Dear I.A.P.E.:

We recently completed our new police station in our small city, and our new Property and Evidence facility is something we are very proud of. Last year one of our sergeants and I attended the I.A.P.E. seminar in Greenbelt, MD. We were able to incorporate many of the ideas and procedures we learned about into our new facility, and without a doubt, we know that our Property and Evidence system and facility, while still developing, is state-of-the-art for all of northern Missouri.

While we are a small department of 15 sworn officers and 22 full-time employees, we now can boast of a property and evidence system that reduces our liability many times over from what we were used to in our old facility (two closets with evidence and property going back twenty years, with no system to find any of it.)

Our current facility includes a strict procedure for storing and entry/exit of evidence and property, redundant security, significantly reduced access to our three varied security areas, camera security, individual storage areas for weapons, narcotics and money, as well as for fluids and other special needs.

We also have a pass-through locker system for evidence and property for our officers to use, that simplifies the work they have to do, and insures ultimate security.

I want to thank I.A.P.E. for helping to move our agency out of a very difficult and long period of mediocrity in our understanding and handling of evidence and property issues. We were a lawsuit and scandal waiting to happen, and now I sincerely believe we could withstand any inquiry into how we conduct business in a professional and accountable environment.
 

Detective Jim Lightner City of Chillicothe Police Department 613 Walnut Street Chillicothe, Missouri 64601