What is digital evidence management?
Effective digital evidence management is essential for supporting criminal investigations, ensuring the integrity, security, and accessibility of critical items. With a well-structured approach, digital evidence can provide key insights, strengthen case credibility, and contribute to the successful prosecution of offenders.
Careful evidence handling is essential for organisations, justice and law enforcement. Monitoring the chain of possession is crucial. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of evidence. Every bit of evidence has the power to impact a case, demonstrating the requirement for accuracy, responsibility and accountability.
Evidence, Exhibits and Seized Property Management for Law Enforcement
Evidence management software is critical. It ensures the integrity, security, and efficiency of handling evidence and it’s custody chain across various industries and contexts. It contributes to the fair and just resolution of legal matters.
Evidence management software lets you streamline evidence tracking. It covers every step from collection to presentation in court. Our evidence solution securely logs, tracks, and retrieves any item of evidence with just a few clicks, thereby saving valuable time and resources.
What is evidence management software?
Evidence, exhibits, and seized property require guidelines to control a range of risks, including the security, continuity, and integrity of property and exhibits, in order to mitigate the consequences of ineffective management. Traditionally, these were handled in a paper-based and cumbersome manner, requiring many man-hours for cataloguing and written documentation.
Today evidence management software enables departments to record evidence digitally. These software systems employ the latest barcode and/or RFID technology to initiate and manage the chain of custody. Organising and tracking tasks that need to be completed by a specific date via automated alerts.
Latest generation evidence software uses cloud technology to securely store data and allow users to access the system in the field via smartphones and tablets. The types of investigators and legal professionals that use evidence tracking systems are:
Law Enforcement Agencies
Police departments and law enforcement agencies use evidence software. It keeps track of the evidence gathered during criminal investigations. It guarantees the integrity of the evidence as well as its admissibility in court.
Legal Practices
Software for organising evidence is used by law firms and legal practitioners to prepare evidence for court and litigation. It aids in case preparation and presentation.
Government Agencies
Regulations are enforced by government organisations such as anti-corruption commissions. To handle evidence of infractions and enforcement actions, they employ evidence management software.
Organisations
Software for evidence is used by corporations and enterprises in internal investigations, audits, and legal disputes. It facilitates their handling of papers and proof.
Key benefits of using an evidence management system
Accurate documentation helps establish a correct chain of custody, which is essential for the evidence to be accepted in a court of law. By keeping a record of when items are removed from and returned to the storage facility, ensures the evidence remains secure, and its integrity is preserved. Minimising the risk of tampering, theft, or damage to the evidence, thereby preserving its integrity.
The automation of evidence management dramatically reduces the amount of time officers spend on maintaining manual evidence logs or briefs as each piece of new information is only ever entered once joining a full audit trail capturing every entry and interaction with that exhibit. The intuitive user interface makes it easy for users to find what they need, when they need it and the simple user experience means it is more likely to be used correctly and thus reflect accurate and current information.
Investing in digital solutions improves public safety and helps enforcement operations. Without evidence management systems, officers and investigators find their work harder. This increases the risk of mishandling evidence. An evidence management system provides important information to the investigator quickly.
How evidence management systems enhance security, accuracy, and efficiency
- Improves the management of tampering risk and loss of evidence.
- Instant log book processing and reporting.
- Enables the rapid and efficient validation of exhibit storage environments.
- Meet compliance requirements through comprehensive chain of custody processes and reporting.
- Manage health and safety risk through warnings and indicators for people handling evidence.
- Easy identification of evidence ready for disposal and simplified disposal process and records.
- Auditing and tracking of evidence movements to verify their existence and storage location.
- Provides intelligence which is derived from the evidence data collected and retained in the system for better visibility and decision making.
- Allows for integration with BI tools such as MS Power BI, Tableau, Yellowfin and more.
- Makes it easy to run all types of queries and send immediate ad-hoc reports to any digital device.
- Automates work-flows and routing of jobs to improve the complete lifecycle management of cases, events, incidents and exhibits and reduces forensics backlogs.
Key components of Hardcat evidence management
The Judicial system relies upon credible evidence that can withstand scrutiny when contested. This certainty and the integrity of such evidence are provided through the efficient management and tracking of their ‘Chain of Custody’ utilising the our evidence solution.
Recording of forensic evidence provides a comprehensive audit trail capturing every activity and movement from the initial exhibit capture at the scene through to the processing, presentation in court and then the return or disposal of that item. The resulting benefits of the Hardcat Evidence Management Solution include:
- Mobile app for the collection of evidence in the field via iOS and Android devices.
- Cross platform, cross browser portability.
- Interoperable through APIs to Case Management and other third-party systems.
- User-friendly and intuitive, which means users can learn it quickly.
- Tagging using technologies like Barcoding, QR codes, and RFID tags.
- Location movements: keeping a record of when items are removed from and returned to the police station or storage facility.
- Streamline and automate the management of evidence, improve tracking and retrieval, and enhance security and accountability.
- Chain of custody, safe and secure storage of seized and/or gathered evidence, and timely disposal in accordance with the law.
The inbuilt Hardcat Evidence Management Solution reporter has the flexibility and power to create and publish any required reports. Example reports are:
- Management and operational chain of custody.
- Detailed audit trails.
- History reports.
- Briefs.
- Victim, offender, and incident information.
Ensure the integrity of evidence with Hardcat
Hardcat evidence management software controls a range of risks, including the security, continuity, and integrity of property and exhibits, while also assisting in mitigating the consequences of ineffective management of these items. Here are some of the features we provide:
Search and Audit Capabilities
Powerful search capabilities that allow the user to slice and dice the data and quickly find the evidence record they are looking for. Audit of the evidence stored can be performed by means of our mobility solutions reducing the time taken from days to mere hours and minutes.
Evidence Log, Validation and Audit Trail
Complete evidence and exhibit tracking provides end-to-end control, along with an audit trail from initial capture to final disposal. The Hardcat solution consolidates all items and maintains a complete and unbreakable chain of custody. By combining advanced design and the latest technology, it ensures every interaction with the evidence updates key information and records changes in the ‘chain of custody’ log. This guarantees accountability and accurately reflects the current location of the item. This system is key to ensuring items can be easily found when needed.
Safety and Security
Ensuring the safety and security of confiscated materials is crucial for preserving the integrity of the evidence. In this regard, Hardcat’s evidence and exhibit management solution ensures that access limits are in place. It also provides regular monitoring and audits to safeguard the items. Implementing these measures reduces the risk of tampering, theft, or damage, thereby preserving the evidence’s integrity. Additionally, explosives, bio-hazard items, and other high-risk evidence are clearly marked in the system, which protects those who handle them.
Data Visibility
Hardcat Evidence Management has a powerful tool which goes way beyond traditional security. Specifically, it is based on data partitioning which mandates the scope of data visible to a user. Administrators define domains which grant permissions to access specific data relevant to user tasks, assisting in maintaining the accuracy and validity of data, while providing people with the information they need to get the job done.
Hardcat evidence, exhibit and seized property management solutions
Evidence management plays a critical role in investigations and legal proceedings. Handling evidence becomes challenging without a cloud-based solution. Large data volumes, complexity, manual processes, and security concerns are just some of the issues that arise. Hardcat Evidence Management offers advanced, proven solutions that streamline evidence tracking. Our technology empowers law enforcement and legal professionals to improve the efficiency, reliability, and integrity of investigations and legal processes.
