Evidence storage is crucial in the justice system to prevent tampering. Autopsy, temporary, and long-term storage are used for different types of evidence. A chain of custody ensures authenticity.
In many court cases, the evidence gathered is essential to both the defense and the prosecution. Evidence storage is an important part of the justice system, because it keeps important physical evidence free from tampering. There are three main types of storage: autopsy storage, temporary storage, and long-term storage. Each of the three is made to aid in the proof-of-concept process, and its authenticity is guaranteed by something called a chain of custody.
The autopsy reveals different types of evidence, such as bodily fluids, hair, fingernails, and non-human items such as bullets or drugs found inside a body. These are individually placed in airtight containers and labeled with the person, date, place and other important data so that a testing laboratory can analyze them. Preservation of autopsy evidence of sensitive pieces of human remains is kept in a specially designed refrigerated system to keep things from getting messy, because the evidence often can’t be fully investigated or brought to court for days, weeks or months after the initial collection.
Temporary storage of evidence is a common type of evidence management, since many types of sensitive materials can be used as evidence. These items are perishable and hazardous materials that cannot be stored for long periods of time. The storage of autopsy evidence overlaps with the temporary storage of evidence, as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and body fluids are refrigerated or frozen for a period before the trial and usually disposed of after the trial. Hazardous chemicals are also part of this evidence care system and are kept in airtight containers and stored away from ventilation systems in temperature controlled environments.
Anything that isn’t in danger of going wrong or causing immediate damage is kept in long-term evidence memory. Items ranging from seized narcotics to weapons, clothing, computers, documents and more are all retained as evidence for trials. Weapons are usually stored in locked containers, such as an evidence locker, so they are not accessible. Similarly, narcotics are locked up and usually require special permission to be removed from storage. Documentation is stored in humidity-controlled climates to ensure evidence is not damaged.
Regardless of the form of evidence storage in which the item is placed, many justice systems require a chain of custody to ensure that evidence has not been tampered with. This means that there is a record of evidence showing evidence was securely held throughout a crime and trial. An example would be the removal of hair samples during an autopsy, where the medical examiner would create a document certifying the hair removal, a police officer would document its transport to storage, and the storage officer would document receipt. If it is removed and transported for trial, this is also documented.
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