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NEWS
HPD pushes for modernization of evidence room
Bicycles and personal belongings are among items contained in the evidence room of the Huntington Police Department.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- The Huntington Police Department's evidence room is a 5,000-square-foot space that contains the tools and spoils of modern-day crime -- guns, drugs, purses, televisions, golf clubs, electronics and other items.
The challenge for the people in charge of this limited-access room is trying to keep track of it all using an antiquated system.
The Police Department will be looking for money to modernize its evidence room. Officials estimate at least $20,000 is needed to switch from its index card tracking system to bar code technology.
The current system tracks items case-by-case, much like a library's old card catalog. It prevents police from quickly generating statistics and reports. The computerized system would provide improved tracking methods and provide a quick accounting of the department's inventory.
"To try and amass one mass list, I mean you would have to have people down here for years," said Huntington Police Capt. Rick Eplin said, who oversees the evidence operation. "Bar codes and inventory control are universal now. You see it in every grocery store."
Here's how the system works now:
Field officers confiscate the evidence and place it in a locker at police headquarters. They store it with an index card containing information about the property.
An evidence room officer empties each locker, transports the items to the evidence room and completes remaining sections of the index card. A small part of the card is attached to the evidence, while a larger portion is placed in an inventory file.
The larger card serves as a sign-in/sign-out sheet when officers take the evidence for testing or a court appearance. The same card is signed and dated when the evidence is released or disposed of.
Under a modern system, scanning a bar code would replace the sign-out sheet. Evidence room officers would simply scan the item when it is needed elsewhere. The computer system would give officers instant access to a list of signed-out items. Eplin currently depends upon periodic, card-by-card inspections to ensure nothing is missing.
"It's not the most modern way to do it," Eplin said.
The computerized system also would expedite turnover of items that are no longer needed for court. Eplin said a computer automatically would identify property stored for longer than six months, thus allowing officers to purge the property quicker.
Recently the department has benefited from an extra officer in the evidence room. The additional officer is a retiree hired with special permission. The extra help has allowed the department to purge several items.
"That's why you see the empty shelves," he said. "This is essential. We have to be accountable for all of this evidence in all of these cases. With one officer down here, we were getting overburdened. One officer could not manage all of these items. He couldn't get everything purged out."
Secure management of the evidence room is crucial to the prosecution of cases. Any failure in the evidence officers' performance or the tracking of evidence could taint a case and lead to a not guilty verdict. It is the room for which the police chief does not have a key and detectives wait outside the door for items to be retrieved. The Herald-Dispatch needed special permission to enter the protected confines under close supervision.
Eplin said integrity is paramount.
"You have to have 100 percent accountability. If you don't, you're going to have issues," he said.
In 2008, the Police Department's evidence room received 230 weapons and $150,000 cash.
The guns and drugs are stored in close proximity to less dangerous items, such as bicycles, purses, televisions, golf clubs, copper pipe and road signs.
Confiscated money is deposited into a separate holding account, until it is forfeited by court order or turned over to the State Treasurer's Office. State law prohibits the city from spending money held in that account. Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook cited security reasons for not releasing the current balance of that account.
Each police department holds the evidence for at least six months, at which point unclaimed items become unclaimed property. It can then be turned over to the state Treasurer's Office.
