Sac PD take shotgun for "safe keeping"

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This story was taken from Sac PD's website, so it's not the usual suspected slant from a main stream news media. I'm sure there's a story behind it that's not totally revealed here, but this is still news to me that you can ask the cops to keep your weapons safe.

09-170376, Disturbance Call Involving Weapons, 3300 block Gillespie St, 0508,

Officers responded to a residence where subjects were possibly firing off a rifle. Officers located the possible residence. Officers Spencer, Longanecker and Barrett gained entrance into the residence. There were 6 subjects inside who had been partying all night. The resident owned a shotgun, but indicated that nobody had fired it off. Officers could not determine if this residence was involved. The resident did volunteer to have the SPD book his firearm for safe keeping. The weapon was booked into property.

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:banghead:

I will say the same thing I said to the Undersecretary of Defense one time on guard duty when he asked to enter the weapons area "Hell no, Sir." (or was that Deputy or something. I don't remember but he was pissed and wanted to kick me out of the Army until the Brig General with him reminded him I was doing my job correctly by telling him no.)

To get back a small amount of credibility I believe that at the time it was William Cohen? that was the SecDef at the time? '97.

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I'm unsure of the point of your post. cops take stuff into safekeeping all the time. Cars, bikes, wallets and phones and guns and you name it. Its all part of the community care taker thing. Folks bring stuff to the cops to dispose of all the time too. Cops will do darn near anything if you ask politely enough. I can't tell you the number of pot pipes people have asked me to dispose of for them.

So the drunks are out their guage for this night. If they are the party poppers they got off light and will get their toy back. if they weren't the noise makers they weren't going dove hunting that night anyway and will get their toy back.In this case its not hard to imagine the cop smelling a hot and smokey shotgun while facing a fist full of drunk morons, knowing that his chances of making an arrest stick on any of the aforementioned drunk morons falls in the range of slim to noneand suggesting in a loving and respectful way that it would be so much more pleasant for all involved if Mr. Shotty had a sleep over at the police station so that Mr.Police could go about his merry way rather than spend the next few hours making everybody generally unhappy for no real result.

The peace was kept, the community cared for and the JBTs earned their chunk of your tax dollars. happy day all around.

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I suspect that the "gained entrance into the residence" and "did volunteer to have the SPD book his firearm for safe keeping" involved just about the same about of "voluntary": zilch.

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"Cops will do darn near anything if you ask politely enough."

Oh kind and benevolent Grumpycoconut, sir, would you pretty please with sugar on top, paint my house? It really needs a couple of coats.

(was that politely enough? no? dang...guess that is the darn-near part)

I thought it was worth a shot.

I agree with you, it sounds like it was a win-win-win situation with the partiers, LEOs and the rest of the public. It would be interesting, though, to see what happens when the owner shows up at 555 Sequoia Pacific Blvd. Will it be as simple as, "here's my receipt, please return my scattergun"?

Inquiring minds want to know.

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I dug a little deeper into the "how do you get your stuff back"...

What bugs me about this "safekeeping", while well intentioned, is how you have to go through another background check TWICE before they give you your property back.

The following two sections are from the Sacramento PD website: http://www.sacpd.org/stayinformed/faq/evidence/

"Safekeeping

Safekeeping items are those held for the owner for various reasons and are not intended to be used as evidence in a criminal case. The owner has 60 days to claim the items once he/she has been informed in writing as to location and other information. Without written notification, items are held 60 days from the date of the booking. Unclaimed items are disposed of in accordance with California law.

All illegal weapons, ammunition, drugs or narcotics which are confiscated, found, or otherwise turned into the Sacramento Police Department will be destroyed.

Weapons turned in or taken for safekeeping due to a domestic violence incident (I wonder how thisincident was classified?)or an incident where the person is taken in for psychiatric evaluation may be retrieved from the Evidence & Property Section when certain conditions are met and after receiving clearance from the California Department of Justice (DOJ). Weapons unclaimed after 180 days will be destroyed. For contact information, see the paragraph titled "Release of Firearms" on the following page.

Items held for safekeeping, found property, recovered, and cleared stolen property are released to their owners, upon proof of ownership. If unclaimed, these items are eventually sold at auction. Some items in dangerous or unusable condition will be destroyed. "

Even though no one was charged with domestic violence or taken in as a psych eval, the next part about "release" really sticks in my craw.

Release of Firearms

California law requires that any time a firearm is reclaimed from a law enforcement agency, the owner must undergo a background check by the California Department of Justice (DOJ). This is done by contacting DOJ at (916) 263-4887. They will provide information on how to file an application for a firearm release. After DOJ conducts a background check, they will provide a letter to the applicant authorizing him/her to own/possess firearms. An additional check will be made when you come in to claim the weapon. This is to ensure that there hasn't been a change to your record since the DOJ check. Be prepared to wait up to one hour. Information is available at the California Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms.

If the firearm has been taken as evidence in a crime or suspected crime, clearance may have to be obtained from the investigating officer.

I would guess that the background checks aren't free. I also wonder if the officers told the gun owner, "We can take that into safekeeping for ya, but it will cost you another pair of background investigations and fees and time to get it back".

Anyone have experience with this who can point out any errors in my post? Do they inform you of the cost in time and money if they take your weapon in forsafekeeping? Is it explained on the receipt that you might sign?

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I would absolutely never offer a firearm I owned to a law enforcement officer for "safe keeping"...the person involved in the story who offered his firearm for "safe keeping" was an idiot...if that had been my house they would not have gained entry voluntarily--refuse consent to any search....


this is just sad.:banghead:

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As someone previously pointed out, there's a decent chance the entry and seizure were not voluntary. Some cops are just bad people. Once a victim of LE 'creative report writing', I am skeptical of any claims made by LE.

Scenario 1 - cop seizes firearm, lies in his report that owner "voluntarily requested" him to do so.

Scenario 2 - cop tells drunk gun owner, "either you sign this consent form or I arrest you and seize your gun anyhow." (Drunk gun owner signs off, knowing nobody would believe him over a LEO even if he were sober.)

Scenario 3 - Drunk gun owner gave consent and all is on the up-and-up.

We'll probably never know.

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CA_Libertarian wrote:

As someone previously pointed out, there's a decent chance the entry and seizure were not voluntary. Some cops are just bad people. Once a victim of LE 'creative report writing', I am skeptical of any claims made by LE.

Scenario 1 - cop seizes firearm, lies in his report that owner "voluntarily requested" him to do so.

Scenario 2 - cop tells drunk gun owner, "either you sign this consent form or I arrest you and seize your gun anyhow." (Drunk gun owner signs off, knowing nobody would believe him over a LEO even if he were sober.)

Scenario 3 - Drunk gun owner gave consent and all is on the up-and-up.

We'll probably never know.

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That is exactly why if and when anyone talks to the police--they should say absolutely as little as possible--to never consent to any searches, and if law enforcement asks for permission to come in--JUST SAY NO.....never voluntarily let them into your place of residence, and never consent to any searches and remember--generally speaking nothing you say can ever be used to help you--but can always be used against you.

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grumpycoconut wrote:

I'm unsure of the point of your post. cops take stuff into safekeeping all the time. Cars, bikes, wallets and phones and guns and you name it. Its all part of the community care taker thing. Folks bring stuff to the cops to dispose of all the time too. Cops will do darn near anything if you ask politely enough. I can't tell you the number of pot pipes people have asked me to dispose of for them.

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The point of my post was informational. What you derive from it is up to you. Some folks dug a little deeper and produced more info from it that may benefit them in the future. You see it it as a common occurance, however it seemed odd to me.

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nukechaser wrote:

"I agree with you, it sounds like it was a win-win-win situation with the partiers, LEOs and the rest of the public.

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Definitely a good preventative measure to avoid one of the partiers from becoming a goof with gun.

The owner should get his gun back on demand, of course.

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Something tells me he isn't getting his shotgun back. Got to keep those guns off the street. Even though it was inside this person's home. What's that? You are doing nothing wrong? Why don't you give me your car for safe keeping just in case. Now you can't go out and hit a bus full of nuns and priceless art. No drunk driving, no burned Picassos, the cops earned their paychecks.