The purpose of a police department Property and Evidence Room audit is to review how well your department receives, inventories, and establishes chain of custody with regards to property and evidence. It reports how well a department maintains property and evidence while it is in its custody, as well as how the department releases evidence for investigations and court purposes. Needless to say, a poor outcome on your audit has the potential to damage your department’s reputation. So, we’re here with some guidance for all our property custodians out there on how to prepare for an audit—so you can make yourself, your chief, and your department look good.
Main Objectives of Property and Evidence Room Audit
During your audit, your Property and Evidence Room will be assessed in several key areas:
• The controls you have in place and how well they work to ensure the preservation of the chain of custody for property and evidence.
• The controls you have in place to ensure the proper disposal and destruction of property and evidence, to include proper documentation for disposal/destruction.
• The accuracy of and proper documentation for the inventory that’s present.
What Happens During an Audit?
Members of the Property and Evidence Unit, as well as the auditors, complete several steps during an audit. To begin with, there is a fundamental review of your state’s statutes for audits, as well as standards and best practices. Sometimes, the auditor will also reference Property and Evidence Room Best Practices as well as recent audit reports from other cities within your state.
Next, the auditor reviews your department’s prior audits as well as past reviews of your Property and Evidence Unit. They also review your department’s policy manual and other forms available online as they pertain.
Once the auditor has gathered all this information, he or she begins interviewing Property and Evidence Unit staff and supervisors. Next, the auditor moves on to the department’s commanders, lieutenants, sergeants, and officers. Finally, he or she speaks with paralegals and lawyers that interact with your unit on a regular basis.
As the interviews wrap up, the auditor begins the next step, which is gathering data from the city’s personnel, along with bank statements from the Finance department, and access information from the Security department.
Once gathered, auditors begin to analyze the data. They may sample various property items and locate them with the P&E Unit’s assistance. They then move on to reviewing the bank statements, comparing access logs to current personnel, and reviewing the chain of custody documentation to be sure tracking is accurate. The same applies to disposal procedures. P&E Unit personnel will assist as needed.
How to Prepare for an Audit
One of the best ways to prepare for an audit to follow your department and P&E Unit’s procedures and best practices on a daily basis. Doing so ensures that your Property and Evidence Room management system maintains the integrity of the chain of custody and evidence tracking. But if you have an inspection right around the corner, it’s crunch time. Here’s how to prepare:
• Conduct study sessions and mock interviews with staff to brush up on procedures.
• Conduct a thorough inventory and inspection of the property and evidence storage areas.
• Check the security systems you have in place, both in and around the property and evidence storage areas.
• Conduct testing of items by both the system-to-shelf and shelf-to-system methods to make sure that items are where they say they are. Make sure you perform these tests for each item type, such as weapons, narcotics, and money.
• Pull random samples of items with dispositions of released, destroyed, or converted to department use and review their supporting documentation to ensure its correct.
• Review and evaluate your department’s standard operating procedures for property control.
• Compare your current practices against best practices and accreditation standards.
• Review and update which individuals have entry rights your Property and Evidence Room.
Making the Process Easier with Evidence Tracking Software
One of the best ways to maintain an efficient Property and Evidence Room is to employ evidence tracking software as part of your Property and Evidence Room management system. Evidence tracking software like PMI Evidence Tracker™ provides your department with a streamlined yet powerful way to manage evidence and property.
Tracking software applications keep detailed information about every piece of evidence as well as every asset. Our system comes complete with a barcode scanner and printer, labels, and vital customer support along with software updates. If you haven’t considered evidence tracking software before, contact us today to learn more about PMI Evidence Tracker™.
