Evidence Management Requires a Complex System of Critical Parts Working Together

 

Tracker Products and the Evidence Management Institute (EMI) have teamed up to launch a shared vision – a 360º Total Evidence Management Solution (TEMS) that will create a paradigm shift in the field of evidence management. Together, our full-spectrum evidence management solutions will help you with every aspect of your operations and empower you to run efficient, effective, and sustainable operations for many years to come.

The best part? Most of the solutions are FREE. 

Let’s take a step back… At the beginning of the pandemic, we realized that the evidence management community was becoming even more isolated and unsupported than it had ever been before. It was an unnerving trend; one we very much needed to curtail.    

So, we set out on a simple mission… To bring the evidence management community together and provide a safe haven to promote connection and open communication. That’s when we created the Evidence Management Community Forum on Facebook. 

 

 

We hoped to create a space where evidence management personnel, and law-enforcement folks in general, could come together to ask questions, offer solutions, and feel sincerely valued for their role in upholding the justice process. Little did we know, that modest idea would soon become a powerful resource for over 800 evidence custodians nationwide. 

As we followed the conversations, we were struck by two sharply-contrasting things: 1) The forum was a great resource for support and ideas and 2) the evidence community needed more. 

More information, more education, more solutions, more time, more space. The lack of resources was exacerbated by the fact that most, if not all, evidence operations didn’t have the financial resources they needed to be able to pay for things that would dynamically improve their evidence operations.    

That was a lightbulb moment for us. We needed to do more. And, we needed to do it for free. 

Obviously, our respective companies still have to keep the lights on. So yes, Tracker would love to be your evidence management software provider. And EMI would appreciate being hired to do consultations, audits, and inventory services. But, we want to earn your trust and eventually (we hope) earn your business.

What’s our long-term game plan? To become an ever-evolving, powerful resource for FREE education, as well as providers of state-of-the-art human and digital solutions for the evidence management community. 

These solutions have been nearly three years in the making, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. As we continue to listen to the needs of the evidence management community, we commit to providing additional solutions. Some will be free and some will have a fee, but all future solutions will be designed to do one thing: empower evidence custodians. 

Let’s start with the FREE stuff… 

• • The Evidence Management Community Forum – A FB page with over 800 evidence management members who discuss everything in the realm of evidence management. 
  • The E-Health Check – a FREE assessment designed to provide evidence personnel with a snapshot of their operations compared to key performance indicators for sustainable evidence operations. 
  • The Evidence Management Comparison Worksheet – This free downloadable spreadsheet is pre-populated with 49 factors to consider.  You have the ability to rank the importance of each factor and add additional fields for consideration.
  • FREE Evidence Management Training Videos – This online training includes 8 hours of EMI evidence management training, an online exam, and a completion certificate.
  • “The Evidence Show” – In each episode, EMI discusses the unique issues that impact evidence managers, custodians, and the law enforcement community in general. Most episodes include special guests who are experts on a variety of topics. 
  • A Series of Tracker Webinars – Live or recorded, they are loaded with: Virtual Evidence Unit Tours, Evidence Management Best Practices,  Tips for Getting the Tools You Need to Improve Operations, and much more!
  • Weekly Articles – Topics include, but are not limited to: Best Practices for Audits, Inventories, Packaging, Digital Evidence Storage, Disposition, etc. 
  • Tracker’s Resources – Blogs, Portfolio, Wiki Page, Evidence Management Software Comparison Tools, and SO much more.    
  • EMI’s Resources – Standards and Best Practices, Evidence Related Links, and Blogs that are LOADED with information. 
  • The “State” of Evidence Management – The Evidence Management Institute wants to see the number of state or regional evidence management organizations increase dramatically this year. And, they’ll help underrepresented areas make that happen, every step of the way!
  • Daily Social Media Posts – Both Tracker and EMI post information-rich content to several SM platforms every single day. There, you will find: recorded webinars, infographics, original articles, training videos, standards and best practices, testimonials, and much more. 
  •  FREE TEMS Audit – Every new Tracker Products client, who purchases two or more Concurrent Access Licenses (CALs) will receive a free audit. The audit begins with the online E-Health Check. Based on the results of the EHealth Check, audits may include: A policy and procedure review, facility inspection, and an organization, packaging, and storage review.
  • Dedicated Support and Implementation Staff – We know change can be scary. You can feel SAFE knowing that every Tracker Client has FREE and unlimited access to a highly acclaimed team of support and implementation experts.  

NEW! FREE – In-Person, 2-Day Evidence Management Training and Certification Classes  – Nationwide!

We know this can seem like an overwhelming amount of information to digest. We suggest that you just start somewhere; take in the information one small bite at a time, and before you know it, you’ll be the evidence management guru that you were always destined to be.  

 

 

Total Evidence Management Solution (TEMS) 

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes two companies, with very different solutions, to create a 360º Total Evidence Management Solution (TEMS).

 

Besides providing great FREE resources, Tracker Products focuses on one thing and one thing only, our software solution. We are constantly improving, or adding features to, our SAFE Evidence Management Software, and we take our commitment to being the best evidence management software provider very seriously.

Effective evidence management software is capable of producing an unbreakable chain of custody, including: Tracking evidence movement and transfer, managing inventory control, simplifying the deluge of digital evidence, facilitating communication between investigators and property room personnel, automating tasks and the disposal process, and managing accountability functions like audits and inventories, as well as providing real-time data updates and analysis.

We are especially proud of our SAFE App, which puts the full power of evidence management into the hands of your agency users. Not only can officers in the field enter evidence from their phones or tablets, evidence custodians can perform audits, inventories, and inspections using the app – without having to be tethered to their desks. And, all assigned chain-of-custody users – including executives – are updated in real-time, from anywhere in the world. 

The ultimate value of an evidence management system can be measured by reviewing the status of the primary commodities of your evidence management: Will Tracker save me Time and Space?

The answer is an unequivocal, whole-hearted… YES! 

 

Now, let’s talk about the multi-dimensional value that EMI brings to the table. 

As an integral part of the mission of the Evidence Management Institute, they offer a comprehensive set of services to help agencies achieve efficient, effective, and sustainable evidence management operations.

They approach evidence management consulting as a systematic collaborative process, building stable solutions that address the unique needs of individual operations. They work with each client to create solutions that address their specific needs and challenges.

The scope and depth of the services they offer are as varied and unique as the agencies they serve. From their FREE online Evidence HealthCheck tool to a Comprehensive Audit of Processes and Systems (CAPS) consulting, they partner with you to dramatically improve the evidence management process for your evidence management unit. 

The services that EMI offers include, but are not limited to: 

• CAPS Consulting (Comprehensive Audit of Processes and Systems)
• Exploratory Consultation
• Disaster Mitigation
• Inventory Services
• Policy and Procedure Review and Development
• Solution-Specific Consulting

Tracker Products and The Evidence Management Institute invite you to engage with any or all of our 360º Total Evidence Management Solutions (TEMS) to create a paradigm shift for you in the field of evidence management. Together, our full-spectrum evidence management solutions will help you to improve every aspect of your operations. We believe these are the powerful resources that you can use in order to run efficient, effective, and sustainable operations for many years to come.

The Ultimate Value of an Evidence Management System Can Be Distilled to Two Questions About The Primary Commodities of Evidence Management: Time and Space

Can you save me time?

Manual paper processes and archaic or inefficient technology systems can rob your agency of one irreplaceable resource: time. Quality evidence management systems leverage technology as a force multiplier to decrease wasted time, effort and redundancy to increase the amount of time available to sustainably manage other critical evidence tasks. Automated intake, disposition, movement, data entry, accountability and labeling practices each yield measurable time savings for your agency.

Can you save me space?

Industry wide, between 50% and 80% of evidence stored by law enforcement is eligible for disposition. Without effective disposition measures in place, the volume of physical evidence stored by your agency can quickly outgrow available storage space. An effective evidence management system can’t build you a new facility, but it can help your agency maximize storage efficiency and significantly reduce storage of evidence no longer needed by the justice system.

Our Total Evidence Management Solution was highlighted in a featured article from Police1 by Lexipol: How can your department shift the culture of evidence management?