Audits determine how you and your department are functioning from the time evidence is collected until it is properly disposed. An audit will show if:

  1. Your procedures are the most efficient – time wasted is money spent
  2. Your standard operating procedures match your actual procedures – “if you do it…it needs to be written – if it’s written, you need to do it”
  3. You are meeting the guidelines of applicable statutes
  4. You can accurately follow the “life” of an item from birth until its death, and beyond – all documentation must show where the item’s been, who’s handled it, where is it located and when and how was it disposed
Your department needs to ensure your procedures are the most efficient and effective means of getting the job done. There is nothing more frustrating than to learn your procedures are costing you time and money, or worse yet, to discover some procedures are outdated and not within standards.
Internal audits should, at a minimum, be conducted yearly. If it is a legislative year, be sure to track all legislation that will impact your operations and be ready to implement the new changes upon passage of the bill. Be sure to document any findings and the corrective action taken ,and include dates when the action was taken.
External audits should be conducted at the very minimum, every three years. These audits need to be performed by an expert in the field of evidence room management. Some municipalities and county governments have an auditing department and they work wonders for other departments, they usually don’t have any idea how to audit an evidence room. The individual or company conducting the audit should prepare a report with findings and recommendations. If this report is not offered – REQUEST ONE! When corrective action is taken, be sure to note what and how the action was corrected and when the correction was made.
Do not take audits lightly. Maintaining the integrity of the evidence is of the utmost concern and that responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the evidence technician. Believe it or not, evidence rooms can and will make or break an agency.