Track every piece of evidence throughout the chain of custody with integrated evidence management software

Law enforcement record management system tracks and maintains the chain of custody with evidence

Property and evidence are more than just the physical objects associated with crimes and criminal investigations. They are also records of guilt or innocence, records that ultimately ensure that justice is carried out.

For the busiest law enforcement agencies, managing property and evidence is literally a growing challenge. Mid- to large-sized departments routinely handle thousands of pieces of evidence that run the gamut from mundane to highly controlled items, such as weapons, drugs, money and DNA. In addition, for an increasing number of agencies, electronic evidence tracking has become more common for both electronic evidence in its own right and for improved visual verification of physical evidence. Needless to say, tracking and managing the property and evidence chain of custody is complex and becoming increasingly more so.

SmeadSoft RMS for Property and Evidence with a fully integrated paper and electronic records management option is a sophisticated yet easy-to-use law enforcement evidence management software system that tracks each and every item in property rooms throughout the chain of custody. It can virtually eliminate missing or mishandled evidence, make items instantly identifiable and locatable, and slash property and evidence room space requirements.

Designed in cooperation with county and municipal law enforcement agencies to reflect real-life process flows, SmeadSoft's law enforcement records management software system is easy to learn and intuitive to use for officers, investigators, legal personnel, property and evidence room managers, and others:

• SmeadSoft is configurable to meet unique property and evidence room needs, and Smead’s large professional services staff can meet any need for customization. That means your evidence management system will work the way you need it to.
• SmeadSoft’s design is driven by customers and based on the day-to-day needs of property and evidence room personnel and law enforcement agencies.
• Because it’s created just for law enforcement, SmeadSoft evidence managing software isn’t loaded with rarely used bells and whistles. Our customers report that there’s no part of the system they don’t use.
• Barcode-based systems are the most cost-effective and efficient case evidence tracking technologies. SmeadSoft makes it easy to barcode physical evidence as well as paper documents and integrate them into a complete property and evidence tracking system for law enforcement agencies. 

Key features include:

• Chain of custody with digitized signatures for tracking control and auditability that reduces or eliminates evidence-mishandling claims;
• A sophisticated inventory management system that makes it easy to locate items instantly;
• Automation of retention schedules that reduces storage space requirements; 
• Standard reports and flexible ad-hoc reporting that make it easy to monitor, manage, and report on evidence and related case information;
• Automated monthly inventory samplings that reduce or even eliminate annual audits;
• Digital imaging functionality that saves significant time over physically checking evidence in and out;
• Hard and soft evidence compliance that means both physical and electronic evidence is available using only one system interface, making both easier to manage;
• Links of one-to-many relationships that tie one piece of evidence to many incidents, crimes or cases, giving authorized personnel simultaneous access to evidence and associated cases instantaneously; and 
• Predefined detective case and workflow management that ensures property and evidence is linked with case files, making access to case information fast and easy, so there’s less time in court. 

The one name in property and evidence room management you can trust

SmeadSoft is backed by Smead, the most respected name in office filing products and a world leader in the innovation of integrated records and file management software systems. Our understanding of how to best manage records is unmatched—that’s why both electronic and physical records management are integrated in one property and evidence tracking software system. After all, it’s unreasonable to assume law enforcement agencies can go completely paperless.

We know law enforcement agencies need to have confidence that:

• Property and evidence rooms are well organized and efficient so items can be quickly located.
• The chain of custody with evidence meets stringent accountability and auditing requirements.
• Court cases won’t be compromised by missing or mishandled evidence.