It is not common to have multiple items of property with the same property numbers, whether those items were numbered intentionally or otherwise. ARMS allows these practices for those departments that would like all property items associated with a single case record or CAD event to share the same number. Doing so may offer some advantages when searching for property items by case, CAD, or property number, but at the same time, may cause some confusion.
If the user has the necessary permissions, they can manually change these duplicate numbers.
Example: Given we have three pieces of property all numbered 11145; we can query the property file (ARMS Records System>>Property/Evidence: then hit the Look Up button) for those items with a search by property number:
After our results are returned in the data grid, we can see all the property items set are numbered 1115. And by double-clicking on one of the records in the data field, we will see all the details of their property record populate into the original property or evidence window.
Once back in the original property or evidence window, we can then enter modify mode by clicking CTRL + M to modify the property number.
For the property item above, we have chosen to append a letter to the end of the property number and will do the same for the other two items. Once complete, we will end up with the same three property items numbered 11145A, 11145B, and 11145C.
Appending letters to the end of the property is just one way to eliminate duplicated property numbers. Another way is to give the property item a completely different property number.
Note: Modifying or changing property numbers in no way affects the associations that property has with Cases., CAD events or people.