More Than 1,000 Contraband Items Destroyed By Oxford Police Department

BY ALTHEA E. PERLEY
Miami University journalism student

The Oxford Police Department just completed some serious house cleaning.

OPD destroyed more than 1,000 contraband items with no evidentiary or monetary value. The move followed an Oct. 4 resolution from Oxford City Council, authorizing the police chief, finance director or their designee to dispose of contraband no longer needed as evidence.

The process started after OPD Properties Custodian Perry Gordon wrote a memo to Police Chief John Jones, on Sept. 28.

"The items...in the possession of the Oxford Police Division have been identified as forfeit, unlawful to use or possess, or unclaimed," Gordon said. "I recommend they be accepted for destruction."

Gordon said OPD tries to clean out their evidence room twice a year, but that the Oct. 11 clean-out was larger than most.
“The evidence room is a high liability area, you need a very detail-oriented person to work there," Jones said.

All evidence obtained by OPD is stored in either the evidence room at the police station, 11 S. Poplar St., or at a secondary impound room, at the OPD storage yard.

“It’s not like you see on CSI, where everything is high tech. This is a typical police department storage room," Gordon explained.

Given OPD's home -- where some 16,000 Miami University students reside nine months a year -- fake identifications and alcohol made up a large amount of the destroyed evidence. Also disposed of was a long list of illicit drugs, prescription drugs and drug-related instruments. So, too, was a vacuum cleaner, flat screen TVs, chain saw and game controllers -- all pieces of evidence from now-closed investigations.

OPD disposes evidence in two ways.

Prescription drugs are often brought to the police because owners of the drugs "don’t want them in their house anymore, or don’t want anyone to get their hands on them by accident," Gordon said. The police department accepts them -- no questions asked. After that, they send them to the Drug Enforcement Agency to be destroyed.

When drugs like marijuana are confiscated, they are locked into a drug locker in the back of the evidence room. Once the relevant case is closed, the OPD transports the marijuana to the Miami steam plant on Western Campus. Marijuana from both OPD and the Miami police department are then incinerated at a future date.

Other evidence no longer needed in cases -- which are not considered contraband -- are either donated to the city for auction or thrown away.

Although contraband takes up a majority of the evidence room, another large section is designated for rape kits.

A little over a year ago Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine extended the statute of limitations for rape cases from 20 to 30 years. That means sexual assault cases are now open for prosecution for 30 years after a rape kit is created.

Rape kits from 2010 to the present date fill two shelves in the OPD storage room at the Oxford police station. Older kits are held at the other OPD storage location.

Because OPD is constantly taking in new evidence, meticulous record-keeping is very important. Some property sits for extended periods of time depending on the case. Sometimes it gets pushed to the back of the room when more pressing matters come up, but everything is catalogued.

Oxford City Manager Doug Elliott is pleased with OPD's protocols.

"They are doing a great job handling all cases and evidence," he said.

Photo: Oxford offers a "little place" for evidence at the police department offices. -- Photo by Althea E. Perley