Various definitions and legal principles serve as the basic foundation for police property control systems; these include issues of property and ownership, property in police custody, police investigations and property custody, abandoned property, escheat, lost and mislaid property, civil action for return of property, inventory searches for prisoner's property, and chain of custody. The second chapter deals with issues related to property control policies and procedures, including legal requirements, written directives, and policy development. Subsequent chapters cover inventorying property and evidence, evidence storage and preservation, handling and disposition of property, property records systems, staffing the property control function, and property control audits.