Recently an online survey was forwarded to the I.A.P.E. members who hold the Certified Property and Evidence (C.P.E.S.) designation. The purpose of the survey was to solicit feedback as to the type of training that the C.P.E.S. designees would like to see included in the list of offerings for their recertification training. As the initial certification is valid for a period of five (5) years, the I.A.P.E. Board is finalizing plans for the recertification requirements; continuing education will be the primary requirement. Of the 397 email inquiries that were sent out, 33% responded to the online survey. The following are a few of the highlights of the feedback:

28% have attended another 2 day I.A.P.E. class since their initial certification

100% have access to a computer and Microsoft Windows which can be used to take mini-courses online

77% said that their departments will pay the costs related to recertification, 9% said that they would have to pay on their own

Sixteen topics for possible online mini-courses were provided in the survey. The following topics were the top six choices as to courses that respondents would like to see offered for recertification:

1) Evolving Trends in Property and Evidence

2) Destruction, disposal and purging

3) Property Room Management

4) Policy and procedures development

5) Audits and Inventories

6) Destruction of firearms and narcotics

Armed with the feedback from the survey, a committee of I.A.P.E. Board members will now begin the development of the C.P.E.S. recertification requirements as well as the initial work on developing online classes. It is envisioned that initially the courses will be live sessions via the Internet; however, it is our plan to work toward having the courses available "on demand" so that individuals would be able to access the courses any time at any place.

To those who participated in the C.P.E.S. Training Survey, the Board expresses our sincere appreciation. We wanted to know what training topics were important to you and now we will begin our work based upon your feedback.