Personal Effects Process

Personal effects (PE) describe an individual’s belongings which are located with or near them at the time of an incident. These include clothing, work items, personal mementos, photographs, letters, and children’s toys.  They also include checked luggage on a doomed airliner or belongings left in hotel room.

Following an incident, belongings from the site are collected and transported to a secure facility.  In some cases law enforcement or other investigative agencies may first go through the items to check for evidence or information that might help determine the cause of the incident. Other specific information, such as the weight of the items may need to be collected.  Concurrently, as the human remains are examined in the temporary or disaster morgue, personal effects are also recovered. These too may also need to be examined by law enforcement or investigators.

As personal effects are inventoried, they are categorized as either associated or unassociated.  Associated items are those belongings found on an identified person or that have a clear and legible name or other identifying feature (Associated PE.) Unassociated items are those recovered from human remains that are not identified or do not have a clear or legible identifying feature (Unassociated PE.)

As families gather at the family/humanitarian assistance center and are interviewed, they are also briefed about the personal effects recovery and return process.  Their level of participation and contact information is entered into the central database. 

For those families that wish to be involved, they are notified as associated items are recovered.  They are asked for disposition instructions concerning those items.  Typical choices include, having the items returned or destroyed.  Those items that are unassociated are documented in a pictorial catalogue. Families that wish to receive the catalogue are given a set period to review it and make claims (Personal Effects Process. Part 1 - Part 2)

The personal effects process is very detailed and requires experience and specialized resources.  Most governments have realized this and bring in specialized teams to manage this process while others require that local law enforcement agencies manage the entire process.  While law enforcement has experience with evidence, the return of personal effects is different and accordingly should be managed differently.  For many families, the people involved in returning the personal effects are seen as the face of the entire system. The value of returning the personal belongings and the interaction between the families and those caring for the personal effects is very important.