Evidence Management

Knowing what you have stored in your property room is simply not enough to help you manage the flow of evidence through your agency. Many evidence tracking systems on the market today are not much more than a glorified inventory control system. If you’re making the decision to find a new evidence management system, it’s important to find a system that solves the seven critical needs of property and evidence management. Anything else is just a new system.

Evidence management is much more than a barcode solution. In addition to inventory control; managing evidence requires a system capable of producing an unbreakable chain of custody, providing documentation of evidence movement and transfer, managing the flow of digital evidence, facilitating communication between investigators and property room personnel, automating the disposal approval process and automating accountability functions like audits and inventories.

If you’re curious about whether your current system is helping you manage your evidence, ask yourself five questions:

1. How many items do I have stored in my property room right now?
2. What’s the total amount of currency stored in my property room right now?
3. Have I completed an inventory in the past twelve months?
4. How many items do I have slated for disposal right now?
5. How many items have I disposed this year?

An evidence management system puts essential information at your fingertips in real time. If you’re managing your evidence, these are things you know already. If you don’t know the answers to these basic questions, or if you have to do anything more than a click on your browser, chances are that you need an evidence management system.

Unrivaled Automation and Customization

How quickly can you find inventory answers today? Is it painless for you to provide consistent monthly and annual reporting statistics? Tracker users are saving valuable resources by finding the information they need quickly and consistently through our customized Dashboard, the implementation of Auto Disposition, and so much more. There are no modules involved – one price, all the benefits. And because we’re browser-based, the Tracker Products system updates are seamlessly delivered on a monthly basis without an additional invoice! Generate data in real-time, share what you need to when you need to – and save your organization both time and money. Our computing power is unmatched!

Digital Evidence

Are you ready for the digital tidal wave?

Every photo, video, and audio file used as evidence by your agency requires the same solid chain of custody as any other physical item you store in your property room. If it hasn’t happened already, chances are that in the next five years property and evidence rooms will take in more digital evidence items than physical. Storing digital evidence

on perishable media like DVD is a risky proposition for your critical data files. With these three realities facing every property room in the country, Tracker Products equips you for seamlessly navigation through the endless flow of digital evidence.

Discovery

Many states are adopting more stringent discovery laws to ensure that all case evidence is available to both prosecutors and defense attorneys before trial. Even the most complex criminal cases, the physical evidence side of this equation is pretty straight forward. But in most criminal cases, digital evidence in multiple formats is a large part of the case. It’s not uncommon for squad car video, body cam recordings, crime scene photos, audio files, or mobile phone data to be collected on almost any kind of criminal case.

Storage

Storing digital files can become a nightmare for law enforcement agencies. Outdated methods of digital evidence storage are still the norm for the vast majority of law enforcement agencies today. Most digital evidence was burned onto CD or DVD for later use. Ten years ago, most agencies could fit all of their digital files into a shoe box, but today the same agencies are faced with shelf after shelf of DVD’s and CD’s, and the stacks grow exponentially each year as new, more memory intensive application make their way into the industry each year. Tracker Products can help you ensure that your critical digital evidence is authenticated, stored securely, safely and dependably for as long as you need to keep it.

Accountability and Access

Accountability of digital evidence assets is critical for the effective prosecution of criminal cases, but digital evidence management doesn’t end with a complete list of your evidence. When it comes to digital evidence, it’s important that your system provides easy access to those who need it, while denying access to those who don’t. This can be an overwhelming task for property rooms unprepared for the additional burdens of the digital age. All stakeholder can access and view the files they need from the same screen they use to look at the rest of the evidence associated with the case, from anywhere in the world.

Tracker Products can be the solution for your property room needs for both  digital and physical evidence. We can help you sail smoothly through the tidal wave while others struggle to stay above the surface.

The Evidence Life Cycle

Our friends in law enforcement know that from the time an item is collected in the field, the evidence life cycle clock starts ticking. Some items will stay for weeks, others years, some forever. But each item stored in your property room has the same essential life cycle. Our Evidence Management System equips you to manage every step in the cycle, from collection through disposition.

1. Collection and Submission

Your officer lifts a fingerprint at the scene. With Tracker Products, evidence logging can begin from the field or in the evidence submission area. We know packaging is critical – and that’s why our system prints a clear label with all necessary information – no scribbled writing, no extra paperwork.

2. Intake and Storage

With Tracker Products, the intake process can be as simple as inspecting the package and two or three scans later, it’s ready for storage. It’s just that simple. Every action is securely recorded maintaining an unbroken, unimpeachable chain of custody. Need to find that item in an instant? Yes, our system makes that simple, as well!

3. Transfer

Evidence needs to go to the lab for analysis or to court for trial. You can transfer items digitally and capture signatures or add attachments in the system. If you’re working with outside agencies or entities, you still have the flexibility to print release or transfer documentation from the system.

4. Disposal

Without lifting a finger or even once checking the item’s history, our software will send the submitting officer a retention review request to approve the disposal of the item if appropriate, or request to keep the item for a specified period of time before the next review.