Will a stolen gun that's recovered by LEO be returned without prompting?

[knobcreeknut]

As long as the serial number is in the NCIC there is always a chance it will be recovered. I just recovered a marlin 25N that was stolen from my grandfather 15 years ago. Turned up when a pawn shop in Louisiana ran it. The ********* that stole it is already out of prison for the theft. Grandpa has been dead since about 6 months after the theft. Sheriffs dept still had my info from when I helped file the report. I had inventoried everything a year before so he had me deal with everything. Gives me a little hope that some of the others might turn up.

 

[pute62]

I had a couple of guns stolen a few years ago. When the first officer on the scene arrived,I provided them with the serial numbers and they told me a detective would be in touch. 2 weeks later, a detective did call to ask if I had the serial numbers on the stolen guns. Gave them the numbers along with photos but never did hear anything back. I did call the property room every few months for about a year to have them run the numbers against what they had recovered. Didn't really help or hurt but I really hoped (and still do) my stainless Marlin 883 bull barrel with a nice matching scope (that i gave $100 for) would turn up. Sadly, all the ammo they stole,was worth more than both guns.

 

[8th SPS USAF]

It depends where you live Lake Co ,they will probably keep it and never tell you, Chicago they will keep it- I know this from a friend that had an NRA weapon recovered and was told ,when trial over you will get it back--well they " LOST" it.

 

[sloughfoot]

I have two experiences with recovered firearms. I was working as the desk sergeant for both. One was a revolver that was reported stolen more than 10 years in the past. It was found in New York and was returned to the Ft Wayne owner. No drama.

The other was a prominent local competition shooter that was the victim of a burglary. Lots of guns were stolen. About a year later, most of his guns were found in a home during the execution of a warrant. Or a drug raid. Or something. I don't really remember.

I do know that the entire Ft Wayne Police Dept celebrated the victory in getting the victims guns back to them. Lots of high fives....

 

[PurduePharmD]

Thanks for all the replies. This forum really serves We the People!

My folks did not pursue an insurance claim as the cost of the firearm was similar to a deductible (seems always the case with insurance). Good point to know for future reference.

I've copied them on the responses.

 

[Deet]

Your story is confusing. How did you know exactly how the theft occurred, if you discovered the theft a good deal later? How did you know it was fired 3 times. What 15 year old kid is savvy enough to know what a 44 special is (which indicates pretty good knowledge of at such a young age) but only fires it 3 pidley times? And what benefit do police have in keeping your firearm, if there's no personal benefit?

After I recovered my gun, I questioned the 15 year old and he told me he climbed thru my window went into my spare bedroom and took the gun. It was a five shot and when he turned it in, there were two unfired rounds still in the gun. He was shooting it at night in the alley and after three shots got nervous and left two rounds unfired. He has been around guns since he was small, and I had showed him this gun, so that's how he knew it was a 44 special. My story is a bit confusing and I apologize for that. The main point is the corrupt Munster cops. Here's why they are corrupt:
They recover a charter arms 44 spl s/n ##### from a resident in the 8200 block of Hohman Ave in Munster.
They get a stolen gun report from a resident in the 8200 block of Hohman Ave in Munster a charter arms 44 spl s/n ##### 3months later.
They did not figure out that the gun they had in lockup was the same gun I was reporting stolen. This either makes them corrupt as hell or stumbling idiots. I don't hate cops, I am respectful of the job they do, but come on this is very bad police work.

 

[ChalupaCabras]

I had a buddy get one of his pistols stolen, and then used to knock over a local diner. The crook was aprehended shortly after with the pistol in his posession. He was tried and sentanced... but the cops held onto his pistol, because the guy had an accomplice still at large, so the "case was still open" and they would not return evidence attached to an "ongoing investigation" - even though no time or resources were being invested in solving the crime. They were just going to wait the guy out, and my buddy was SOL until the last crook stumbled into their hands.

Turned out the other guy they were looking for had been locked up for a different charge accross state lines. OOPS.

He did eventually get it back - but it took 2 years or more to get it.

This either makes them corrupt as hell or stumbling idiots. I don't hate cops, I am respectful of the job they do, but come on this is very bad police work.

Realize it may not be a simple matter of the officer in charge of evidence simply saying "yea, that makes sence" and handing your gun over. There could be policies blocking him from handing it over, or one of his supervisors was not willing to take liability of two similar guns reported being a coincidence.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

Here's why they are corrupt:
They recover a charter arms 44 spl s/n ##### from a resident in the 8200 block of Hohman Ave in Munster.
They get a stolen gun report from a resident in the 8200 block of Hohman Ave in Munster a charter arms 44 spl s/n ##### 3months later.
They did not figure out that the gun they had in lockup was the same gun I was reporting stolen. This either makes them corrupt as hell or stumbling idiots. I don't hate cops, I am respectful of the job they do, but come on this is very bad police work.

You need to look up the definition of corruption and see how it doesn't apply to your scenario. It would apply had the officers knowingly commiserated to keep your gun from you after knowing it was yours. There is no magic 8-ball in property rooms that alerts someone to the fact that a gun recovered was the same one that was stolen. By your own admission your gun wasn't even reported stolen for a significant period of time, so it is entirely possible that the officer that recovered the gun was not the same one that took the theft report.

 

[Deet]

You need to look up the definition of corruption and see how it doesn't apply to your scenario. It would apply had the officers knowingly commiserated to keep your gun from you after knowing it was yours. There is no magic 8-ball in property rooms that alerts someone to the fact that a gun recovered was the same one that was stolen. By your own admission your gun wasn't even reported stolen for a significant period of time, so it is entirely possible that the officer that recovered the gun was not the same one that took the theft report.

But there was a magic eight ball. The recovered gun and the stolen gun where the same make, model and s/n. How much more information would anyone need? And corruption maybe the more logical choice. An uniformed officer was not dispatched to take my report. A detective was sent. The same detective that recovered the found gun my neighbor turned in. But heck, maybe he is the most honest guy in the state, so I retract my comment that he was corrupt. That leaves the alternate explaination that he was a stumbling idiot. I can live with that.

 

[Deet]

I had a buddy get one of his pistols stolen, and then used to knock over a local diner. The crook was aprehended shortly after with the pistol in his posession. He was tried and sentanced... but the cops held onto his pistol, because the guy had an accomplice still at large, so the "case was still open" and they would not return evidence attached to an "ongoing investigation" - even though no time or resources were being invested in solving the crime. They were just going to wait the guy out, and my buddy was SOL until the last crook stumbled into their hands.

Turned out the other guy they were looking for had been locked up for a different charge accross state lines. OOPS.

He did eventually get it back - but it took 2 years or more to get it.



Realize it may not be a simple matter of the officer in charge of evidence simply saying "yea, that makes sence" and handing your gun over. There could be policies blocking him from handing it over, or one of his supervisors was not willing to take liability of two similar guns reported being a coincidence.

I apologize, the ##### for the serial number was because I don't want to publish my s/n over the internet. But the recovered gun and the stolen gun had the exact same serial number. They were not similar they were an exact match. As far as policies blocking him from handing over my gun to me, I prefer to call that horrible police work.

 

[bwframe]

What is required of the firearm's owner to have it released to them from police property?

 

[sloughfoot]

What is required of the firearm's owner to have it released to them from police property?

In my experience, a photo ID. Nothing else.

 

[Denny347]

But there was a magic eight ball. The recovered gun and the stolen gun where the same make, model and s/n. How much more information would anyone need? And corruption maybe the more logical choice. An uniformed officer was not dispatched to take my report. A detective was sent. The same detective that recovered the found gun my neighbor turned in. But heck, maybe he is the most honest guy in the state, so I retract my comment that he was corrupt. That leaves the alternate explaination that he was a stumbling idiot. I can live with that.

Stolen gun hits are NOT retroactive. Meaning, I recover a gun and enter it to property. 3 months later, gun is reported stolen. We would never know. Once in property, it sits awaiting release and locating owner is HELL!!! Trace starts with manufacturer so you understand how time consuming that is. Now IDACS/NCIC does have a memory, if I run a s/n then shortly after it gets entered as stolen, NCIC will alert the entering agency that someone had already inquired about the s/n. However, we are talking a short period of time...3 months is too long.

 

[sloughfoot]

Denny347...It is not worth it. Most people don't understand that after the initial stolen report that is entered into the system by a civilian records tech, the RO has no further interaction with the case.

The system sometimes works very well. Sometimes it doesn't. Miracles happen and sometimes they don't. Nothing is perfect.

 

[Deet]

Stolen gun hits are NOT retroactive. Meaning, I recover a gun and enter it to property. 3 months later, gun is reported stolen. We would never know. Once in property, it sits awaiting release and locating owner is HELL!!! Trace starts with manufacturer so you understand how time consuming that is. Now IDACS/NCIC does have a memory, if I run a s/n then shortly after it gets entered as stolen, NCIC will alert the entering agency that someone had already inquired about the s/n. However, we are talking a short period of time...3 months is too long.

Well now this makes a lot of sense. I had no idea how it worked, but if it indeed works like you described I see how I had to solve this crime instead of waiting for the Police to solve it. I only have one little question, all the police cars have computers, and I assume the station has a computer so how can a report be entered on a computer and not be able to search its own data base. I think even a commodore 64 could find an exact s/n match instead of waiting for NCIC to do it. It makes the police look like they are using 1970 technology to solve crimes. Again stolen report and found report were filed by the same detective. And as stated earlier there was one gun in lockup, seems pretty easy to see if the one gun in lockup is the one gun that was being reported stolen. Just saying.

 

[Deet]

In my experience, a photo ID. Nothing else.

When I called the police station and told them the whole story they said they would have a detective contact me. A week later the detective called and said they have the gun in question, and for me to bring in proof of ownership (receipt/credit card charge etc) to get my gun back. I also needed a photo ID.

 

[Denny347]

Well now this makes a lot of sense. I had no idea how it worked, but if it indeed works like you described I see how I had to solve this crime instead of waiting for the Police to solve it. I only have one little question, all the police cars have computers, and I assume the station has a computer so how can a report be entered on a computer and not be able to search its own data base. I think even a commodore 64 could find an exact s/n match instead of waiting for NCIC to do it. It makes the police look like they are using 1970 technology to solve crimes. Again stolen report and found report were filed by the same detective. And as stated earlier there was one gun in lockup, seems pretty easy to see if the one gun in lockup is the one gun that was being reported stolen. Just saying.

I can only speak about what we do in Indy but reports are passive. I type it in and it just sits in the server waiting for a detective to pull it out and start an investigation...if they bother at all. A found gun or a crime with no suspects never even gets assigned a detective, too busy. US law enforcement are decades behind European LE when it comes to technology, Example, we are upgrading our reporting system after going to it in 2000. A reporting system that was outdated in 2000.

 

[bwframe]

...the detective called and said they have the gun in question, and for me to bring in proof of ownership (receipt/credit card charge etc) to get my gun back...

This is similar to my (years ago) experience retrieving guns from the PD. It is also a current concern for me as most of my current carry guns were legal private sales with no receipts. In lieu of a gun store or personal written receipt, how does one prove ownership to retrieve their property?

 

[MordecuS]

What is required of the firearm's owner to have it released to them from police property?

Photo ID. I then contacted my insurance company to repay them for the compensations. End of story. As long as you can prove to your local law enforcement office that you are the rightful owner of the stolen firearm, they should hand it back over with no more than a signature acknowledging that you are accepting it.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

Well now this makes a lot of sense. I had no idea how it worked, but if it indeed works like you described I see how I had to solve this crime instead of waiting for the Police to solve it. I only have one little question, all the police cars have computers, and I assume the station has a computer so how can a report be entered on a computer and not be able to search its own data base. I think even a commodore 64 could find an exact s/n match instead of waiting for NCIC to do it. It makes the police look like they are using 1970 technology to solve crimes. Again stolen report and found report were filed by the same detective. And as stated earlier there was one gun in lockup, seems pretty easy to see if the one gun in lockup is the one gun that was being reported stolen. Just saying.

The programs we run on the computers in our cars only allow us to run vehicles (VIN and plate) or people. We can't run any serial numbers for property, that has to be done through Control.