The DA Form 4002 evidence/property tag is completed in ink by the military police officer or special agent who physically collects the item, filled in with a document number, item number, description, location, date and time, and collector information, then secured through the tag’s reinforced eyelet to the evidence or its container. The tag stays with the item from seizure through storage and final disposition, and Army regulations require you to individually mark the item itself in addition to attaching the tag.
What the Tag Is For
The tag has one job: identifying items that are found, seized as evidence, or received by military police for safekeeping. It is prepared as a single copy.1Integrated Publishing. Figure 1-20 DA Form 4002 The person who physically collects the evidence is the one who fills it out and attaches it. Not a clerk back at the office, and not someone reading a written description secondhand.2Integrated Publishing. Figure 1-1 DA Form 4002 Evidence Property Tag
Complete the tag in ink or by typewriter. Pencil is not acceptable because it can be altered.
How to Fill Out Each Field
Every field on the tag ties back to the investigative record or to something a witness may need to testify about later. Accuracy matters at each one.2Integrated Publishing. Figure 1-1 DA Form 4002 Evidence Property Tag
Document Number. A single-digit number representing the document sequence for the year, followed by a hyphen and the last two digits of the year. For example, “7-9X” would be the seventh document in 199X. This number ties the tag to the corresponding investigative report.
Item Number. Each piece of evidence gets its own sequential number. If you seize a knife and a shirt from the same scene, the knife might be Item 1 and the shirt Item 2. The number cross-references with the item listing on DA Form 4137.
Description of Property. Write a thorough physical description: make, model, serial number, color, condition, and any distinguishing marks or damage. The goal is for someone who has never seen the item to pick it out of a room full of similar objects.
Location Found. Record the precise spot where you recovered the item. A specific room, a vehicle compartment, a grid coordinate, or a desk drawer. Vague entries like “barracks” invite challenge at trial.
Date and Time. Note the exact date and time of collection. Including the minute helps establish that any search or seizure fell within the scope of the authorization.
Collector Information. The rank, name, and unit of the person who collected and tagged the item. This person may be called as a witness, so accuracy here is not optional.
Mark the Item Itself, Not Just the Tag
This is where investigators trip up most often. Attaching a completed DA Form 4002 does not, by itself, satisfy the requirements of AR 195-5. Each piece of evidence or sealed evidence container must also be individually marked for future identification.3Public Intelligence. ATP 3-39.10 Police Operations Tags can fall off, get separated during transport, or become illegible. The marking on the item is the backup.
Standard practice is to write the collector’s initials along with the time, date, and location of collection on the container rather than directly on the evidence whenever possible.3Public Intelligence. ATP 3-39.10 Police Operations For items placed in heat-seal bags, the tag printed on the bag can replace the adhesive label, but the individual marking requirement still applies.
Firearms and Ammunition
Weapons need extra care. Before collecting a firearm, unload it and place it in a safe condition. If your agency requires direct marking on the weapon, do so inconspicuously. One common method uses a diamond- or tungsten-tipped machinist’s scribing tool to inscribe the collector’s initials inside the trigger guard.4National Institute of Justice. Firearms Examiner Training Collection of Evidence
Fired bullets should be marked only on the base of the projectile. Never mark the bearing surface. That surface is critical to forensic identification, and marking it can ruin the examiner’s ability to match the round to a weapon. Fired cartridge cases get marked inside the mouth or on the side near the mouth. Ammunition removed from a weapon should be packaged separately and labeled to indicate which firearm it came from.4National Institute of Justice. Firearms Examiner Training Collection of Evidence
Small and Hazardous Items
For narcotics, jewelry, and other small items, place the evidence inside a heat-sealed plastic bag with the tag visible through the packaging or secured to the exterior. Hazardous materials like chemical samples or biological evidence should be double-contained and labeled with appropriate hazard warnings in addition to the standard tag.
Attaching the Tag
The tag has a reinforced eyelet designed for threading wire or durable string. Feed the wire through the eyelet and fasten it to the evidence container or directly to the item. Use the eyelet. Punching a new hole through the cardboard weakens the tag and increases the chance it tears away during handling or transport.
For bagged evidence, the tag can go inside a transparent pouch attached to the bag’s exterior, or be placed inside the bag itself before sealing. Either way, the tag information needs to be readable without opening the container. Once the tag is secured, move the item to the temporary holding area or deliver it directly to the evidence room for intake.
Fixing Mistakes on the Tag
Mistakes happen at crime scenes. If you write the wrong item number or misspell a serial number, draw a single line through the error so the original text remains readable, write the correction nearby, and initial and date the change. Never use correction fluid or scratch out the original entry. Concealing what was originally written raises questions about the tag’s integrity and gives a defense attorney an opening to challenge the evidence. The same single-line-through method applies to corrections on DA Form 4137.
If the tag is damaged beyond legibility or soaked through, prepare a new tag with the same information. Note on the DA Form 4137 that the original tag was replaced, why, and when. Keep the old tag with the case file rather than discarding it.
The Tag Works With DA Form 4137
DA Form 4002 identifies the evidence. It does not track who handles it. That is the job of DA Form 4137, the Evidence/Property Custody Document, which functions as a receipt recording chain of custody, the authority for final disposition, the actual disposition, and any witnesses involved.5Integrated Publishing. Part I Property Receipt DA Form 4137 The two forms work as a pair: the tag stays on the item, and the custody document creates the paper trail of every transfer.1Integrated Publishing. Figure 1-20 DA Form 4002
Every person who takes possession of the item signs and dates the DA Form 4137, noting the reason for the transfer and where the handoff occurred. Document every handoff with no breaks in the timeline.
Intake at the Evidence Room
The tagged item goes to a secure, controlled-access evidence room. The evidence custodian logs it into a permanent tracking system using the document number, item number, and description from the tag. Quality control at intake means verifying that each item is properly packaged, marked, and documented before it goes on the shelf.3Public Intelligence. ATP 3-39.10 Police Operations Do not leave the evidence room until the custodian confirms the intake is complete and the DA Form 4137 reflects the transfer.
What Happens to the Tag at Disposition
Once the item has no further investigative or legal value, the evidence custodian initiates final disposal. The individual authorized to grant final disposal authority, usually the Staff Judge Advocate, signs off on what happens to the property.1Integrated Publishing. Figure 1-20 DA Form 4002
Property belonging to a victim or suspect may be returned to the owner. Contraband and items with no lawful owner are typically destroyed. When evidence is slated for destruction, the DA Form 4137 records the item number and the method, for example “ITEM 1 – BURN,” and a witness to the destruction signs the form with their name, organization, and signature.1Integrated Publishing. Figure 1-20 DA Form 4002 The tag itself stays in the case file with the completed DA Form 4137 as a permanent record of what happened to the item from collection to final action.