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Gayla Robison was named the 2007 Property Technician of the Year and the 2007 Presidential Choice Award winner by the Texas Association of Property and Evidence Inventory Technicians at the October conference in San Antonio. This is Robison’s sixth year as the secretary for TAPEIT.
“The decision to select her as the 2007 TAPEIT Property Technician of the Year was, simply put, a ‘no-brainer,’” said John Vasquez, president of TAPEIT.
The same could be said for the President’s Choice Award, which Vasquez said goes to a person who provides continual support and service and is unselfish in his or her endeavors.
“She is my right-hand person,” Vasquez said. “As secretary, her duties are critical to the daily operations of the association. She spends countless hours, both on and off duty, in support of TAPEIT.”
The statewide association boasts almost 1,000 members from one-person property divisions such as Burleson up to major metropolitan departments such as Houston and Austin. The award for property technician was a unanimous vote.
“These awards mean a lot,” Robison said.
Robison has been a Burleson resident for 30 years. She was hired as a records clerk for the police department in 1995 and took over as the property and evidence technician in 1999. As a one-person division, Robison has to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“You have to be very self-motivated, detailed and organized,” she said.
The chain of custody can make or break a property technician. Robison has to know who had possession of evidence from “life to death.”
She is considered so professional by her peers and local attorneys that Robison has only been called to court to testify about the chain of custody once in eight years. When the department went through a recent reaccreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Robison said her property room was praised for being organized and clean.
She gets her fair share of drugs, guns and stolen property turned in by patrol officers and detectives. The most unusual item in her property room has to be stomach contents from an arrestee.
The confiscated drugs are driven to an Environmental Protection Agency-approved burn facility at least twice a year to be destroyed. Guns, unless reclaimed by the victim, are also destroyed. Any property that was used in the commission of a crime is not returned to the defendant.
Unclaimed bicycles are donated to local charities to fix and pass on to needy children.
Robison has a 15-foot by 25-foot climate-controlled room inside the police station to hold the department’s property and evidence. She has been known to rent a portable storage unit to hold the overflow, especially after a raid.
She says the role of a property technician is becoming more professional, thanks in part to training through TAPEIT. Training for property technicians may soon be required through a state mandate. At this point, technicians rely on each other to learn the ropes and the law. One mistake could send a property technician to jail.
In his nomination letter, Burleson Police Chief Tom Cowan called Robison a “talented professional” who possesses a “strong work ethic and takes pride in a job well done ... her meticulous nature makes her ideally suited for her position.” The chief said Robison “is routinely sought out by her peers, especially those who are just starting out or taking over property room management.”
Robison “goes the extra mile when it comes to answering questions and explaining what to expect,” he said.
Robison is not the only person in her family to work in law enforcement. Her father, brother and husband served as police officers in Oklahoma. Before Robison joined the Burleson department, she worked as a secretary and in sales for a printing company.
She has been married 34 years. Her husband works for a gas well company, and they have a 33-year-old daughter who is a stay-at-home mother to her 4-year-old son and Robison’s “grand dog,” a chocolate Labrador named Deputy. Robison and her husband also have a 26-year-old son who is married.
Melvin McGuire is the sergeant over criminal investigations and is Robison’s immediate supervisor. McGuire said Robison is a true professional.
“Given the complexities and pitfalls associated with maintaining property and evidence it is an absolute must to have a person in that position who is trustworthy, attentive, and organized,” the sergeant said. “Gayla possesses these qualities and has proven herself to be a true professional when it comes to the effective management of property and evidence. Gayla is an important member of the department, and it was nice that she received recognition for her hard work and dedication.”
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