Maintaining evidence integrity is necessary for any law enforcement agency for many reasons, one being that it’s the law. Along with those federal and state laws come many other regulations, standards, and best practices that agencies must comply with. The sum of those regulations should equal evidence integrity if practiced. 

Evidence room audits are a check and balance procedure for an agency’s operations. Their results demonstrate compliance with regulations, and if discrepancies are found, personnel can address the issues and bring the agency back into compliance.

There are several types of audits. Comprehensive audits are just what they sound like. They examine an evidence room’s operations from top to bottom, including security systems, documentation, tracking systems, equipment, inventories, preservation, policies, and more. Inspections focus on the cleanliness, safety, and functionality of the facility – examining its efficiency and operating effectiveness. Random audits may take a deep dive into just one area of operations or one type of evidence. Inventory audits physically account for the items stored within the facility.

Inventory audits are the focus of this piece, explaining how they help an agency maintain compliance with the law and evidence storage regulations.

Inventory Audits

Inventory audits accomplish more than just an accounting of the items stored in an evidence room. They may reveal issues or problems with documentation, tracking systems, proper preservation, personnel efficiency, and available space to keep evidence. Any of these problems can lead to noncompliance with regulations. 

Vital Compliance Issues

1. Evidence Misplacement or Loss

Inventory audits will reveal misplaced or even lost evidence. Since law enforcement agencies are responsible for safeguarding the items in their custody, their knowledge of these situations is imperative. In some cases, locating a misplaced item is an easy fix, but only in some cases. A missing item might be discovered in an area that allows it to degrade over time. A truly lost or unaccounted-for item is much more problematic. Immediately reporting a lost item is necessary, as is filing a written report on the subject. Either of these situations could negatively affect criminal case outcomes in court and, depending on the type of item lost, critically affect public perception of the agency.

2. Evidence Preservation

 Law enforcement is tasked not just with storing evidence but also with preserving it properly for as long as they have it in their possession. Many types of evidence require special storage conditions, and items not appropriately stored may deteriorate. This situation may make an item useless in an ongoing investigation, impossible for defense attorneys to inspect, or inadmissible in court. Inventory audits may reveal such items, allowing corrective action before their destruction.

3. Chain of Custody 

One of the most critical aspects of evidence management is maintaining an unbroken chain of custody record for each item of evidence. From collection to its presentation in court, every handling or movement of a piece of evidence must be accounted for and documented. Inventory audits demonstrate that a proper chain of custody record has been continuously maintained. 

4. Compliance Documentation

The paper or E-trail generated by audits demonstrates the agency’s commitment to regulatory compliance. If an agency is state or nationally-accredited, these records will be reviewed by the accreditation teams to recertify the agency. Audit records can be used in year-end reports, and exemplary audit results can be the subject of press releases to earn the public’s trust.

Conclusion

Inventory audits are one way law enforcement agencies demonstrate that their evidence room operations remain compliant with the laws and regulations that govern them. While audits can vary in scope, focus, and purpose, they all can reveal discrepancies that can then be addressed. Documenting audit results and their use is an effective way to demonstrate compliance. At the same time, publicizing them helps build trust between the agency and the community it serves.  

FORTRESS PLUS SOLUTIONS

Fortress Plus Solutions provides safe, secure, documented transportation, handling, and storage of evidence and property for the long term. If your items require special storage conditions – we provide that. In addition, we offer evidence room audits to help law enforcement maintain best practices and accurate and up-to-date inventory records. In our blog, we post informative articles about privatized long-term storage and the auditing process. To learn more about our services, click here. 

While a thorough evidence room audit will examine its operations, systems, and security, in most instances, the first benefit that comes to mind is ensuring the inventory is appropriately maintained and accounted for. It’s what police property and evidence rooms do. Regular audits of evidence rooms can uncover discrepancies in inventory management so personnel can correct them, maintaining the integrity of the evidence within the facility and for its use in court. This piece spotlights evidence inventories and how regular audits help law enforcement with their management.

1. CHAIN OF CUSTODY

Establishing and preserving an unbroken chain of custody record for every piece of evidence in law enforcement’s possession is vital. That chain can be long. From the moment it’s collected and packaged, who handles it, when they handle it, its movement, any analysis, to short or long-term storage locations, all must be documented in order of occurrence. There can be no breaks or gaps in the record. This documentation maintains its admissibility in court and allows for easy retrieval when the time comes.   

When focusing on chain of custody, auditors inspect individual pieces of evidence, ensuring their locations match evidence room records. They also ensure chain of custody documentation is present and indicates an unbroken record up to that point. These inspections identify any issues in the chain of custody so they can be promptly investigated and corrected.

2. INVENTORY DISCREPANCIES  

Police property and evidence rooms are not static locations. They can be busy places. Personnel complete many tasks while adhering to complex operational standards and their required documentation. Evidence management is a tall task in any evidence room, but clerical errors and misplacement of items can happen, especially in facilities where items are coming and going constantly. 

Audits identify misplaced or incorrectly documented items. Auditors access the agency’s logs and cross-check the evidence by physical inspection, ensuring the evidence is stored as indicated. Auditors also look to see if it is appropriately labeled and stored. Except for an item stored in an improper environment – which could cause it to degrade – most discrepancies do not negatively affect the evidence’s admissibility at trial if addressed promptly. Regular audits will uncover issues in evidence room inventories and, in most cases, will demonstrate that police evidence room personnel maintain their inventory by adhering to the standards and best practices that govern it.

3. ACCOUNTABILITY 

Transparency and accountability are both crucial in modern law enforcement operations. Considering its impact on criminal case proceedings and justice for those involved, property and evidence rooms are held to the highest standards in their operations. Regular evidence room audits demonstrate that an agency understands the weight of its obligations to the public. The audit process is a means to hold itself accountable and be transparent in the community.

Many police agencies utilize outside organizations that employ evidence management experts to conduct audits of their facilities. These experts take a “top-to-bottom” approach, thoroughly examining the functionality of evidence room systems, their security, policies and procedures, physical plant, documentation, inventories, and compliance with the laws and standards of evidence management. While not precluding internal audits, bringing in an outside organization demonstrates the highest level of accountability and transparency for assigned personnel and evidence room operations.

SUMMARY

Regular evidence room audits should be a standard operating procedure for law enforcement agencies. Maintaining accurate inventories in compliance with all the internal and external standards ensures evidence integrity and prevents challenges to its admissibility in court. Audits examine chain of custody, uncover anomalies in the documentation, handling, and storage of evidence, and serve to hold the agency accountable for its inventory functions. Finding discrepancies in inventory management allows the agency to rectify the problem at that time. And using outside experts to conduct audits adds another layer of credibility and transparency to the auditing process. 

FORTRESS PLUS SOLUTIONS

Fortress Plus Solutions provides safe, secure, documented transportation, handling, and storage of evidence and property for the long term. If your items require special storage conditions – we provide that. In addition, we offer evidence room audits to help law enforcement maintain best practices and accurate and up-to-date inventory records. In our blog, we post informative articles about privatized long-term storage and the auditing process. To learn more about our services, click here. 

When exploring the private sector’s solution to your long-term evidence storage problems, there’s much to consider. Private companies employ experienced professionals who utilize the industry’s best practices and have facilities designed specifically for the job. Law enforcement personnel must plan for the transition, taking a deep research dive into their present-day evidence situation and the types and numbers of items on hand, among other factors. Agencies must collaborate with private companies before deciding to go the private route. 

BEST PRACTICES FOR TRANSITIONING TO A PRIVATE PROVIDER

1. Needs and goals assessment: Answer these questions:

A. What’s your evidence situation now – easy to locate/retrieve, appropriately stored?

B. What problems do you have now?

C. What problems do you anticipate in the future?

D. How can you address your present issues?

E. Do you have plans to alleviate future problems?

F. What types of evidence are on hand, and do they require special handling and storage?

G. Of those types, how many pieces of evidence are short-term holds, and how many are stored long-term?

H. What regulations apply to your criminal case evidence? What actions must you take to gain compliance? Are they being adhered to?

I. Do you have the funding to make the transition, or must you present a special budget request?

2. Customize Your Solution:Your needs and goals assessment provides you and the private provider with the information needed to start designing a solution unique to your department and its needs, challenges, and requirements. Private companies have facilities ready to store any type (May vary depending on the company.) of evidence you have on hand in their proper environments, so they can customize their solution to meet your individual storage needs.

3. Chain of Custody: Knowing your department’s personnel will be on the imparting side and that private professionals will be on the acquiring side of the evidence transfer process, don’t overlook the importance or take for granted maintaining an unbroken chain of custody record for each piece of evidence transferred. Private providers will have established procedures carried out by experienced staff members to ensure an unbroken chain of custody is maintained and documented. Due diligence requires you to research the company’s process thoroughly. Discuss it with them so you understand precisely how it will work for routine storage items and how regulatory and special handling requirements might affect the chain of custody.

4. Training: Contracting with a private company to take over some of the in-house work will require training your personnel on the new procedures. Work with the company’s staff to create practical training procedures and documents that mesh with the company’s services so your personnel thoroughly understand the new processes. Practical training prepares your personnel to undertake the latest techniques with confidence. 

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

1. Cost and Budgeting: Answers to the following questions will help you decide if the privatization of evidence storage will work for your agency:

A. How much will it cost?

B. What do you budget now for evidence storage and management? (Think personnel costs, equipment, training, and facilities maintenance and supplies.)

C. What’s the savings potential of those costs by transferring your long-term evidence to a private, off-site provider?

D. Consider the approximate cost of new construction/remodeling of your evidence-holding facilities. Remember to include the necessary equipment to store items that require special storage conditions. To lawfully comply with the regulations of evidence storage, an updated or new facility will need to be built to comply with those standards – something that many present facilities don’t, at least entirely, provide.

E. Finally, is privatization cost-effective for your agency?

2. Regulatory Compliance:A professional private provider has the expertise to ensure regulatory compliance regarding evidence handling and storage. Still, agencies must investigate the private company’s procedures for the integrity of their criminal case evidence from this perspective.

3. Scalability:Project your agency’s evidence storage needs into the future. What will it be a year from now? Two years? Five years down the road? Will the private provider have the space and special handling facilities for your storage needs in the future? Keep in mind that these providers will also be storing evidence for other law enforcement agencies.

4. Accessibility:Even though your evidence is stored long-term, eventually, it will need to be accessed. In some rare cases, your items may need to be retrieved quickly. Ensure your provider can meet your requirements regarding retrieval and ask about any limitations.

5. Disaster Planning and Recovery:Discuss this issue with the company. Do they have plans in place for disaster mitigation and recovery? This is an important issue. A private company’s ability to “weather the storm,” so to speak, could significantly impact presenting your criminal case evidence in the future. 

SUMMARY

Law enforcement agencies must prepare for the transition to a private evidence storage provider. Personnel should know their present situation and its problems and collaborate with the company to develop a customized solution for the agency while strictly following all laws and best practices. Some considerations include cost, scalability, evidence accessibility, and disaster planning.

FORTRESS PLUS SOLUTIONS

Fortress Plus Solutions provides safe, secure storage, handling, and transportation of evidence and property requiring long-term and special storage conditions. In addition, we offer evidence-room audits to help law enforcement maintain accurate and up-to-date evidence-room inventory records. And in our blog, we post informative articles about privatized long-term storage. To learn more about our services, click here.

Law enforcement agencies have a legal and moral obligation to ensure the integrity of the criminal case evidence they maintain in their property and evidence facilities. Doing so is at the very foundation of a fair criminal justice system. Safeguarding and preserving evidence properly is guided by laws, standards, and specific procedures and conditions that must be strictly adhered to.

Conducting regular and thorough audits of evidence room procedures and their inventories should be a routine process for law enforcement. They can be conducted internally, or better yet, by a professional third party to ensure they are objective in their findings. This piece discusses the importance of property and evidence room audits for law enforcement agencies.

1. CHAIN OF CUSTODY

Maintaining an unbroken chain of custody record and demonstrating that unbroken chain is imperative in court proceedings. Without it, evidence may not be allowed in, or entire criminal cases may be dismissed. The auditing process is another layer of confirmation that the chain of custody remains intact for evidence on hand in the facility.

2. EVIDENCE TAMPERING

Audits deter any tampering with stored evidence. A thorough audit will include the physical examination of selected items of evidence and a review of the procedures, evidence documentation, and video surveillance footage to ensure compliance with standards and applicable laws – any issues discovered can then be investigated.

3. DISCREPANCIES IDENTIFIED  

Regular audits play an essential role in identifying evidence room anomalies, whether in the inventory itself, how the various processes are being conducted, or in documentation. Routine audits can identify these issues so they can be addressed promptly, maintaining the integrity of the stored evidence.

4. PUBLIC TRUST

The last thing any law enforcement agency wants is their property and evidence room to come under public scrutiny due to an accusation of mishandled evidence. Law enforcement personnel understand their ethical obligations and the importance of properly managing criminal case evidence. One of the best ways to eliminate problems that could cause a public uproar is by conducting regular audits of their facilities. These audits help maintain the agency’s public trust.

5. ACCREDITATION STANDARDS

Many law enforcement agencies receive national accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) or state-level organizations. These bodies typically require regular evidence room audits to complete the accreditation process. While ensuring national or state-level best practices are maintained, accreditation is another way to instill the public’s trust.

SUMMARY

Regular property and evidence room audits are necessary for any professional law enforcement agency. While internal audits are good, having outside, third-party experts conduct them is an even better option, as it precludes any internal bias, whether real or perceived. The criminal justice process relies on law enforcement to maintain the integrity of all evidence it handles, from collection to long-term storage. Audits ensure this by physical inspection, reviewing chain of custody records, checking compliance with laws, standards, and the agency’s procedures, deterring tampering, and identifying anomalies so the agency can swiftly rectify them. With today’s increased scrutiny of law enforcement operations and the agency’s desire to do the right thing, audits maintain the integrity of criminal case evidence stored in police property and evidence rooms. 

FORTRESS PLUS SOLUTIONS

Fortress Plus Solutions provides safe, secure, documented transportation, handling, and storage of evidence and property for the long term. If your items require special storage conditions – we provide that. In addition, we offer evidence room audits to help law enforcement maintain best practices and accurate and up-to-date inventory records. In our blog, we post informative articles about privatized long-term storage and the auditing process. To learn more about our services, click here.

Recently, the chief of a large U.S. city police department went before her city council to describe the “deplorable” conditions of her police headquarters building. The facility, built in 1968, was experiencing an infestation of cockroaches, rats, and other physical plant issues, making it nearly unworkable for its personnel. 

A huge issue was the rodent problem. The chief told city officials,” The rats are eating our marijuana—they’re all high.”

While many people would find this story amusing, department personnel didn’t see the humor – or at least they wouldn’t admit to it.

Working in an old, broken-down facility infested with pests would affect morale, recruiting, workflow efficiency, and many other aspects of an organization’s routine day-to-day operations.

No one would want to work in that environment. If it’s a law enforcement facility, the consequences of evidence lost to those pests could easily extend beyond the walls of the building.

We’re talking about evidence integrity, which affects criminal case integrity, which makes those high rats a lot less funny.

In this piece, we will focus on the example above and provide a sure-fire solution to that problem.

Proper Evidence Preservation and Storage Environments

Criminal case evidence must be stored in varying types of environments and packaging depending on its type – this is especially important for long-term evidence storage.

The most basic requirement for all types of evidence is a secure environment that ensures chain of custody is maintained and allows for its documentation. Most of us think of that environment as separating unauthorized humans from evidence. But, as the above situation shows, it’s more than that.

A significant factor affecting proper evidence storage is the physical condition of the holding facility. 

Police Building Age

It’s safe to say that most law enforcement facilities in the United States are over twenty years old. The building mentioned in this piece is fifty-five years of age. 

Buildings degrade over time, even with upkeep. A law enforcement agency located in a metropolitan area is likely susceptible to rodents taking up residence within the facility.

Rats and Mice and Marijuana

The effects of marijuana on rats and mice have been studied for years. And simply put, they like it. They like it a lot. It can serve as a food source, and after they sample it, they want more. The more they eat, the more they want. 

Imagine an evidence room with a few mice around.

Now imagine one in which the marijuana on hand has become a food source for them.

Last but not least, imagine the state of evidence, maybe anything stored in paper or plastic bags, just a few days after that marijuana, that evidence, (that’s by law supposed to be secure and preserved) has become the go-to munchies for the rodents in the facility.

Remember, the more they eat, the more they want.

Not pretty, huh?

Evidence Integrity 

Maintaining the integrity of evidence is what evidence management – including storage – is all about. Rodents can quickly destroy or damage evidence, making it inadmissible (or impossible to introduce if eaten) in court 

Besides the potential damage to the prosecution of criminal cases, that situation in the evidence room will go public and can tarnish the agency’s reputation.

Prevention or Solution

There is a solution to that problem or, even better, a process that law enforcement can take advantage of to prevent the loss of their evidence and maintain the agency’s reputation. 

The private sector provides the solution and prevention process.

Private providers who specialize in long-term evidence storage and preservation services can prevent or solve most evidence storage problems that police agencies face today; they certainly could provide the solution for the department in the example and prevent rodents from compromising evidence. 

How?

That evidence would be stored off-site in a clean, maintained, professionally staffed, and operated facility designed specifically for long-term evidence storage.

Conclusion

While an infestation of pests eating evidence may seem funny to some, it can be quite detrimental to the agency involved. the operations of the criminal justice system, and the people within it. Law enforcement agencies are tasked with adhering to rules, regulations, laws, and best practices of evidence management and do their best in that regard. Many of those procedures are complicated, and complying with them in a facility that no longer provides the basic physical necessities required to accomplish them is an issue all across the country.

The private sector has recognized the challenges regarding proper evidence storage and management. It operates facilities designed and staffed specifically for those purposes. However, only a few of these providers exist across the country.

Police agencies in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana are close to one of these private companies and their state-of-the-art facility: Fortress Plus Solutions (FPS), which is located in the greater Chicagoland area.

Suppose your agency is losing the rat race in your facility. In that case, FPS can provide a solution or, even better, a cost-effective process to prevent a bunch of lazy, insatiable rats from taking up residence in your evidence room.

FORTRESS PLUS SOLUTIONS

Fortress Plus Solutions provides safe, secure, documented transportation, handling, storage, and preservation of evidence and property for the long term. If your items require special storage conditions – we provide that. In addition, we offer evidence room audits to help law enforcement maintain best practices and accurate and up-to-date inventory records. In our blog, we post informative articles about privatized long-term storage and the auditing process. To learn more about our services, click here.