Winnipeg Police Service

About the Service - Evidence Control Unit

Evidence Control Unit | How to Recover Property | Stolen Bicycles
Unclaimed Property | Frequently Asked Questions

How to Recover Property

Contacting Evidence Control Unit

If you know your property has been confiscated by police as a result of a seizure or recovery, please call the Evidence Control Unit at 204-986-6280 to determine if your property is here. We will be happy to check on your behalf to determine if your property is here, however public viewing of recovered property is not permitted.

When you contact our office, please have your occurrence (file) number and other details (i.e. Officer's name, date of event, property description, etc) ready. This will aid our staff in locating your property.

Claiming Recovered Property

Often, each situation requires specific instructions on how property is released.

Normally it takes 48 hours for the property to be retrieved / delivered to our release staging area. Please contact the Evidence Control Unit at 204-986-6280 prior to attending in the event your property is not at our facility. Having as much information as possible (occurrence (file) numbers, names, dates, etc) ready when you call will avoid delays or problems in locating your property.

In some cases, special release procedures are required in order to preserve necessary court evidence for prosecution purposes. Please contact us to ensure your property can be released prior to court and an appointment can be made to perform the release.

In certain circumstances, you may send written authorization with the agent in the form of a letter signed by you. If you have received a letter from us, please read it carefully for special instructions including whether or not an 'agent' attendance is authorized or permitted.

Arrangements can be made (in some circumstances) to have property couriered to out of town residents, however this will be done so at the owner's expense.

Releasing Property After Court Proceedings

Due to the variety of possibilities that exist under these circumstances (nature of offence, type of property, existence of other related charges, other accused persons in same case, etc), there is no consistent way to release property at the conclusion of court proceeding. You may make inquiries with your defence lawyer, the investigating member, etc to obtain direction on retrieving your property. You may also contact us at 204-986-6280 and we can provide further instructions if necessary.

All evidence relating to concluded cases must be held for appeal/retention periods that can run anywhere from one month to several years, depending on the circumstances. In these cases, if the property is requested prior to expiration of those appeal/retention periods, it is usually only released by producing a Court Order in advance of attendance. Again, even these are subject to review prior to release, so there is a chance that it could take several days to resolve.

Firearm Release

Firearms and the acquisition/possession/storage of them, is covered by a variety of legislative requirements. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(a) be the holder of a valid Possession Acquisition License,

(b) have each firearm registered, and

Please read the letter carefully and follow the instructions contained therein. If you are still unsure as to the requirements, or you did not receive a letter from us, please contact us at 204-986-6345 and have the pertinent information ready (i.e. Occurrence (file) number, dates, officer's information, etc). You may also contact the Canadian Firearms Center at 1-800-731-4000.

Property Auctions

Property auctions are held 2 to 3 times per year. Information on these auctions will be announced on this website, papers, radio and T.V. with date, time and location.

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