(Amended by Ord. No. 151,354, Eff. 9/16/78)
(a) For purposes of this section:
1. “Unclaimed property” shall mean any and all property of others in the possession of the Police Department and for which no claim or demand has been made nor owner found.
2. The Property Division of the Police Department is designated as the “stores agency” for purposes of retention, sale or destruction of unclaimed property.
(b) (Amended by Ord. No. 166,322, Eff. 11/22/90.) Unclaimed property shall be held by the Police Department for a period of at least three months before further disposition as herein provided, provided however that bicycles may be disposed of as set forth in Subsection (c). The Police Department is hereby authorized to thereafter cause such unclaimed property to be processed for public sale, retention or destruction as hereinafter provided:
1. The property may be sold at public auction to the highest bidder upon notice of sale given by the Chief of Police at least five days before the time fixed therefor by publication at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the County of Los Angeles; or that such property is needed and is suitable for public use, it need not be sold. The stores agency may retain the property for use of the Police Department in accordance with Civil Code Section 2080.4 and approved procedures for regulation and use thereof. The procedures shall include a determination by the Department, before the property is placed into service, that
A. expenditures required for its installation, operation, repair and ongoing maintenance will not require further funding approval, or
B. placing the property into service will preclude the need for acquisition of the same or similar property previously approved during the City’s budget process.
Identification of all such property retained shall be submitted with the Department’s next annual budget request.
2. In the event such unclaimed property is neither sold nor retained as above-provided, the stores agency may cause it to be summarily destroyed if it is in a dilapidated, deteriorated, or unsafe condition, or the possession thereof by the public is unlawful.
(c) Unclaimed bicycles may be disposed of in accordance with Subsection (b) or, if the bicycle has a value less than $500 and remains unclaimed for a period of at least 90 days, may be transferred pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 217 to governmental and nonprofit organizations described in said code section for use in programs or activities designed to prevent juvenile delinquency. Before transfer to a governmental or nonprofit organization, the property owner, if known or reasonably can be ascertained, shall be notified as described in said code. (Amended by Ord. No. 185,206, Eff. 11/22/17.)