How Police Departments Are Upgrading Evidence Management

Proper evidence management is the backbone of any criminal investigation and prosecution. Without it, cases may fall apart, resulting in suspected offenders walking free. 

With annual criminal offenses in the millions, digital evidence management tools have become the go-to solutions for modern law enforcement. Relying on physical management solutions with this many cases could result in evidence loss, compromising some investigations. 

Further, cases have become increasingly complex, now involving more data than ever, like bodycam footage, witness reports, phone records, and surveillance videos. This necessitates digital solutions that allow law enforcement officers to store, organize, and retrieve data quickly. 

Here, we take an in-depth look at the value of digital evidence solutions and explore the key features to consider. 

Why traditional evidence management systems fall short

Traditional evidence management solutions, such as paper-based logs, spreadsheets, and network drives, have contributed to numerous case closures over the years. 

However, as digital evidence grows in volume and complexity, these solutions no longer meet the needs of law enforcement departments and prosecutors. Here’s why:

• They don’t support digital evidence effectively: These solutions may be effective in logging physical evidence, like narcotics and weapons, but they may be unable to effectively handle digital evidence such as license plate reader (LPR) data, bodycam videos, and phone records. 
• They don’t integrate with other systems: These tools work in isolation, which can result in fragmented storage. They typically force officers to manually transfer data between systems, which can be time-consuming. 
• They rely heavily on manual input: Traditional tools still rely on solutions like handwritten paper-based logs and chain-of-custody forms, which may be prone to errors or tampering. This can undermine cases in court. 
• They don’t provide the level of auditability required in modern cases: Defendants may demand time-stamped records of who accessed what records and when they did so, information that can be altered with traditional solutions. 
• They offer limited evidence access across teams and agencies: They limit access since departments must manually coordinate evidence transfer. 

These inefficiencies can cause operational and legal risks, potentially slowing down investigations and undermining court cases — some of the worst-case scenarios for police departments or law enforcement agencies. So, it’s more important than ever to invest in centralized digital solutions. 

What a strong digital evidence management system includes

The last thing you want is to capture evidence that can help solve a crime only for it to go missing or become compromised. Unfortunately, these risks could occur even with a digital evidence management system — if you don’t choose yours carefully. 

For seamless evidence management, look for a robust system that’s easy to use, facilitates collaboration, and implements stringent security measures. 

Here’s a deeper look at these features (and why they matter).

Centralized storage with case-based organization

Centralized storage facilitates seamless collaboration with other stakeholders, such as prosecution teams, by streamlining access to relevant data. It also creates a single source of truth, which could limit data inconsistency issues. So, only settle on a solution if it integrates all your evidence(documents, videos, audio, and images) into a single platform. 

Beyond centralizing evidence, your tool should also allow you to organize data by case — not just by file type or upload date. Ideally, it should let you create folders or tag evidence by specific case details to enhance searchability and retrieval whenever needed. Case-by-case organization is better than categorization by file type or upload date because officers will likely handle many similar files and build multiple cases per day. 

Easy uploading from multiple sources

Police departments and public safety agencies typically use multiple law enforcement solutions to collect evidence. Many use body cams, LPR cameras, security cameras, police patrol dashcams, email submissions, and citizen portals. A reliable evidence management solution should allow you to upload data from all these sources, so nothing slips through the cracks. 

It should support automatic syncing from existing tools or allow drag-and-drop uploads to make work easier for officers. It should also support bulk uploads in case you need to store and organize large amounts of evidence. 

Secure sharing with chain-of-custody tracking

Your tool should be easy to use and support cross-team collaboration without jeopardizing evidence security and chain of custody. At a minimum, it should have:

• A chain of custody log that automatically records who accesses, downloads, or edits evidence
• Role-based access controls to help you control who views or shares specific case files
• Multi-factor authentication to limit access to evidence

Your law enforcement software should also comply with the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy. 

Stringent security measures and chain of custody protocols can protect the integrity of criminal cases, reducing the risk of them being thrown out due to avoidable technicalities. They can also enhance the public’s trust in the justice system by limiting the risk of evidence alterations, 

How better evidence management helps departments every day

Switching from traditional evidence management solutions to a strong system can enhance your team’s day-to-day efficiency by facilitating the following:

Faster case resolution through easier access

Effective evidence management tools can facilitate faster case resolutions by enabling real-time data uploads and providing centralized access to information. 

With these systems, investigators don’t have to wait for lengthy interdepartmental transfers to start building their cases or manually track down files. They simply need to log into your evidence management software and search for the evidence they need, which can take as little as a few minutes. 

Fewer dropped cases due to lost or delayed evidence

It can be challenging to track information when relying on traditional evidence management solutions, such as physical files and hard drives. This is because they typically don’t provide audit trails — at least not without some form of human intervention. 

Information tracking difficulties can result in misplaced or overlooked evidence, leading to case delays, dismissals, or losses. Strong digital solutions limit these risks by automatically logging evidence and recording visitors’ interactions with the data. 

They also lower the risk of data loss by storing information in the cloud rather than physically. This makes it easy for investigators to maintain complete, verifiable evidence, which could, in turn, reduce case dismissals. 

Book a demo with Flock Safety today to see how our software can store and safeguard critical evidence. 

Improved transparency and accountability

Robust digital solutions provide clear audit trails, showing who accessed specific pieces of evidence, when they did so, and what they did after accessing them. This supports seamless internal audits by revealing investigators’ activities to command staff and internal affairs (IA) teams. 

It could also promote transparency in court proceedings and make it easy for departments to comply with public records requests, potentially reducing the risk of evidence being questioned. 

Modernize your approach to evidence with connected tools

Digital evidence management solutions are no longer a modern luxury. Given the sheer number of cases officers investigate, the growing complexity of discovery processes, and the public’s heightened scrutiny of law enforcement operations, these solutions are crucial. They centralize evidence, streamline data sharing and access, enhance transparency, and facilitate cross-department collaboration, which could help cases progress faster and reduce the risk of dismissals. 

Flock Safety improves evidence management by providing connected tools: FlockOS and Flock Nova. FlockOS integrates evidence from Flock’s license plate readers, AI cameras, and audio detection tools, while Flock Nova unifies data across sources, like records management systems (RMS) and public records, helping investigators build their cases. 

Flock’s commitment to building an open and collaborative ecosystem for public safety helps set us apart in the industry. We strongly believe that seamless integration empowers law enforcement to serve their communities more efficiently. When public safety tools work together, safety wins.

Want to improve evidence collection and management? Book a demo today to see how Flock Safety’s turnkey software solutions can help!