New SAFE Evidence Management Feature – Org Item Sharing
April 27, 2023
With the release of Tracker Products’ SAFE v104b, users now have access to the new evidence management Org Item Sharing feature. This feature allows separate SAFE users to share evidence with one another and reap the rewards of a single, unified chain of custody.
The SAFE Org Item Sharing feature allows each organization to present an entire chain of custody that will show movement between all Orgs that have had possession of evidence items. For example, if a police department (Washington Township Police, WTP) is sending evidence to an outside agency – like a lab or courthouse – WTP will set up an item-sharing relationship with the other organization.
The item will then be checked out of WTP and into the other organization. This will establish a continual chain of custody record showing the evidence being transferred between organizations and exactly what transpired with the items at each organization.
When the transfer is completed, you will be able to see the chain of custody record documenting the movement from one Org to another. Organizations can see the chain of custody record in real-time including up-to-date evidence transfers and actions. If this item was transferred between more than two organizations, the chain of custody would show movement between all the organizations.
In the past, individual organizations maintained their own chain of custody records. If either of those organizations were ever in court with a piece of evidence, they would only be able to produce a chain of custody record while the item was in their possession.
Historically, if someone in the justice system wanted to see an evidence chain of custody record, one agency might have a nice printed-out form from their evidence management system – and we’re assuming they’re using the SAFE evidence management system – while another organization might have a handwritten piece of paper and that third organization… the one that no one likes to deal with, they didn’t even have a chain of custody form.
You know the old saying, You’re only as strong as your weakest link? An entire case might be in jeopardy because of that weak evidence link.
The Solution
Tracker Products’ SAFE Software now has your answer, and that answer is a unified chain of custody. The first step is to create a relationship with that other organization in your system.
- Click the edit button, enable, and then save. Org Item sharing is now enabled for your organization. (For a step-by-step guide, with pictures, click here.)
The other organization(s) that you are creating a relationship with must also complete this step before you can create the sharing relationship. Once the item sharing has been turned on for all organizations, you can proceed to the next step, which is creating the share from the search option. (This video will help!)
- Type the name of that other organization, begin to type the name of that other organization and select it from the list. To create the share, the other organizations must now go to this org item sharing area of their system to approve or reject the share.
- That’s it. Once this is complete and verified, you will now have a sharing relationship with that other organization at any time. You can click the Revoke option to end this relationship.
Once this is complete and verified, you will now have a sharing relationship with that other organization at any time. To check evidence out of your organization, select the option to transfer to another organization where you will select the organization that you are going to share the item or items with.
Because the relationship has been made, you will also be able to pick the name of the person in the other organization that you are going to share the item with. Once the recipient organization is in possession of the item, they check that item into their system.
That’s it! You just completed your first item share. If you ever need to go to court, you now have a unified chain of custody history to present.
Permissions / Workflow
- Only Org Admins are allowed to create or revoke a relationship between organizations.
- Only Check-Out Transactions can be sent to another Org. The Transfer transaction will not allow you to transfer to another Org.
- Only Org Admins can check out to another Org
- Items that are shared will have limited access for recipient organizations. The default information on that item (category, description, location, etc) will not be able to be edited.
- Only custom data can be added or modified in any way. Essentially, sharing an item with another org is going to give that org access to viewing more information about that item.
- Once an item has been checked out to another Org, the originating Org can’t do a transaction on that item until that item is transferred back to them.
Item Uniqueness
The real item is unique and has a singular barcode. We are NOT copying items from one org to another, we are sharing the unique item. The item and all its metadata will only be in the system one time and shared with other organizations.
Sharing items and information between two organizations is an important new feature within Tracker Products’ SAFE software that will establish a unified chain of custody record, document the evidence being transferred between organizations, and provide details about the actions that transpired within each organization.
To learn more, check out this page.
Tracker Product’s SAFE software is ahead of the game – offering both on-prem and cloud solutions. We were the first dedicated evidence management software provider to offer a cloud-based solution, and we continue to be the leading expert in the field of evidence management technology.
Our team of developers is tirelessly committed to optimizing Tracker’s SAFE software evidence management solution, based on the needs of our clients nationwide. Our top-of-the-line security stack scales as our database grows and meets the strictest regulatory and compliance requirements, such as FedRAMP, FISMA, DoD SRG, ITAR, and CJIS.
