In the investigation of any crime or accident, a Department employee _____ preserve all available evidence.
shall
Evidence is either ______ or _______________.
direct or circumstantial.
T/F
Both direct evidence and circumstantial evidence are acceptable as a means of proof, but direct is entitled to greater weight than the circumstantial.
False: Both direct evidence and circumstantial evidence are acceptable as a means of proof. Neither is entitled to any greater weight than the other.
There are three basic types of evidence:
Testimonial
Documentary
Physical
There are five basic criteria for the evaluation of physical evidence:
a. Relevancy. The evidence must be meaningful and related to the case.
b. Identifiable. The investigator must be able to testify that the evidence is the same as found at the scene.
c. Legally Obtained. The evidence must be obtained legally.
d. Continuity. must be an unbroken chain of possession.
e. Integrity. Evidence must not be contaminated or mixed.
T/F
The drugs or other evidence should remain in the original packaging, be weighed, and then packaged in a departmentally approved manner.
True
Plastic bags shall not be used for packaging of (4):
blood stains, fingerprint evidence, living plant material, or other moist items;
T/F
The evidence officer shall have the “right of refusal” prior to taking custody of any evidence that is improperly packaged.
True
When the Department takes custody of a firearm, a receipt describing the firearm (shall/should/may) be issued to the person who possessed the firearm.
Shall
The receipt shall include the following (5):
a. The make and model of the firearm.
b. The serial number and other identification or markings on the firearm.
c. Where the firearm may be recovered.
d. Any applicable time limit for recovery.
e. The date after which the owner or possessor may recover the firearm pursuant to Section 33850 PC.
Serial numbers on firearms manufactured prior to the Gun Control Act of ____, may be located anywhere on the firearm.
T/F
Serial numbers may not exist on shotguns or .22 caliber rifles.
1968
True
Employees shall place all evidence and property in the evidence/property designated temporary locker prior to:
Employees shall not store evidence or property in:
Evidence/property shall be entered and received into AIS within:
the end of their work shift.
a personnel locker or any other location.
two business days of seizure.
Substances believed to contain phencyclidine, also known as PCP, (shall/should/may) be double bagged.
SHALL
All controlled substances and suspected controlled substances shall be weighed by the investigating officer to determine the ____ weight as found. (Do/Do not) remove the drug from the container in which it was found (e.g., paper bindle, vial, film canister, plastic bag).
net
Do not
All controlled substances and suspected controlled substances shall be weighed, after packaging, by the investigating officer to determine the _____ weight.
gross
With the exception of large quantities (over (#)), pills or capsules will be counted in lieu of weighing and packaged separately by type.
300
Drugs with a street value of _______ or greater (Areas may utilize departmental personnel assigned to local area drug task forces for clarification on drug street values), shall not be stored in an:
$10,000
evidence locker (including pass-through cabinets)
If a firearm cannot be unloaded, due to a mechanical defect, store that firearm _________ and the container (shall/should/may) be labeled “LOADED WEAPON.”
separately
Shall
T/F
The ammunition magazine shall not be unloaded for firearms being submitted for forensic testing.
True
Package ammunition:
using small envelopes.
separately from weapons
If an item is being retained for deoxyribonucleic acid, also known as DNA, evidence, the item should be stored:
frozen and not dried.
Money shall be counted by:
one of whom should be:
Money should be documented on a:
Money in excess of _______ seized as evidence or for safe keeping, shall not be stored in an evidence locker/cabinet (including pass-through cabinets).
two employees,
a supervisor.
CHP 308, Asset Forfeiture Financial Tally.
$1,000,
T/F
All other serialized items, except property held solely for safekeeping, are required to be entered into the APS by the evidence officer, and dispatch shall be requested to notify the reporting agency on stolen serialized items.
True
True
T/F
If an item will need to be fingerprinted, packaging in plastic is the preferred method.
False, packaging in plastic may destroy the prints.
If the item pertains to either a citizens’ complaint or an administrative investigation with the subject being a Departmental employee, this information shall be excluded from the CHP 36, and:
shall be written in the name box instead.
“Administrative-Hold for 5 years”
T/F
If ownership of property is questioned by the investigating officer, the investigating officer shall document, if not all, which property will require proof of ownership from a claimant.
True
The specific location of where properties were located shall be noted on the ____________ ________, and shall be noted on the:
investigation report
CHP 36.
The box just below the recipient signature shall be checked. Item(s) being released (shall/should/may) be photographed prior to release.
Shall
T/F
Whenever evidence is released to an officer for court, the officer shall provide a subpoena for the case. A copy of that subpoena shall be placed in the suspense file with the CHP 36.
True
The memorandum documenting a UTL evidence file shall be kept in the UTL file for (#) years from:
five
the date it was written
T/F
Since all evidence/property is required to be entered into AIS, the CHP 36B shall no longer be used unless AIS is temporarily inoperative.
True
When access is granted for booking employees to enter data into AIS, the property officer shall ensure the booking employee’s security module access for evidence is set to “Allow ____, Allow ______, Allow ______, Allow ______, _____ to their Data”
Read
Insert
Update
Delete
Limit
It shall also notify the owner that the property will be disposed of in ___ _____ if not claimed
60 days
Found property valued at less than $250 must be held for at least ___ _____ unless the owner comes forth and claims the property.
90 days
The CHP 36 forms and all other documents attached to it shall be retained for:
whichever is longer.
the life of the evidence, associated case, citation, investigation report, or other associated documents
Copies of the closed CHP 36 and attached documents should be saved electronically in AIS, then the originals can be __________.
If not maintaining electronically, the original documents shall be retained for the current year plus _____ years from the date the weapons were disposed.
Destroyed
four
If a person notifies the public agency that he or she is unable to retrieve the property within __ days, or have an authorized person retrieve the property, the public agency shall hold the property for not longer than:
60
10 additional months.
Property valued $250 or more and no owner appears and proves his or her ownership of the property within ___ days, the police department shall cause:
If, after ______ days following publication, no owner claims the property and the person who found or saved the property:
the title shall vest in the finder.
90
notice of the property to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation.
seven
pays the cost of the publication
After a drug test Nik-kit is used, employees (shall/should/may) utilize the acid neutralizer.
T/F
This process neutralized the chemicals within the self-contained drug kit, however, it still may not be disposed of in a trash receptacle.
Shall
False, Does neutralize the chemicals, and it may be disposed of in a trash receptacle.
T/F
Eating, drinking, or smoking shall not be allowed in the areas where controlled substances are stored or handled.
True
To comply with the requirement to enter all serialized property, all evidence officers (shall/should/may) receive “Full Access” California Law Enforcement Telecommunications Systems (CLETS) training prior to entering any information into the APS or AFS.
Should
Therefore, all firearms coming into the possession of the Department (shall/should/may) be entered into the Electronic Tracing System (eTrace).
Shall
In order to maintain the user account with ATF, all specified users shall log into, and log out of, the eTrace program, at a minimum, every:
30 days.