D.C. Code § 23-525: Disposition of property.

A law enforcement officer or a designated civilian employee of the Metropolitan Police Department who seizes property in the execution of a search warrant shall cause it to be safely kept for use as evidence. No property seized shall be released or destroyed except in accordance with law and upon order of a court or of the United States attorney or Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia [Attorney General for the District of Columbia] or one of their assistants.