Inquiry Into Police Evidence Rooms in Santa Clara County

As a general rule, the county police agencies perform audits of their evidence rooms after there is a change in the senior management of the department or key evidence personnel. Department personnel not directly involved in the evidence handling or its supervision usually perform this audit. Many departments periodically use a spot check of records against the physical item to test the integrity of their control systems. 5

Most police evidence and property rooms are overcrowded and the agencies have expanded secure storage by rehabilitating rooms within the stations, renting or purchasing temporary buildings, renting additional space, or have resorted to renting commercial public storage.

There is no procedure in place for documenting the change of custody that occurs when the police relinquish possession of evidence to the court for trial.

Some police evidence rooms do not vent narcotic holding areas separately from the main air conditioning systems.

The lack of office automation in some evidence rooms increases the clerical workload, introduces the possibility of errors into the tracking system, and inhibits the timely identification of property records for final disposition.

Top management within the police agencies often stay clear of evidence rooms.

Most of the police agencies within the county are members of CAPE and SCRAPE and participate in procedural development, and network at educational development conferences provided by CAPE and SCRAPE. 7