Property recovery

If you know your property has been confiscated by police as a result of a seizure or recovery, please call the Evidence Control Unit at 204-986-6280 to determine if your property is here. We will be happy to check on your behalf to determine if your property is here, however public viewing of recovered property is not permitted.

When you contact our office, please have your occurrence (file) number and other details (i.e. Officer's name, date of event, property description, etc) ready. This will aid our staff in locating your property.

In some cases, special release procedures are required in order to preserve necessary court evidence for prosecution purposes. Please contact us to ensure your property can be released prior to court and an appointment can be made to perform the release.

In certain circumstances, you may send written authorization with the agent in the form of a letter signed by you. If you have received a letter from us, please read it carefully for special instructions including whether or not an 'agent' attendance is authorized or permitted.

Want to know if the item you plan to buy has been reported stolen? The Canadian Police Information Centre provides an online resource you can use to to find out. Searches can be done on property, vehicles, bikes, boats and firearms.

Stolen bicycles

If you're bike has been stolen, you must report your bike lost or stolen to the police. It is advisable that you record and report the serial number to aid in the potential recovery of the bike. The better the description you can provide the better the chance of recovery/identification.

It's recommended to register your bicycle for free with 529 Garage.

If your bike has been stolen, your first course of action should be to make a report.
You can:

Before making your report, have your bike’s serial number and any unique marks/engravings (distinguishable meaning unique to that individual bike, not a group of bikes) that will aid us matching your report to the bikes we find. The officer taking your complaint will ask you for this information.

S/he will be able to search our record systems almost immediately. Keep in mind that if you have unique descriptors but no serial number, it will likely be in our records system and can be found that way,

Viewing recovered bicycles

Our members do recover a number of bicycles throughout the year and each one is entered into our database with the aim of matching them with their rightful owner.

Some bikes end up in our Evidence Control Unit. This facility is a secure facility, meaning access to the general public is not permitted.

If you have reported a complete detailed description of your bike, our staff may be able to find your bike when new bikes come in. If they do, you will be notified.

Unclaimed Property

With some restrictions and conditions, finders are permitted to claim property if it is unclaimed by an owner after 30 days. It is the finders responsibility to contact the Evidence Control Unit at P1 - 266 Graham Avenue, 204-986-6280, in order to make arrangements to pick up the found property in the event the owner does not claim it.

The following describes return restrictions and includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Firearms/ammunition/fireworks (including air rifles/ammo) of any kind are not returned to finders.
  • Anything which would bring discredit to the police or hinder police efforts to make Winnipeg a safe community (i.e. pornographic materials, radar detectors, liquor/alcohol, prescription and non-prescription narcotics/pills, unsafe products of any type, etc) are not returned to finders.
  • Cash amounts less than 25 dollars are not returned to finders.
  • Any items that are prohibited to possess (prohibited knives, etc) are not returned to finders.
  • Hazardous goods of any kind (including blood contaminated products and other biohazards) are not returned to finders.
  • Any item that a lawful owner has been identified for, but is unclaimed (includes wallets and contents, purses, tote bags, etc) are not returned to finders.
  • Any technical product that contains information therein that could potentially result in private information being released to a third party unknowingly (ie. computers, gaming consoles, cell phones, personal organizers and in some cases digital cameras (dependent on content/deletion capabilities), etc. are not returned to finders.
  • Unsafe item(s) or anything that cannot be proven as safe to use/operate such as Baby seats, strollers, motorcycle helmets, etc. are not returned to finders.
  • Anything else, at the discretion of Property staff, that is considered not suitable for return for a variety of reasons/circumstances not covered above. In these cases you may contact our office for an explanation if required.

Dropping off video surveillance or counterfeit money at a Winnipeg Police Service Station drop box

If you have surveillance video footage or counterfeit money, it may be brought to any of our  district stations  and put in the drop box.

Prior to attending the station please complete the following:

  • Make a Police report (online if applicable* or with an officer), ensuring the report advises that surveillance video exists.
  • Make two (2) digital copies of the surveillance footage on USB memory stick on DVD (digital media will not be returned).

After making an online report about counterfeit money, you can deliver the money to the drop box, following the same process as with video surveillance.

Exhibit envelopes will be provided at the drop box and you will be required to fill out the boxes on the envelope, including:

  • Your Name
  • Phone Number
  • Address
  • Email Address
  • Police Incident Number (e.g. C240001234 / E24000567 / R24000899)
  • Date and time dropped off
  • Name or Badge Number of the officer directing you to the station (if applicable)

Digital media or counterfeit currency should be sealed into the envelope and deposited in the drop box.

Loss prevention officer or an owner of a store or business

  • The report can be made as directed above. Please bring a copy of your internal store or loss prevention report when dropping off your surveillance footage at the Winnipeg Police Service Centre.

Please connect with us virtually if you have further questions. The video “Enquiry” stand in the foyer is available daily, between 8am and 4pm.

Dropping off found property at a Winnipeg Police Service Station drop box

The citizen self-serve drop box may be used to drop off found property at any of our district stations and put in the drop box..  Items such as wallets, identification, or other similar objects may be deposited in the self-service drop box. 

Items must be able to fit into a standard 9”x12” (22cmx30cm) letter sized envelope, and must be no thicker than 1.25” (3 cm).

The following items are prohibited

  • Weapons
  • Drugs
  • Needles
  • Chemicals
  • Any other items posing a health or safety risk.

Prior to attending the station please complete the following:

  • Make a Police report (online if applicable* or with an officer), ensuring the report includes the location you found the item.

Exhibit envelopes will be provided at the drop box and you will be required to fill out the boxes on the envelope, including:

  • Your Name
  • Phone Number
  • Address
  • Email Address
  • Police Incident Number (e.g. C240001234 / E24000567 / R24000899)
  • Date and time dropped off
  • Name or Badge Number of the officer directing you to the station (if applicable)

When handling found evidence:

  • Try to handle it as little as possible in an attempt to preserve any possible evidence it may provide.
  • Store it in a paper or plastic bag.

Please connect with us virtually if you have further questions. The video “Enquiry” stand in the foyer is available daily, between 8am and 4pm.

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