Disposition begins at intake
CHANTILLY, Va. - Identifying Items Ready to Purge
Unlike wine, evidence does not get better with age. Proverbially, it turns to vinegar and needs to be cleared to free space for new items. To help property officers identify items potentially ready for disposition, Evidence TraQ alerts property officers to the number of items that have passed the Action Date set at intake. That alert is a browser link in the Alerts side panel of the screen. It pushes to do tasks to the user, and, by clicking on the alert link, the property officer sees a list of such items.
Requesting Authority to Release for Disposal
Obtaining approval to purge is the next step. The property officer may print the list of items past their Action Date and begin processing them, by gaining approval to dispose from the appropriate authority—officer, investigator, court, etc. Found, safekeeping, and prisoner property may require no special authorization.
Evidence TraQ provides the ability to send paper memos or emails using a standard text template, created for this purpose that requests officers or investigators approve disposal of items listed in the memo or email. The officer marks the memo (or prints the email and marks it) OK to dispose or keep. S/he sends it to the property room.
As an option Evidence TraQ can generate a court order in the jurisdiction’s standard format listing items for which disposition authorization is being requested. That letter can provide a place for the authorizing signature and date, so that when sent to the court, an official only needs to review the order, sign it, and return it to the property room.
Electronic Officer Authorization of Disposition
Evidence TraQ also offers the option of an all-electronic disposition approval process. The standard email template will contain a link on which the officer or investigator clicks to see a list of the items awaiting his or her approval to purge. (The requests also post as an alert on his or her side bar and as a list on a “Disposition” monitor on his or her screen until they are processed.) The officer clicks on that link to process the requests by checking “Dispose” or “Hold” and indicating instructions to the property office including the reason for the hold.
When complete, the officer’s responses appear as an alert on the property room screen side panel and display the property room PC screen’s “Disposition Monitor.” Officers’ responses show on two lists on that monitor: one for items authorized for disposition and one for items the officer has requested to be held. (The system also automatically marks each record with a check box indicating the item is “OK to dispose” and indicates any officer instructions and who authorized disposition in each item record and in the audit trail.) For items to be held the property custodian can reset the Action Date for some time in the future to reconsider disposition in accordance with agency policy.
A third list indicates items, where the officer has not responded. The property office can send a second email to the officer with a copy his or her supervisor.
One client notes that his officers able to authorize items for disposition faster than he can process them. He says this could never have happened in the old paper-driven process that they used formerly.
Processing Items for Disposition
The property officer can begin processing the approved items for disposition. Many agencies move items ready for disposition to “Awaiting” shelves—awaiting disposition, awaiting return to owner, awaiting deposit, awaiting authorization to convert to agency use or awaiting auction. For narcotics, money, and firearms are in their respective vaults or safes.
Other agencies take advantage of QueTel’s secure boxing option to place, usually sensitive, items in sealed boxes and place a unique barcode on them. If they do this in the presence of an outside individual, e.g. someone from Internal Affairs, they both sign the seal. All the items in the box may be moved to a shelf, physically inventoried, and disposed of as a unit, by scanning the box barcode, so long as the seal is intact.
Evidence TraQ will generate letters to owners for property to be returned and give an alert to the property office when they are 30 days and there is no response. The system will generate auction listings, including that that used by PropertyRoom.com.
Recording Disposition
Recording the actual disposition of items is accomplished by transferring the items to a location whose status indicates that they are out permanently, as opposed transferring them temporarily as to court or the lab. A property staff person uses the scanner on the PC (or the mobile scanner) to transfer items out to owners, the auctioneer, destruction, etc. They may scan the barcode of a sealed box to accomplish the same result. Or, they may use a special option called “Update Transaction,” or bulk disposition, which transfers each item in the a “Wait” shelf to destruction, auction, etc. in one transaction. The transfer should always record the individual witnessing the transaction, as well as the person actually doing the transfer and capture the signature of the former. In the case of returning items to owners their name, ID, and signature can be recorded.
The transaction will record the location such as Auction, Owner, Destruction, etc. and list its status as Out Permanently. Using this procedure producing reports of yearly disposition takes a couple of minutes.
All of the disposition process steps from emails to final disposition automatically record in the Evidence TraQ audit trail to document proper handling.
About QueTel:
QueTel’s software saves time and increases accountability for law enforcement agencies. The TraQ Suite family of applications encompasses evidence management, digital evidence management (including redacation), forensic laboratory management (LIMS), and quartermaster inventory. For 25 years, we have served agencies with implementation services, consulting, and, recently, BWC video redaction services.