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About IAPE

The International Association for Property and Evidence, Inc. is a non-profit organization created by and for law enforcement professionals to help establish recommended standards for all property and evidence departments.

IAPE is dedicated and committed to provide education and training pertaining to all aspects of the handling, storage, maintenance and disposal of law enforcement held property and evidence.

Code of Ethics


Steven Berdrow, Board Member, Instructor, CPES
Click to email Steven
Officer Steve Berdrow is a 36 year law enforcement veteran, retired after 25 years with the Burbank, Calf. Police Department. His last assignment was supervisor of the Property and Evidence section and was the manager of all police department facilities, including their new $30 million police and fire headquarters building.

Steve spent nine years as the co-project manager (with IAPE Executive Director Lt. (ret.) Joseph Latta) for the building project, overseeing the design and construction with an emphasis on the technical systems. He also served on the Master Plan Task Force, which is the department’s planning unit. His past accomplishments include the managing of a five million dollar city wide communications system project, and the remodeling of the Communications Center and Property and Evidence Section areas in the old police building.

Officer Berdrow received a Bachelor of Science degree in Police Science and Administration from the California State University at Los Angeles, and holds Advanced and Supervisory certificates from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. He was selected as Burbank Police Officer of the Year for 1998.

Officer Berdrow currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Property and Evidence, has participated in IAPE seminars, and authored several articles for the Association publication “The Evidence Log“. He also is affiliated with Evidence Control Systems, a private consulting firm that conducts property room audits for law enforcement agencies.
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Gordon A. Bowers, Board Member, Instructor
Chief of Police - City of Lakeway, Texas. Chief Gordon Bowers began law enforcement as a volunteer Reserve Police Officer in 1970, before accepting the Chief of Police position in Lakeway, Texas in September, 2005. Previously, Chief Bowers was Burbank, Calif Police Captain.  In addition to Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, Chief Bowers is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, FBI Southwest Command College, and California POST Command College.

Chief Bowers has taught several professional, management, and personal-development topics for the City of Burbank, Glendale Community College, and California State University at Northridge.  He was commended by the California Peace Officers Association for co-authoring model policies on “Conduct Review” and on “Use of Force.”  His articles have been published in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Police Chief, Journal of California Law Enforcement, The Evidence Log, and Pacesetter, and he has been listed in Who’s Who in California.

In Burbank, Chief Bowers actively served his community through the Rotary Club and his local church, and served seven times as emcee of the annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.  He is a Life Member of International Association of Chiefs of Police and of Police Futurists International, and is involved in other organizations as varied as Mensa and the Greater LA Area Press Photographers Association.  He is the only sworn officer and one of just eight total people in the State of Texas holding active Advanced Law Enforcement Planner certification through the International Association of Law Enforcement Planners (IALEP).

Gordon started consulting in 1987 in the areas of policy development, technical writing, photography, and law enforcement professional audits, especially in the property and evidence management field.  In 2004 he was joined by his wife Susan in Bowers Consulting, adding her expertise in manufacturing, management, and non-profit organizations.
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Steve Campbell, Secretary, Instructor
Stephen R. Campbell retired as Chief of Police in Port Hueneme, California in 2000. Prior to his appointment as Chief in December 1997, Steve’s law enforcement career began as a cadet with the Glendale, California Police Department in 1971. His first assignment was as a Property Clerk at the age of 19.

Steve has served on the Board of Directors for the International Association for Property and Evidence, Inc. since the newly constituted board met in April 1997.  For over thirteen years, Steve has instructed with IAPE and has done property room audits for police agencies throughout the United States.

Steve currently serves as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Issaquah, Washington.  He is certified by the International Association of Emergency Managers as an Associate Emergency Manager.

Steve’s bachelor’s degree is in Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco, and has completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California, UCLA and the University of Virginia. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, Class 189.
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Suzanne Cox, Treasurer
Suzanne Cox has been an integral member of IAPE Board of Directors since 1993.  Her primary function has been to handle the finances of the International Association for Property and Evidence, Inc. Ms. Cox was originally recruited by IAPE as its first financial officer because of her reputation offering highly skilled bookkeeping and tax preparation services, and expertise with the unique aspects required for non-profit organizations. 

Ms. Cox has also been an active participant in community affairs, the Chamber of Commerce, Burbank Sunrise Rotary for twenty years, and has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army Burbank Corps for twelve years.  She has served two terms as Chairman of the board.   She has also been involved in many other community organizations, and was selected as Small Business Owner by the Chamber of Commerce in 1993.  Suzanne was also selected as a recipient of Women In Business for the San Fernando Valley in 2003. Her offices are located in Burbank, California.  She is married to a state firearms officer.
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Kevin Fallon, Board Member, Instructor, CPES
Kevin Fallon is a 31 year law enforcement veteran. He served three years as a Court Officer in Brooklyn Criminal Court and has spent the last 28 years in the Suffolk County Police Department in New York where he holds the rank of Deputy Inspector. He is presently assigned to the Patrol Division as Executive Officer in one of Suffolk’s seven precincts.

He has had many assignments in the Suffolk County Police Department including Commanding Officer of the Property Section. Suffolk County Police Department‘s Property Section consists of 18 full time employees, including eight sworn members.

Inspector Fallon holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Bernard Baruch College of the City University of New York. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (201st Session).  He is also a Certified as a Master Police Instructor by the Division of Criminal Justice Services of New York State and has taught numerous courses at various academies and Executive Training Programs.
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Robert E. Giles, President, Instructor
Lieutenant Robert Giles retired from the Burbank Police Department in 2004 after 32 years of service.  Lt. Giles’ varied experience includes assignments as a Bureau Commander in both the investigations and uniform divisions. He obtained specialized experience supervising the Vice/Narcotics Detail, Special Enforcement Detail, Property Crimes Bureau, Communications, and Police Reserve personnel. Lt. Giles developed significant expertise in drug asset forfeiture, Emergency Operations Center activities and was the Administrative Manager of the Burbank Police Department's Special Response Team.

Mr. Giles received both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from California State University, Northridge. He attended the prestigious Delinquency Control Institute at the University of Southern California and the FBI's National Academy, Class #170 at Quantico, Virginia.

The International Association for Property and Evidence, Inc. selected Mr. Giles to serve on its Board of Directors as President from 2003-2005, and has served as Board Secretary for many years. Bob is the current IAPE President and travels frequently to conduct IAPE business and assist in presenting IAPE Property Management Classes throughout the country.  Bob has a close affiliation with Evidence Control Systems; a private consulting firm that conducts property and evidence room audits for law enforcement agencies nationwide.
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William Kiley, Board Member, Instructor
Click to email Bill
William (Bill) Kiley is a retired Deputy Chief who served almost thirty years with the Suffolk County (New York) Police Department, the twelfth largest municipal police agency in the United States. Deputy Chief Kiley, who was appointed as a Police Officer in 1972, had many assignments and numerous ranks in patrol, investigations and support divisions of his department.  He also served as the administrative assistant to the Police Commissioner and as the department’s Public Information Officer. With four years prior experience with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York City Field Office before his career in local law enforcement, and as the regional law enforcement representative for seven states, Deputy Chief Kiley was an advisor to the White House’s Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center (CTAC).

Mr. Kiley served as President of IAPE from 2006 through 2008.  Presently, Mr. Kiley is the President of Kiley Associates, LLC, an Online Learning Consultant firm. Bill is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Educational Technology, at Long Island University as well as teaching in the Criminal Justice program at Suffolk County Community College.  Mr. Kiley holds a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice, a second Master’s degree in Computers in Education and a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioral Sciences.  He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (146th Session) and the Senior Management Institute for Police.  As certified police instructor Mr. Kiley traveled throughout the state of New York lecturing at various academies and at Executive Training programs.

A career U.S. Army Reservist, Kiley retired in 1997 after thirty years of service; he rose through the ranks from Private to Colonel and commanded at every level from platoon to Brigade.  Colonel Kiley is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and a recipient of the Army’s Legion of Merit award.

Active in many professional and community organizations, Mr. Kiley is a Past President of the FBI National Academy Associates, New York State/Eastern Canada Chapter with over fifteen hundred members from various levels of law enforcement.  He has served as the Chairman of the community outreach advisory board for his church.  Bill Kiley is also the past Vice Chairman of the Long Island Chapter of the American Society for Industrial Security.
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Joseph T. Latta, Exec. Dir., Lead Instructor, CPES
Joseph T. Latta, is a retired Police Lieutenant with the Burbank Police Department, Burbank, California. Joe, as he is known in the IAPE Property Management Classes, was in law enforcement from 1968 working uniform, investigations and services. From 1991 to 1998, Lieutenant Latta was project manager overseeing construction of a $30 million Police and Fire Headquarters, and Support Services Lieutenant overseeing the property room. Joe retired in 2001 and has been instructing property and evidence training classes ever since.

In addition to being an IAPE instructor, he was on the faculty of the International Association of Chief's of Police for over fifteen years where he instructed property room management classes. Joseph Latta has also been associated with San Jose State University, Sam Houston State University, Connecticut State Crime Lab, New Mexico State Crime Lab, California’s POST, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Colorado State Patrol, Idaho State Police Academy, New Mexico Municipal League, California Chief of Police, Montana State Crime Lab, and Virginia Department of Forensic Science teaching seminars in Property Room Management. During the past twenty-four years Joseph has instructed over 16,000 students in property and evidence management principals in 46 states and four provinces in Canada.

In January of 1997 Lieutenant Latta was selected as the Executive Director of IAPE.  Joe is also the President of Evidence Control Systems Inc. that provides property room auditing services to law enforcement agencies across the US and Canada.

Joseph Latta has his Associate's Degree in Business Management, Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration, Master's Degree in Public Administration and is a graduate of California's Command College where a two-year research project was conducted in the management of property rooms.
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Robin Lynn Trench, Founder
Our founder and Past-President Robin Trench committed her career to professional property management, and to providing a forum for training sworn and civilian managers, supervisors, and property officers in the fundamentals of property room management. 

Robin’s commitment, dedication and knowledge will be greatly missed. Prior to her untimely death, Robin spent a great deal of time preparing and editing the Evidence Log, in addition to preparing the various workbooks, manuals and handouts needed for the training seminars.

      From an interview with Robin in 1993:

"When I first started in property and evidence, a sergeant showed me to an over stuffed room and said: “Here's the manual, good luck”.  The manual was ten pages long, written in law enforcement jargon, and contained minimal information on how to operate a property room.  It took me weeks to track down laws applied to handling property and then months to understand what they all meant.  After about two years I found I knew everything.  But it wasn't until nearly five years later that I realized I had finally gotten a grasp on just about every possible variation that might come up.  Even now, every once in a while, something new and challenging pops up to see if I'm paying attention to legal details.

In most cases, people hired to handle property and evidence have little actual background in how to accomplish the task.  While many law enforcement academies teach how evidence should be collected, very few teach what to do with it afterward.  The reason is patrol personnel are usually not required to know how to manage and store property and evidence.  Financial transactions of the seventies moved many sworn officers out of property areas and back on patrol.  Instead of a police officer with little training, para-professionals (civilians) with no training were given the task.

      IAPE offers HOPE.  Hope for training and education.  IAPE researches questions and provides options for your consideration.  Through IAPE members know that they have a resource that will help them.  It's like turning on a light in a dark room and finding yourself in a resource library.

      For me personally, IAPE is a win-win situation.  One can never lose through education and learning.  I've found the many professionals I've met to be warm hearted and generous people.  They are generous with knowledge, information and very supportive.

      I think being part of a professional Association should be exciting.  It should be exciting to receive a copy of The Evidence Log, knowing that articles and information are inside that help to make better professionals.  It is fun to read something and realize I forgot I knew that.  It should be exciting to see old friends at a training event, sharing new concepts and ideas.

      About 70 percent of all law enforcement agencies within the United States and Canada are not large enough to justify more than one or two people working the property function.  I think it is exciting to facilitate a class where people compare what they have.  In almost every case, members leave feeling that things are better than they thought.

      I think that learning, education, professionalism, fun and excitement are all important elements that create job success.  I believe in the win-win scenario.  Our success is in providing training and information to more members.”

Robin’s dream will become reality when every law enforcement property officer in the world has access to a forum of other professionals in the field, and a regular magazine to share the joys and struggles of the profession, as well as regular training opportunities presented at accessible locations.
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Joyce Vasquez, Vice President, CPES
Click to email Joyce
Lieutenant Joyce Vasquez’ law enforcement career has spanned over 28 years with the Fresno, California Police Department, and her current assignment is Patrol Field Commander.

Lieutenant Vasquez had primary responsibility for
the Department’s Property and Evidence Unit for over five of those years, during which time she completely reorganized the unit and increased staffing from three to twelve full time positions. 
She also designed a purging procedure that included routine review requirements for detectives, and implemented a bar code system for all evidence.

The Fresno Police Department honored Joyce with the “Outstanding Achievement Award” at its Major Commendation Ceremony, recognizing her dedication above and beyond the normal demands of her duty assignment.

Joyce has returned to Fresno State University to complete her Master degree in Public Administration.  She has a strong desire to continue increasing her own knowledge, and she is equally committed to improving the quality of
the property and evidence profession as she actively pursues teaching opportunities within law enforcement property and evidence systems.
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