Tracking evidence goes hi-tech

Torus Tammer

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- The Police Department soon will get a new component

for its crime lab.

In November, the City Council amended the 2000-01 budget to include a

$35,194 grant for a new evidence bar-code tracking system.

Crime lab supervisor Dave Aoki said the system really has taken off in

the last few years and is being used by a handful of agencies in Orange

County.

“We’re glad to be getting this piece of equipment,” he said. “All the

agencies are pushing for it because of its convenience. It will free us

up to focus more on things that we once weren’t able to because of lack

of time and manpower.”

The Fountain Valley crime lab mainly functions as a processing area

for latent prints and preservation, Aoki said.

The addition of the bar-code tracking system will streamline the

property division, essentially making paperless the process of booking

evidence.

“Usually, the officer would have to write a property or inventory

report card for each piece of evidence,” Aoki said. “He would then have

to take it to the property clerk, who would transfer the information to

our records management system. From there, we have it documented

electronically.”

With the new bar-code system, Aoki said, the evidence is simply

scanned. A bar-code sticker will identify every item and its history so

it can be followed wherever it goes.

Police Chief Elvin Miali said the new device is just another step in

the the department’s quest for the latest crime-fighting technologies.

“The bar-coding will be beneficial because it will help us maintain

the chain of evidence,” he said. “We’re always looking to see what is new

on the market and if we find something we are interested in, we have a

vendor come out and demonstrate it.”

Sgt. Jim Perry said it is important to keep officers as well-versed as

possible and to keep working toward having a fully equipped crime lab.

“Sometimes, we still have to use the Orange County crime lab for

certain homicide cases,” he said. “We want to get it to a stage where we

don’t have to rely on anyone. We’re close to that now.”

Miali said the crime lab has been the mainstay in solving numerous

cases.

“The lab allows us to get to the suspect as soon as possible,” he

said. “It has also allowed us to improve the training of our officers

because it helps them to know what to look for and obtain the evidence.”

The crime lab has undergone many changes in recent years.

Its photo lab has been converted to digital imaging, which not only

saves time but gives officers more flexibility now that they carry

digital cameras, Aoki said.

Digital photography eliminates the time needed to process film because

images can be loaded directly onto a computer.

“Basically, our responsibilities are the conservation of the evidence

-- hairs, fibers and blood, “ Aoki said.

“The digital revolution is contributing to the proper preservation and

utilization of a proper chain of custody [maintaining the integrity of a

piece of evidence].

“This is important because you want to be able to show that the

evidence is untainted.”