The majority of average citizens are not aware that most police agencies, including your local town's police department, your county Sheriff's department, as well as the law enforcement agencies at the state and federal levels, have massive amounts of property of all kinds in their possession. This property has either been seized or confiscated by the powers of the agency, or it was lost or abandoned by the former owners. When the warehouses and parking lots start to get filled up it is time for general police auctions and police auto auctions to take place.

While some of this property that goes into a police auto auction, or a general property auction, is there as the result of arrests, seizures and forfeitures, there is also a lot of property in the warehouses of public agencies simply because of the carelessness on the part of the property owners. There are many cases where someone absentmindedly leaves something like a bicycle behind and never takes the additional steps to see if it had been turned into the authorities.

In addition, a great deal of personal property of all kinds is confiscated from theft rings and drug busts, and because the property was not marked with any identification, it was impossible for the items to be returned to the rightful owners.

At the general property government auctions you will find an incredible variety of clothes, electronics and household items, but it is the police auto auctions that people seem to get the most excited about because of the incredible deals on vehicles that are possible. Not only will you find cars, truck, SUVs, and vans at these public auto auctions, but often there are recreational vehicles and other "toys," such as boats, motorcycles, bikes and jet skis.

A police auto auction can be a very practical place to search for a reliable car that is in good condition, especially if you would like to make it yours for just a fraction of the real market value. Many of the seized cars at these police public auctions tend to be a mixture of vehicles that are later models, as well as many that are 5 to 15 years old. Most of the cars were impounded because the owner of the vehicle committed some type of crime that gave the law enforcement agency the right to seize the vehicle and sell it.

Because most of the seized cars that have been impounded by police were operational at the time that they were taken off of the street because of driver infractions, many people feel more secure about buying from a police auto auction. In contrast, there are many repossessed cars that are sold through auto actions by banks and finance companies because people stopped making payments on the car due to some kind of mechanical malfunction.

If you are interested in the police auto auctions in your area, then you can contact your local police agencies in your town, your county and your state, and request a listing of all of the auctions that are scheduled. If you have never been to a car auto auction before, then it is a good idea to go and observe one and try to meet people who have a lot of auction experience and pick up some helpful pointers.