There is more digital evidence for police departments across the country to comb through every year. Detectives and officers now handle everything from crime scene photos and recorded interviews and CCTV footage on a routine basis. To complicate matters, even more, many police departments have adopted body cameras and in-car cameras, both of which can generate additional digital evidence even during minor, routine police calls.
Just like physical evidence, digital evidence must be handled correctly following the laws and regulations within each jurisdiction. Mishandling digital evidence can jeopardize important cases and destroy the entire agency’s credibility, which is why it’s so important to have a digital evidence management system (DEMS) in place. Read on to find out what to look for in a software solution.
Security and Compliance
Digital evidence can and should be stored locally, but there should also be copies stored in other geographic locations or the cloud. A DEMS that can provide both evidence storage and data backups that comply with federal and local policies and regulations will make it easy to avoid issues with lost evidence.
Scalable Storage
Because there are so many forms of digital evidence in the 21st century, DEMS storage solutions must be designed to scale up as new technologies are released. Administrators should avoid vendors who require police departments to use proprietary storage solutions. It can become prohibitively expensive to continue maintaining and storing a proprietary DEMS.
Integration With Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs)
BWC systems produce a lot of digital evidence that must be stored and organized. In a homicide investigation, for example, agencies routinely recover multiple BWC videos from officers who were on the scene or assisted in the investigation. A flexible DEMS that offers easy BWC integration will make it much easier to manage all of the data obtained directly from the officers.
Flexible Deployment Options
A good DEMS will offer both on-site and web-based deployment solutions. That way, officers can upload and review evidence from both desktop applications and web-based interfaces. Given that police departments are often spread out geographically, it only makes sense to deploy a DEMS that can be accessed by authorized parties from anywhere within the network.
Chain of Evidence Tracking
Just like physical evidence, all forms of digital evidence must be tracked. Tracking the chain of custody of digital evidence is the primary function of a DEMS, so this part of the software solution should be effective and easy for officers to use. It should catalog every time that case evidence is viewed, downloaded, printed, or shared, and should include comprehensive reporting tools.
Advanced Organization
Investigators need to be able to find specific pieces of evidence quickly when they are investigating a serious, fast-moving case. A DEMS with advanced search and organization features will allow officers and agents to identify digital evidence that is of particular interest and organize it. The ability to separate important or related evidence into virtual folders can help not just investigators but also prosecutors locate the most important evidence quickly.
The Future Is Digital
Some police departments are still living in the past. Their administrators assume the same storage and organization methods that worked for physical evidence can be deployed effectively in the digital world, but that’s not true. An effective DEMS is the only effective and efficient option for managing digital evidence.
