Is It Time to Spring Clean Your Evidence Room?
The digital world has changed the course of the economy in more ways than one. Various industries have benefited from both purging and technological advancements, helping them grow into successful entities. Progress knows no bounds, and such changes also need to touch areas that have benefited from years of tradition.
Evidence rooms, in particular, can benefit well from purging and changes. Most agencies still rely on manual processes and procedures, many of which compel them to work extended labor hours. Unfortunately, such a demand for work rarely coincides with the number of personnel. As a result, efficiency and productivity suffer.
With the help of a makeover, however, processes can eventually flow better. Adopting evidence software can help, as this will help automate the entire chain of custody. With a good makeover process, you can easily eliminate the hours needed to manually track and process every piece of evidence, all without the risk of mislabelling, mishandling, or even misplacing any item.
The question now stands—how do you know if your evidence room needs a change? Before investing in that evidence software, here are some signs you need to be aware of:
Sign #1: Your staff now falls behind on consistency and efficiency
As an agency, your people likely operate on a traditional system. You have filing cabinets still in use, as well as manual sticker labels and pouches most officers use for evidence storage. These are then distributed accordingly, but what happens when the people in charge of the traditional system leave the force? You risk uprooting the foundation of your evidence rooms, as their absence now means a chunk of the tradition gone.
As a result, you’re left with staff now falling behind on efficiency and consistency. With the help of evidence software and other advanced solutions, however, you make sure that your evidence rooms remain intuitive and productive.
Sign #2: You’re drowning in mountains of paper
Traditional paperwork is important, especially since the digital space can be deleted in mere seconds. It always pays to have something solid to look back to, particularly when sensitive items are involved. When your evidence room is drowning in paperwork, however, it may be high time for a change.
With the help of an evidence software system, your staff will be able to label evidence promptly, all the while ensuring that check-ins are accurate. Additional time needed to book evidence can now be cut short, with no need to double-check the information provided.
Locating evidence for court proceedings and investigations is also made quicker and safer, as any misplacements and mislabelling can now be close to nonexistent.
Sign #3: You need to reduce storage costs
One of the biggest pain points agencies have is storage costs. Years and years of evidence lead to overflowing shelves, which in turn require the need to rent out more storage space. This ends up increasing costs, but with the help of newer and better systems, any backlog issues can be dealt with accordingly.
A good evidence software system can help agencies identify which pieces of evidence still hold significance, and which needs to be tossed out. Purging can be done most efficiently, leading your agency to save on significant costs.
Keep Your Evidence Rooms Smoothly Running With The Right Partner
Technological transformations are necessary, and for good reason—they simply work. If you find your agency dealing with the signs listed above, it’s time to invest in new tools and gadgets to help your team keep up with the times. A good evidence management software may just be what your evidence rooms need—all you have to do is to invest in the right one.
When it comes to the best evidence software, PMI Evidence Tracker ™ should be your only choice. We provide various law enforcement agencies with affordable and user-friendly systems, all tasked with helping you effectively manage your processes. Order yours today!
