NCJ Number
190427
Date Published
2001
Length
9 pages
Annotation
After noting that a police property and evidence room is more than just a warehouse, this paper discusses the mission of property and evidence management, digital technology and property and evidence room management, and integrated digital technologies.
Abstract
Many property and evidence management systems focus on bar coding, but do little to automate critical property room functions. A property and evidence room is not just a warehouse for the storage of goods or materials; rather, it stores a large volume of unique items that range from narcotics and confiscated money to stolen art and bloodied clothes. The primary mission of property and evidence personnel is that of being custodians of property and evidence that comes under the control of law enforcement agencies. They accept, record, and store evidence received in investigations; make it readily available for investigative and legal purposes; document its chain of custody from the time it is acquired until it is disposed; return it to its legitimate owner as soon as possible; and dispose of it when and in a manner authorized. The designers and developers of automated property and evidence room systems have a number of digital technology tools, hardware, and software that can be used to automate these activities (bar coding is just one). A fully automated property and evidence room management system should maximize and integrate the use of other readily available digital technologies, namely, document scanners, digital cameras, signature pads, digital signatures, hand-held wireless devices, and the Internet. This paper profiles each of these digital technologies. Several property and evidence management information systems are commercially available. Functionally, they range from basic barcode-based, inventory management systems to fully automated systems. A fully automated system should integrate digital technologies.