Approve Request To Sell Surplus Equipment

The City of Ramsey Policy for Donation of Surplus Equipment to a Nonprofit Organization defines "Surplus Equipment" under section (b) as, "Unclaimed, lost, or confiscated property which has been retained by the Police Department for over 90 days. This shall include, but is not limited to, unclaimed bicycles and other non-evidentiary items." The policy goes on to say in section (3), "Surplus Equipment that is not donated may be sold, recycled or discarded in the discretion of the City Clerk."

Staff is requesting the Council declare the following property surplus and authorize the disposal/sale of the same:

• Ten (10) catalytic converters, photo attached.

The catalytic converters were confiscated by the police department during investigations as suspected stolen property. The police case numbers are 21-037669, 21-282354, 22-043961, and 23-118835. The police department was unable to identify the owners of these ten catalytic converters to prove that they were stolen property. Therefore, these items are not evidence in these cases. The suspect(s) in the cases who had possession of the items before they were confiscated by the police department did not claim them, and they are now deemed unclaimed. Due to the nature of these items and to prevent them from going back into circulation in our community, staff recommends forgoing the sale-at-auction and selling the items to a metal recycling company.

A newspaper notification is not required in this case, as these will be sold rather than auctioned.

If the items cannot be sold or are deemed to have no value, they will be recycled.

The funding to transport these items to be sold is considered part of staff's regular duties.
The funds received from the sale of these items will be deposited into the city's general fund.