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From the website of the
International Association for Property Room & Evidence Room
Property Room Standards for Evidence and Property Room Technicians
13. NARCOTICS HANDLING
Narcotics evidence should not be commingled with any other property types, except when a
common enhanced security area is shared with the storage of firearms or currency. All items in this
category should be handled and processed with extreme caution. The following are recommended
features for a narcotics storage room:
• A narcotics storage room must be impervious to entry and should be constructed of either concrete
block wall or heavy gauge fencing.
• A narcotics storage room shall have an adequate ventilation system consistent with legal mandates
that will not impact other areas of the building. Always consider a Negative Pressure System. MICROCON® ExCBB
MICROCON® ExC-BUV with Germicidal UV
Used by Major Hospitals and Health Care Facilities in creating Negative/Positive Pressure Isolation
Rooms.
Germicidal UV lamps are available in the units to aid in compliance with all CDC guidelines. And for non-exhaust applications.
All our HEPA filter units comply with CDC Guidelines, and are FDA 510K certified. “An FDA 510K certification is mandatory for air purification systems in hospital use!” Specifically designed for removal of airborne contaminants which could and will contaminate the evidence within the evidence room and or property room.
HOW BIOLOGICAL CONTROLS MONITORS NEGATIVE PRESSURE ROOMS
The ACCUSTAT® was designed as a differential room pressure monitor that measures both and
negative and positive pressure. It will compare the room pressure to that of the corridor and
maintain an accuracy of .001 inches WG (water gauge) as identified on a large digital readout.
User set alarm function warns visually and/or audibly of a room not in compliance after a one minute "false alarm" cycle has been triggered. Has locking key switch controls for on/off and negative/positive
selections. Remote monitoring capabilities are available, as well as interfacing with building
management systems. Two models are available, a stationary mount and a rechargeable battery
operated portable.
Is there evidence of contamination in your evidence room?
Dry, musty, stale, dusty, stagnant, smelly, are these some of the adjectives that might describe the quality of the air in your evidence room? Is this what you’re used to breathing everyday caused by poor ventilation, inadequate air changes, or insufficient filtration?
This can all lead to damp, moldy and unhealthy conditions. What’s being stored, contained and what is off gassing and what evidence may contain hazardous pathogens that become airborne? When those pollutants are airborne they become respirable and what you breathe in has the potential to make you sick.
The same equipment we have manufactured for the hospital and medical areas are now made available for evidence rooms. Equipment that filters out particles as small as 0.3 microns, that covers the bacteria and with the addition of germicidal UV lamps we can irradiate the airborne viruses.
Air is constantly being filtered and recirculated and returned to the room so the system is independent of the heating and cooling system. Which results in No Loss of warmer air from heating or cool from your air conditioning. Saving Energy and compliant to the recommendations of the International Property and Evidence Room Association.
Ceiling mounted means its out of the way and produces a very even and consistent air pattern that eliminates stagnant air pockets, static air layers and provides for continuous air movement with high efficiency filtration.
Carbon cells eliminate gas phase pollutants and remove odors and fumes from the air. There’s an air purifier for make for virtually every contamination need and application. Let us know your problem so we can provide a solution, since 1973 we’ve been doing it and we’ll provide you with plenty of evidence.
In many cases the Defendants’ Attorney uses inadequate and improper management of Evidence and Property Rooms as evident reasons in establishing impermissible and contaminated Evidence. |
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The MICROCON® ExC-BUV or the MICROCON® CD will alleviate your dilemmas
within the Evidence Rooms and Property Rooms.
 Evidence and Property Rooms are not to have any windows as a result, air purification and a Negative Pressure Room is extremely important, especially in narcotic storage areas. A ventilation exhaust fan
that runs continuously is not the most effective way of handling this. The biggest
dilemma is the Indoor Air Quality. Allowing outside air pollution and noxious odors into the
evidence and property room.
Narcotics fumes should not be circulated within a common ventilation system.
The MICROCON® recirculates HEPA Filtered clean air at very good air changes per hour
depending on room size.
Ventilation systems can bring some very serious contaminants. Air pollution is rampant. Carbon
monoxide fumes, diesel exhaust. The EPA has over 60% of all cities in the US on diesel exhaust alert.
Dust, pollen and air particulate can contaminate and destroy pertinent evidence. Outside
ventilation for the evidence and property room is also exposed to climate dilemmas and air
temperature changes. Dampness and moisture will cause metal to rust. It can also affect and
contaminate many other pieces of evidence. Photos and electronic digital CDs, VHS Video tapes will
become contaminated. Dust is another troublesome particulate in the evidence rooms. This air
purification is also protecting the staff of the evidence room from all this air pollution which will make
them ill and possible infection of contagious diseases. And the poor air quality and odors are
nauseating.
Speaking of biological evidence, what do you do with items that have fresh blood, for example,
which has to be dried before packaging and storage? Some type of drying area is required. It must be
able to contain any dripping liquids in a safe manner, have good ventilation, be able to preserve the
integrity of the evidence, and it must protect employees from accidental contact.
The best solution is to have a separate room set aside for this purpose. There are also
commercial dryers available for this purpose, but they can be expensive. M ICROCON® Air Cleaners
create a clean, safe environment by clearing particulate, infectious air, and VOCs (volatile organic
compounds) from the air. Dirt, dust, soot, mold spores, bacteria, dust mites animal dander. MICROCON® eliminates infectious airborne pathogens, removes hazardous microbial airborne
particulate. Potential hazardous bacteria introduced into the air by infected persons from whom this
evidence was retrieved. They are invisible to the naked eye and can remain suspended in the air
stream indefinitely. MICROCON® with HEPA Filtration captures this particulate as small as .03
microns in size.
If you are utilizing ventilation systems for other areas be sure these areas are concealed to
the negative pressure room.
MICROCON® MCDHUV is used in highly sensitive environments, such as to avert migration of
airborne particulate from seized drugs that could become contaminated and unusable evidence. It
protects employees from contaminants such as blood-borne pathogens from all forms of
evidence (clothing, jewelry), lead dust from weapon storage, and drug off-gassing. The MICROCON® MCDHUV Air Purification System meets requirements for law enforcement
organizations, US government agencies. And any of a genus (Aspergillus) of ascomycetous fungi with
branched radiate sporophores including many common molds.
Time demands of the Property Room and Evidence Room
For purposes of this report, police evidence rooms are storage rooms with the systems for
securing and retrieving evidence. They are under the control of police departments, public safety
departments, the Office of the County District Attorney (DA), and the County Office
of the Sheriff. Police evidence rooms contain evidence; property held for safekeeping; such as
guns confiscated in domestic violence incidents and money or property from accidents; and lost
property found within the local jurisdiction.
The most critical property stored is evidence collected during the course of an investigation into
a crime. Evidence plays a vital role in the investigation, prosecution, and conviction of persons
who have been accused of criminal acts. Maintaining a proper, well-documented chain of
custody and ensuring the integrity of evidence are crucial to successful law enforcement, prosecution, and court operations. Examples of evidence range from DNA and biological evidence that must be specially stored at constant temperatures. Which is virtually impossible with
ventilation systems.
Less than 1% of evidence collected is used in trials. Most evidence related to crimes
and investigations is returned to owners or destroyed when cases are resolved.
In the case of property crimes, the physical evidence is processed for fingerprints and
photographed; its serial number is recorded and then released to its owner.
Legislation requires criminal justice agencies to maintain certain evidence for extended periods
of time, sometimes forever. For example, the law mandates that all death penalty case evidence
be held indefinitely. Evidence from certain homicides, sexual assaults, and serious felonies is
secured for a long time. Domestic violence tapes are stored for ten years. Often, the evidence
must be kept for the lifetime of a convicted criminal and even beyond, if other individuals could,
at some time, be tried or exonerated for the crime. In those property crime cases where no
suspect has been identified, evidence is kept for a period prescribed by law for the specific crime. The security of property stored for safekeeping and found property is equally important as a
matter of public trust, even though this property does not enter the judicial system. Much of the
found property may be auctioned if the owners cannot be found or do not wish to claim it. Every police agency receives evidence collected at a crime scene and throughout the entire
investigation period. Police headquarters have packaging stations for the proper handling and storage of evidence. Packaging has the dual purpose of inhibiting contamination as well as
preventing deterioration or destruction. Packaging also assists in efficient warehousing and
retrieval. A locker system secures evidence until the evidence technician processes the material
for storage or it is picked up for transport to the County Crime Laboratory for analysis.
When major crimes occur, the police agency crime scene investigation unit reports to the scene
to ensure that all evidence is properly packaged and labeled. Clothing may need to be dried, paperwork completed, and other evidence examined prior to being forwarded to the evidence room.
Usually the evidence and property storage function within each police agency is assigned to one
or more technicians who are not sworn police officers. Some agencies combine evidence room
activities with the other duties of a sworn officer. In both cases, evidence room personnel work
closely with detectives as they investigate crimes and work towards convictions in concert with the DA. |
