Dear Members,

For the past ten years I have been traveling from coast to coast with various I.A.P.E. Board Members to bring our Association's message to property and evidence custodians in forty-four states and three provinces in Canada. As I write this letter I am returning from the Canadian City of Calgary in Alberta where I presented our training class to "Members" from that province, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Now here's a little trivia, the term "Members" in Canadian law enforcement is used like U.S. departments use the term officers, deputies or troopers. While in the United States we use the term "evidence" our neighbors to the north refer to their evidence as "exhibits." Our "chain of custody" is "continuity" to our brothers and sisters to the North. And lastly, don't forget officers (members) in Canada are "Constables" and they work for Police "Services" not "Departments." Now that we have learned the terms, we must remember that we all do the same thing, we just use different terms.

While teaching our class in Calgary, I had an opportunity to visit our host's new 50,000 square foot Evidence and Property Unit facility that was completed approximately 24 months ago. I was met by Sergeant Ron Ternes, the Commanding Officer of the Unit; Ron and several other senior officers and supervisors attended the IAPE two day course several years ago. Based upon information that they received at the training course, Ron and his colleagues implemented a number of the concepts and ideas that we covered. As I entered the warehouse my first response was "WOW!" Beyond my very first impression, as I toured the facility I quickly determined this is an ideal model to recommend to our members when they are designing new property facilities. If you need to see a department (Service) that is doing things right, the Calgary Police Service is the place to go. Don't forget your passport.

Our hats are off to the Calgary Police Service and the seventeen property room professionals that are operating one of the finest property room facilities that I have ever visited. It was truly a pleasure to visit a facility where management has provided a properly sized and environmentally safe building, along with budgeting sufficient staffing to proactively purge evidence. They have the ability to annually purge more exhibits than are being received. Yes, with proper support and funding, it is possible! Not only has Calgary sent their Civilian Manager and Sergeant to our training, their Staff Sergeant and Deputy Chief have also attended the class. But training of the Property Room staff isn't limited to supervisors. Laura Tysowski, Property Manager, has developed a comprehensive "New Employee Orientation Training Program" that is super. Additionally, new comers work with a senior person for their first six months in property; this program is similar to the Field Training Officer program in many departments. Property Room employees also have the opportunity to attend numerous classes that are offered by Calgary City agencies as well as other training venues. Calgary has a great team in their Property Unit.

In this issue of The Evidence Log, you will read an article about a recent invitation for myself and I.A.P.E. Board President Bill Kiley to address the North Carolina Actual Innocence Project to present our views and opinions about the impact of DNA evidence on law enforcement property rooms.

During my police career and as the Executive Director of I.A.P.E. I have addressed many groups, but this presentation was one of the highpoints. It was an absolute privilege and honor for myself and Bill Kiley to attend this session. After you read the article, you will understand why, as we left the Commission meeting, I immediately realized that the International Association for Property and Evidence is having a tremendous impact on the way Criminal Justice agencies manage, account for and store evidence.

In the interest of continually raising the level of professionalism among all who work in Property Rooms, your I.A.P.E. Board has established a Code of Ethics that is published in this issue of The Evidence Log. As you will read, it was an I.A.P.E. member who independently and proactively proposed the new Code. Member involvement is important to your Association. 
In this issue you'll see the results of a recent survey of our C.P.E.S. members regarding possible online, minicourses for their Continuing Education and recertification. Your Board is committed to providing the training that our members want. Thanks to the input of almost one-third of our C.P.E.S. designees, a list of topics for training development has been created and your Board is moving forward with the implementation of new training opportunities. 

Lastly, I can't tell you just how proud I am that major corporations have begun to send some of their people to I.A.P.E. training classes, that representatives of these companies have become members, and that our Board of Directors has authorized the development of a new Corporate Certified Property and Evidence Specialist (C.C.P.E.S.) program. Recent U.S. federal legislation requires that publicly traded companies develop systems to maintain documents that are related to possible internal fraud. As a result of the law, the "Sarbanes Oxley Law", corporations are establishing the equivalent of Property Rooms. This new and exciting opportunity is just the latest example of the how I.A.P.E. is the leader in Property and Evidence management. In the next issue of The Evidence Log you will read about the first C.C.P.E.S. designees.