The police, or the law enforcement agencies of a particular country, can only legally seize property that has been used or suspected of being used in the commission of a crime. This means any possessions like cars, motorbikes, planes, mobile phones, cash, computers or literally any property that has been used or might have been used for criminal purposes, must be taken from the person involved. However, this does not mean that the police can just take anything that they see, wherever it may be. They have to follow the letter of the law and only seize property that was used for suspected criminal activities.
In order to understand what type of goods the police seize, it helps to understand what types of properties are considered to be “seized.” Common seized goods include things like drugs, stolen property, counterfeit goods, weapons and digital communications on mobile phones and computers, for example. To keep evidence secure, police will use Security Seal and other protective devices when storing sensitive seized goods. Find out more at acmeseals
In order to figure out what type of goods to seize, the police will look at several factors. For example, could the item be linked to criminal activity? They must also believe that these items must be seized to prevent them from being discarded, destroyed, stolen or tampered with. This would make proving that a crime took place all the more difficult to prove beyond reasonable doubt.