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Whenever any member of the uniformed force of the department shall, while in the actual performance of police duty, lose or have destroyed any of his or her personal belongings, satisfactory proof thereof having been shown to the commissioner, such member shall be reimbursed to the extent of the loss sustained, at the expense of the city.
a. To members of force. The commissioner for meritorious and extraordinary services rendered by any member of the force in due discharge of his or her duty, may permit any member of the force to retain for his or her own benefit any reward or present, or some part thereof, tendered him or her therefor; and it shall be cause for removal from the force for any member thereof to receive any such reward or present without notice thereof to the commissioner. Upon receiving such notice, the commissioner may either order the said member to retain the same, or shall dispose of it for the benefit of the police pension fund.
b. To informers. The commissioner shall have authority to offer rewards to induce any person to give information which shall lead to the detection, arrest and conviction of persons guilty of a felony and to pay such awards to such persons who shall give such information. Such a reward shall be offered only if there be an unexpended appropriation therefor. The city shall make the necessary appropriation for such purpose.
a. The commissioner, and his or her deputies shall have the power to issue subpoenas, attested in the name of the commissioner and to exact and compel obedience to any order, subpoena or mandate issued by them and to that end may institute and prosecute any proceedings or action authorized by law in such cases. The commissioner, and his or her deputies may in proper cases issue subpoena duces tecum. The commissioner may devise, make and issue process and forms of proceedings to carry into effect any powers or jurisdiction possessed by him or her.
b. The commissioner, each of his or her deputies, the chief clerk, and the first and second deputy clerks of such department and hearing officers of the division of licenses or any superior officer of the rank of sergeant or above specifically designated by the commissioner, are hereby authorized and empowered to administer oaths and affirmations in the usual or appropriate forms, to any person in any matter or proceedings authorized as aforesaid, and in all matters pertaining to the department, or the duties of any officer or other person in matters of or connected with such department and to administer oaths of office which may be taken or required in the administration or affairs of such department, and to take and administer oaths and affirmations, in the usual or appropriate forms in taking any affidavit or disposition which may be necessary or required by law or by order, rule or regulation of the commissioner for or in connection with the official purposes, affairs, powers, duties or proceedings of the department, or of such commissioner or member of the force or any official purpose lawfully authorized by said commissioner.
c. Any person making a complaint that a felony or misdemeanor has been committed may be required to make oath or affirmation thereto, and for this purpose the commissioner, each of his or her deputies, the chief clerk, or deputy clerks of the department, the inspectors, captains, lieutenants and sergeants shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations.
A copy of the minutes of the commissioner or of any part of such minutes, or of any order or resolution of the commissioner, or of the rules and regulations established by him or her when certified by the commissioner or the chief clerk, or first deputy clerk of the department, may be given in evidence upon any trial, investigation, hearing or proceeding in any court, or before any tribunal, commissioner or commissioners, or board, with the same force and effect as the original.
Whenever any horses used in the department shall have become unfit for use therein, the commissioner, instead of causing such horses to be sold at auction, may transfer such horses to the custody of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, provided such society is willing to accept the custody thereof, to be disposed of in such manner as such society may deem best. If, however, any horse so received into the custody of such society and formerly used in the department shall thereafter be sold by such society, or any profit be derived from its use, the proceeds from such sale or use shall be paid over by such society to the commissioner, for the benefit of the police pension fund.
* Editor's note: In McClendon v. Rossetti, 460 F.2d 111 (2d Cir. 1972), the court held that certain procedures of the police property clerk, which required persons from whom property was taken in the course of an arrest to commence a court proceeding to obtain the return of such property, combined with the provisions of section 14-140(f) of the Administrative Code, which required such persons to prove lawful possession of the property, denied such persons due process of law under the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Subsequent to the McClendon decision, the Police Department and the District Attorneys adopted procedures for claiming property taken or obtained by the police in the course of an arrest which were approved by the McClendon court. These procedures are codified as subchapter B of chapter 12 of title 38 of the Rules of the City of New York.
a. Appointment, duties and security.
1. The commissioner shall employ a property clerk who shall take charge of all property and money hereinafter described.
2. All such property and money shall be described and registered by the property clerk in a record kept for that purpose, which shall contain a description of such property or money, the name and address of the owner or claimant if ascertained, the date and place where obtained or found, the name and address of the person from whom taken or obtained, with the general circumstances, the name of the officer by whom recovered or obtained, the date when received by the property clerk, the names and addresses of all claimants thereto, and any final disposition of such property or money.
3. The property clerk shall have power to administer oaths to and take affidavits and depositions of any person or claimant in all matters pertaining to the powers and duties of the property clerk, and property and money in his or her custody and claims thereto.
4. The commissioner may require and take security for the faithful performance of the duties of the property clerk.
b. Custody of property and money. All property or money taken from the person or possession of a prisoner, all property or money suspected of having been unlawfully obtained or stolen or embezzled or of being the proceeds of crime or derived through crime or derived through the conversion of unlawfully acquired property or money or derived through the use or sale of property prohibited by law from being held, used or sold, all property or money suspected of having been used as a means of committing crime or employed in aid or furtherance of crime or held, used or sold in violation of law, all money or property suspected of being the proceeds of or derived through bookmaking, policy, common gambling, keeping a gambling place or device, or any other form of illegal gambling activity and all property or money employed in or in connection with or in furtherance of any such gambling activity, all property or money taken by the police as evidence in a criminal investigation or proceeding, all property or money taken from or surrendered by a pawnbroker on suspicion of being the proceeds of crime or of having been unlawfully obtained, held or used by the person who deposited the same with the pawnbroker, all property or money which is lost or abandoned, all property or money left uncared for upon a public street, public building or public place, all property or money taken from the possession of a person appearing to be insane, intoxicated or otherwise incapable of taking care of himself or herself, that shall come into the custody of any member of the police force or criminal court, and all property or money of incarcerated individuals of any city hospital, prison or institution except the property found on deceased persons that shall remain unclaimed in its custody for a period of one month, shall be given, as soon as practicable, into the custody of and kept by the property clerk except that vehicles suspected of being stolen or abandoned and evidence vehicles as defined in subdivision b of section 20-495 of the code may be taken into custody in the manner provided for in subdivision b of section 20-519 of the code.
c. Return of property and money to person accused. Whenever property or money taken from any person arrested shall be alleged to have been feloniously obtained, or to be the proceeds of crime, and brought, with all ascertained claimants thereof, and the person arrested, before a judge of the criminal court for adjudication, and the judge of the criminal court shall be satisfied from the evidence that the person arrested is innocent of the offense alleged, and that the property rightfully belongs to him or her, then such judge thereupon, in writing, may order such property or money to be returned, and the property clerk, if he or she have it, to deliver such property or money to the accused person, and not to any attorney, agent or clerk of such accused person.
d. Disputed ownership. If any claim to the ownership of such property or money shall be made on oath before the judge, by or in behalf of any other persons than the person arrested, and such accused person shall be held for trial or examination, such property or money shall remain in the custody of the property clerk until the discharge or conviction of the person accused and until lawfully disposed of.
e. Disposition of property and money.
1. Abandoned vehicles subject to the provisions of section twelve hundred twenty-four of the vehicle and traffic law in the custody of the property clerk shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of such section twelve hundred twenty-four. The city may convert to its own use in any calendar year one percent of any such abandoned vehicles not subject to subdivision two of such section twelve hundred twenty-four which are not claimed. All moneys or property other than abandoned vehicles subject to the provisions of such section twelve hundred twenty-four that shall remain in the custody of the property clerk for a period of three months without a lawful claimant entitled thereto shall, in the case of moneys, be paid into the general fund of the city established pursuant to section one hundred nine of the charter, and in the case of property other than such abandoned vehicles, be sold at public auction after having been advertised in "the City Record" for a period of ten days and the proceeds of such sale shall be paid into such fund. In the alternative, any such property may be used or converted to use for the purpose of any city, state or federal agency, or for charitable purposes, upon consultation with the human resources administration and other appropriate city agencies. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all property or money of a deceased person that shall come into the custody of the property clerk shall be delivered to a representative of the estate of such decedent and if there be no such representative, to the public administrator of the county where the decedent resided. Where moneys or property have been unlawfully obtained or stolen or embezzled or are the proceeds of crime or derived through crime or derived through the conversion of unlawfully acquired property or money or derived through the use or sale of property prohibited by law from being held, used or sold, or have been used as a means of committing crime or employed in aid or in furtherance of crime or held, used or sold in violation of law, or are the proceeds of or derived through bookmaking, policy, common gambling, keeping a gambling place or device, or any other form of illegal gambling activity or have been employed in or in connection with or in furtherance of any such gambling activity, a person who so obtained, received or derived any such moneys or property, or who so used, employed, sold or held any such moneys or property or permitted or suffered the same to be used, employed, sold or held, or who was a participant or accomplice in any such act, or a person who derives his or her claim in any manner from or through any such person, shall not be deemed to be the lawful claimant entitled to any such moneys or property except that as concerns any vehicle taken into custody in the manner provided for in subdivision b of section 20-519 of the code, the authorized tow company shall receive from the department the cost of towing and storage as provided under subdivision c of section 20-519.
2. The commissioner, however, where the property consists of any property that has been used as a means of committing crime or employed in aid or in furtherance of crime or held, used or sold in violation of law, or gambling apparatus or any property employed in or in connection with or in furtherance of any gambling activity, or burglar tools of any description, or firearms, cartridges or explosives, or armored or bullet-proof clothing or motor vehicles, or instruments, articles or medicines for the purpose of procuring abortion or preventing conception, or wines, fermented liquors and other alcoholic beverages and the receptacles thereof, or soiled, bloody or unsanitary clothing, or solids and liquids of unknown or uncertain composition, or opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine or any of its admixtures or derivatives, and other narcotics, or hypodermic syringes and needles, or obscene pictures, prints, books, publications, effigies or statues, or any poisonous, noxious, or deleterious solids or liquids, or any property which in the opinion of the commissioner, is of slight value or the sale of which might result in injury to the health, welfare or safety of the public, may direct and empower the property clerk to destroy each and every article of such nature. If, in the opinion of the commissioner, any such property may be used or converted to use for the purpose of the department or any city, state or federal agency, such property may in the discretion of the commissioner be used or converted to use for any such purpose, and the same need not be sold or destroyed as in this section provided.
3. Perishable property may be sold as soon as practicable on the best terms available and the proceeds of such sale shall be disposed of as in this section provided.
f. Lawful property right to be established. In any action or proceeding against the property clerk for or on account of any property or money in his or her custody, a claimant from whose possession such property or money was taken or obtained, or any other claimant, shall establish that he or she has a lawful title or property right in such property or money and lawfully obtained possession thereof and that such property or money was held and used in a lawful manner. In any such action or proceeding, a claimant who derives his or her title or right by assignment, transfer or otherwise from or through the person from whose possession such property or money was taken or obtained, shall further establish that such person had a lawful title or property right in such property or money and lawfully obtained possession thereof and that such property or money was held and used in a lawful manner.
g. No action for property or money held as evidence. No action or proceeding may be brought against the property clerk for or on account of any property or money held as evidence in any criminal investigation or proceeding until the termination thereof.
h. Preservation of property. Where the property consists of furs or other valuable property that may be subject to deterioration or damage if stored by the property clerk, the property clerk in his or her discretion may store such property with a private concern having special facilities for such storage, and the cost thereof shall be a lien upon such property to be paid by the owner thereof prior to the recovery of such property.
i. Removal and storage charges for motor vehicles and boats.
1. Whenever an abandoned motor vehicle or boat, or a motor vehicle or boat involved in an accident, or a boat found adrift and unoccupied upon the waters of the city of New York which is in the custody of the property clerk, shall be claimed by the owner or other person lawfully entitled to possession thereof, such owner or other person shall not be entitled to the return thereof unless he or she shall first pay to the property clerk a removal charge of twenty-five dollars and a storage charge of five dollars for each day, or fraction thereof, except that in the case of a boat found adrift and unoccupied upon the waters of the city of New York, such storage charge shall not be applied until three days after notice to the owner by registered mail from the property clerk that such boat is in police custody.
2. Whenever a stolen motor vehicle or boat, which is in the custody of the property clerk, shall not be removed by the owner or other person lawfully entitled to possession thereof within three days after notice by registered mail from the property clerk, such owner or other person shall not be entitled to the return thereof unless he or she shall first pay to the property clerk a storage charge of five dollars for each day, or fraction thereof, after the expiration of such three-day period.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs one and two of this subdivision, where the department has incurred charges for removal and storage of an abandoned or stolen motor vehicle pursuant to subchapter thirty-one of chapter two of title twenty of the code, an owner or other person lawfully entitled to possession of such motor vehicle shall not be entitled to the return thereof unless he or she shall first pay all such charges incurred by the department pursuant to such subchapter thirty-one together with any applicable storage charge provided for in this subdivision.
4. The removal and storage charges provided by this subdivision, or incurred by the department pursuant to subchapter thirty-one of chapter two of title twenty of such code, as applicable, shall be a lien upon such motor vehicle or boat and the property clerk shall refuse to return such motor vehicle or boat until such charges are paid, except that where such motor vehicle or boat is the property of an estate administered by a public administrator, the removal charge and the storage charge shall be general claims against the estate of the deceased.
5. The property clerk shall not require the payment of any charges provided by this subdivision for the removal or storage of any motor vehicle or boat in his or her custody while it is held as evidence in a criminal investigation or proceeding.
6. It shall be the duty of the property clerk to keep a complete record of the moneys collected pursuant to this subdivision. Such moneys shall be paid into the general fund of the city established pursuant to section one hundred nine of the charter.
j. Property and money desired to be produced in criminal court. If any property or money placed in the custody of the property clerk shall be desired to be produced as evidence in any criminal court, such property or money shall be delivered to any officer who shall present an order to that effect from such court. Property or money used as evidence in any criminal court shall not be retained in such court but shall be turned over as soon as practicable to the property clerk to be disposed of according to the provisions of this section.
k. Public administrators not affected. Nothing in this section shall in any way contravene, modify or repeal any existing provision of law, general, special or local, relating to the jurisdiction, powers, privileges, personnel, duties and functions of any public administrator.
(Am. L.L. 2017/131, 8/8/2017, eff. 8/8/2017; Am. 2021 N.Y. Laws Ch. 322, 8/2/2021, eff. 8/2/2021)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1987/028.
The members of the force while on duty in the city and whenever in any other part of this state, shall possess all the common law and statutory powers of constables, except for the service of civil process, and any warrant for search or arrest, issued by any judge of this state, may be executed, in any part thereof, by any member of the force.
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