Police Auctions

Many people have heard about police auctions, or seen them in movies. But when looking for one in real life, they may encounter confusion. It can seem difficult to find information on police auctions, or about what types of things can be purchased at these auctions, or to find out how you can get invited to a police auction. The truth of the matter is, anyone can go to police auctions. At these auctions, municipal vehicles and miscellaneous items such as old evidence, unclaimed property, confiscated goods, etc. are sold. Payment methods vary, though most do not accept personal checks. Here are some ways to find police auctions in your community:

The Internet

Generally, information can be found at your local police department’s website. If a link for police auctions is not immediately apparent, you can always type in “police auctions” or simply “auction” into the search bar on the website. This should direct you to web pages with more specific information about auctions in your area, or a current auction list.

Contact Your Local Police Department

You could also call your local police department on the telephone, or the highway patrol or sheriff’s department, and ask to be notified when things, such as vehicles or houses, come up for auction. They will likely be able to tell you when and where auctions are taking place.

The Newspaper

You should also watch you local newspaper, specifically the public announcements section, for auction listing dates. These listings will give information such as time and place of the auction, and may provide contact numbers for further information.

Federal auctions, similar to police auctions but coming from the evidence/vehicles complied by the federal government, can also be found from various agency websites such as the FBI or CIA web pages, and also sites such as USA.gov.

It should be noted that auctions carry a risk to the buyer. Vehicles and other merchandise bought in police auction is sold "as is", so buyer beware. Vehicles, especially, are risky to buy sight useen, without the benefit of test drives etc.