NCJ Number
202513
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 51 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2003 Pages: 92-95
Date Published
August 2003
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the evidence-tracking system used by the Lakeland Police Department (Florida).
Abstract
The Lakeland Police Department's (LPD's) tracking system, which is produced by QueTel Corporation, is the Evidence TraQ for Windows system, a modular system that permits agencies to buy only the parts of the system they believe they need or can afford at the time. When evidence comes into the LPD, a paper evidence control card with duplicate is completed by the officer and stays with the property. During the day, the evidence-room pass-through window is open for an officer's use. At night, when the pass-through window is closed, the paper copy is attached to the property before it is placed in a locker. The locker key is then passed through a slot into a secure location in the property room. In the morning, the clerks remove the evidence, sign the chain of custody, attach a bar code to the property, write the bar code number on the card, and enter all the information directly into the computer system. There are two bar codes: a location label on the property box and an evidence label for each piece of property. Depending on the nature of the evidence, it is placed either in the weapons room, the drug room, a refrigerator, or in envelopes that are shelved in storage boxes sorted by case number. The bar code on the box indicates the property's location. According to the property clerks, the report capabilities of the system alone make it worth the cost. Whereas secretaries once had to type up any inventory lists that were needed, it now takes just about 1 hour to print out a listing and the location of all 55,000 pieces of evidence for a city audit. Lists of property needed for court orders or disposal auctions after a case is closed or the statute of limitations has expired are available in minutes. The only problem encountered under the system is that to purge property listings from the program and move them to a different database, everyone must be off the system. Advice is offered by an LPD supervisor to those planning to purchase a new evidence-room tracking system.