NCJ Number
215711
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 33 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2006 Pages: 18,20,25
Date Published
August 2006
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the top 10 reasons an evidence room should be managed by an evidence management system with barcode capabilities
Abstract
First, barcoding reduces repetitive work, when entering new evidence items into the database, a barcode system can carry over repetitive information. Only varying information, such as the item's description, is required for a new entry after the common information across evidence items has been entered, such as case number, officer, date of offense, etc. This information is carried over for each new evidence item entered for a given case. Second, a customized evidence screen meets a department's needs. The fields that appear on the database screen can be named, organized, and formatted to fit the needs of a particular department. Third, running reports and searches is efficient and unlimited. The system can be searched by any field or combination of fields to provide a quick retrieval of answers to questions. Fourth, a barcode system makes the evidence room virtually "paperless." Having a barcode on a piece of evidence eliminates the need for property tags and evidence sheets. When evidence must be retrieved and removed for use outside the evidence room, the barcode on the evidence is scanned, along with the new location for the evidence. The person taking the evidence signs the LCD signature capture pad and the signature is stored in the evidence system. Barcodes also help technicians complete high-volume projects quickly (5th reason); save time in daily evidence-room duties (6th reason); provide an unalterable chain of custody (7th reason); allow for systematic purging of evidence (8th reason); are an asset to major projects (9th reason); and can import information from the previous database (10th reason).