The purpose of this blog is to provide authoritative articles and tips on evidence handling methodology and to open a dialog between law enforcement officers (and all those concerned) on the important subject of evidence management.

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I hope that you find the articles useful.

Sincerely,
Andy Lohrman

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Whether you work for a small agency of three officers or a large agency with thousands of officers, you will at some time need to collect physical evidence in order to successfully prosecute a criminal. Nearly all crime scenes contain evidence that needs collected for analysis. That evidence is also important for future prosecution. It is critically important to the case that the evidence is collected, packaged, and maintained using proper procedures. If you use improper techniques, evidence can be lost, overlooked or contaminated. Improperly packaged evidence can lead to its inadmissibility at trial and jeopardize the successful outcome of the case.

Your job as a CSI is mission critical. You are a part of the larger mission of the criminal justice system. The rest of the system is relying on you to do your job. It is a tough job that few can do. You need extensive knowledge on a variety of different disciplines such as: fingerprinting, biological evidence, entomology, and trace, just to name a few. The quality of your work directly influences the success of the case, whether guilty or innocent. The quality of the evidence you identify, collect, package, maintain, and submit to a laboratory does not matter if you do not follow sound techniques for each step.

For the next several weeks, I will post a new blog explaining techniques in: evidence collection, packaging, chain of custody, storage and other issues surrounding evidence handling. Your feedback and comments are always welcome. Let me know if you have a topic you would like to see discussed in the meantime.

Andy Lohrman

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There are many associations with procedure manuals that explain methods for proper evidence seals. One of the best known is the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD). The ASCLD standard says that an evidence container is properly sealed when:

• the contents cannot readily escape the package.
• entering the container results in obvious damage or alteration to the container or its seal.
• the actual seal must itself be sufficient to prevent the possibility of the item being lost or removed without altering the seal.
• the contents is beyond the possibility of contamination by an outside source.

To put the above in simpler and practical terms, the steps for proper sealing of evidence include:

• Tape the package shut and initial the seals so that you can tell if anyone has tampered with the package.
• Use quality packing tape
• NOT masking tape,
• duct tape,
• medical tape,
• or staples.

• Initial the tape partially on the tape and partially on the package.
• Put the following on the package:
• case number,
• a unique item number,
• the collecting officer’s name and ID number,
• the date,
• description of the item,
• location that it was found,
• and a diagram if applicable.

Take time to seal evidence correctly will help insure that the evidence is admissible.

Andy Lohrman

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