Using software to preserve & process evidence

The evidence room in most law enforcement agencies is managed quietly and carefully. But if evidence is suddenly missing, misplaced or stolen, it can have serious repercussions for the entire agency and may even prompt a police chief's dismissal.

The urgency and importance of proper evidence management is underscored most strongly in The Biological Evidence Preservation Handbook—Best Practices for Evidence Handlers, which was unveiled in May 2013. The handbook resulted from extensive research by a large panel of evidence experts, and follows guidelines set forth by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The handbook's focus is largely on evidence procedures pertaining to packaging, documentation, storage and disposition. The handbook cites a "systemic failure to properly account for evidence from collection through final disposition." A glaring problem with ensuring evidence is properly managed and with accurate accounting is that many steps are manually performed. To rectify deficits with identification of evidence, the handbook recommends automated identification technologies to enhance chain-of-custody recordkeeping and tracking, to facilitate inventories, and to allow for efficient retrieval of evidence.

Before your agency decides to acquire a new evidence tracking program, make sure it has these basic capabilities:

• Complete and accurate chain-of-custody;
• Easy and complete data entry;
• Barcoding of evidence items indicating location and status;
• Real-time tracking of all items
• Browse and query; and
• Generation of standard and custom reports.

Software Speeds Up Evidence

When the Taylor County (Texas) Sheriff's Office (TCSO) switched from a records management software program containing an evidence module to a software solution, the results were dramatic. Working with Seattle-based
EvidenceOnQ from FileOnQ, TCSO realized new efficiencies almost immediately.

Just days after EvidenceOnQ was installed, evidence technician Haley Wilder was suddenly delivered a huge load of evidence. "We stopped a truck that had 7,000 pounds of marijuana on it, and there were 454 bundles," Wilder says, who was quickly up to speed with the intuitive software. "The narcotics officer who delivered the marijuana wanted each item tagged."

"It was quick entering the evidence into EvidenceOnQ, and by lunchtime I was done," Wilder says. "I had four times the volume of evidence normally processed [with the marijuana seizure] and was done entering it into the software in just a fraction of the time it would have required using our older program."

Wilder also likes being able to describe all evidence and create new sections for tagging evidence. Particularly valued is EvidenceOnQ's "clone" feature: When an evidence record is created and the user has, say, three more items to add to the record, a click on the software's clone button transfers all of the additional evidence to the next page.

Improved Chain-of-Custody

The Spartanburg (S.C.) Public Safety Department (SPSD) adopted the Tracker Products all-browser-based evidence management software in 2010. The result: smoother and more reliable evidence tracking. "This means that the moment an officer delivers evidence it is entered into the software and continually tracked in real time," said David Reeves, Spartanburg Public Safety's property and evidence technician. "Strong and reliable chain of custody is critical because it's looked at very hard in court."

Inventory audits represent another critical aspect of evidence management. Just recently, a 10% audit was performed at SPSD. It once took three people to perform a 10% audit, but by using Tracker Products it now only takes two. Also, Reeves adds: "We've reduced the time it takes for the audit from a week to a day."

Reeves notes that the Tracker Products software also provides greater efficiency. Investigators who previously called the evidence room for status on evidence items can now just access the system remotely since it is browser-based. This allows them to access any information they need, no matter where they are.

"They can do this on a laptop from whatever location they're at," Reeves says. Example: An investigator who enters a store where there's been check writing fraud can now query Tracker Products right there and see if the evidence room has a copy of the check and possible statements from any people involved. The saves time, allowing Reeves to handle other evidence room tasks.

Custom Reports Aid Latest Evidence Status

One of the best ways to check the status of any evidence item is to routinely generate reports with the software, according to Mike Owen, evidence technician for the Vernon (Texas) Police Department, which uses the QueTel web-based evidence management software.

"We can generate reports on what evidence has been brought in for the year. And then we can break this down into money, guns and drugs. We can look at this on a monthly basis, or quarterly and weekly," Owen says. The ability to generate reports is one of the best ways to keep a police chief or sheriff informed of an evidence room's overall status since reports can be customized.

Helga Ritter, a 25-year veteran evidence technician at the Sonoma County (Calif.) Sheriff's Office, says that ascertaining the retention status of any evidence is fast and easy using EvidenceOnQ. The sheriff's office is linked with Property
Room.com where it can send auction property items to be sold and maintain a manifest. Through this method, evidence room personnel can create reports on disposition of property such as gun or drug disposals, and on inventory and queries.

Query Capability & Database Searches

The ability to query information ranks high on the checklist of criteria for adopting automated evidence management solutions. The key benefit with these queries is that no matter how sparse the information entered may be, the software can return ample information on any aspect tied to a case or suspect.

"Let's say I have 25 fields," says Wilder, the technician at Taylor County, Texas. "For example, if someone using the software wanted to know everything about someone with the last name of Samson, EvidenceOnQ will pull up every record with that last name. You can do this with any point of reference—the case number, the evidence item number or the date." Such queries are most helpful for Wilder and her staff since deputies often don't recall the case number or the specifics of an incident.

Furthermore, evidence intake, retention and disposition are greatly enhanced. Without an automated solution, these tasks can be overwhelming for the evidence room. Reeves said his Spartenburg evidence room takes in 37,000 items a year. Using Tracker Products, he estimates that 18,000 items are purged each year. "For us, this is a very good ratio because previously we were not purging anywhere near that." The software's purging capability has proven quick, efficient and accurate. "We just recently destroyed 500-plus guns with 100% accuracy," Reeves says.

Purging is always a delicate process so that no evidence is destroyed before it legally should be. Given various state statutes on evidence retention as well as the status of a case to which evidence may be tied, it can be tricky to know just when to purge evidence. For Ritter, software removes any uncertainty. The Retention Review Report feature in EvidenceOnQ enables a quick review of all evidence items.

"When we take in an evidence item, we figure out what the approximate retention period would be for that item (tied to a particular case) and we put it into the report," Ritter says. "Then, we can easily pull up the report and see what items have passed their retention date and determine if they can be purged. This makes us more proactive with retention and purging."

Barcoding

A huge benefit of automated evidence management systems is the ability to enter a case number, after which this number will be attached to any record tied to the case. The
EvidenceOnQ software is a good example of this.

"The case number has to be entered by the user. But when done, a barcode is assigned to each evidence item tied to the case," explains Craig Fletcher, FileOnQ marketing and training director. "Users can clone the record and update it with a new piece of evidence, therefore allowing them or anyone else accessing EvidenceOnQ to easily add multiple items of evidence under one case number." Once a barcode is generated/assigned to a piece of evidence, it will never be used again, tied to that sole piece of evidence for its entire lifecycle.

In this instance, barcoding of individual items of evidence becomes crucial, notes Joe Latta, executive director of the International Association of Property and Evidence (IAPE). "The real plus of having barcodes on evidence items is the ability to conduct inventories. But if all of these items are not individually barcoded, your inventory will be flawed and can be easily compromised. For example, if you place one barcode on a package with five bottles of prescription pills and conduct an inventory, the bar code will represent just the package, not the contained items," Latta says. "If someone has pilfered one of the bottles, the inventory would indicate the contents are accounted for … A good evidence management system will have the property people continuously following up on evidence to make sure it's returned and didn't get lost."

In Sum

Evidence software is the best way to effectively manage your evidence room inventory and activity. Using today's products can prevent problems and provide greater operational efficiency.

Robert Galvin is a public safety writer based in Oregon.