You’re aware of the necessity of an investigation and digital evidence management system, especially as cell phones, body-worn cameras, professional cameras, police car camera systems, and video surveillance cameras become increasingly integral to criminal investigations.
As your department continues to increase its dependency on digital evidence, are they also keeping up with the technological needs that come along with it? If your investigation and evidence management system doesn’t also include mobile capabilities designed to streamline processes and mitigate risks, you’re still opening your investigation up to missed connections, inadmissible evidence, and incorrect data.
There are also a few major risks to consider if you’re using the native apps on a mobile device or more manual methods to record evidence, interview witnesses, and document the scene around you:
- You miss info at the scene
- Your digital evidence may be ruled as inadmissible, or you may break the chain of custody
- Your physical evidence can lack credibility
- Your phone becomes part of the discovery process
How Does a Mobile Solution Benefit Your Investigation?
Guarantee the Chain of Custody of Your Digital Evidence
The best mobile software won’t require the use of native to collect investigation information. Rather, everything should be stored within the app, and the app should provide a record of who accessed (or tried and failed to access) what and at what time, ensuring complete chain of custody for all digital evidence.
Save Time by Streamlining Processes
The right mobile app will provide an all-in-one integrated solution allows you to:
- Document crime scenes
- Dictate notes and evidence descriptions
- Record interviews
- Convert photos of handwritten documents into text
- Transcribe audio and video
- Write coherent field narratives
- Provide the public and other stakeholders with the ability to upload their own digital evidence
When you’re able to record all notes, statements, and evidence at the scene, it also helps eliminate the need for officers to return to the station to fill out evidence-related paperwork.
Reduce the Risk of Missing Info on the Scene
With mobile capabilities, you longer need to describe what you’re seeing over the phone or worry about sending images or video to another officer that may be unencrypted and, therefore, unsafe to send. With the right system in place, any digital evidence, images, and notes uploaded to the mobile app are immediately accessible by approved parties from virtually any location.
Enhance the Credibility of Physical Evidence Collection
With an evidence solution that allows you to securely take images of how the evidence lies and the state of the evidence, users can start creating a chain of custody before collection. Look for a system that also allows you to tag physical evidence and add any necessary notes including descriptions and case numbers.
Are You Ready for a Solution that Supports Every Step of Your Investigation?
Omnigo is here to support your needs with our industry-leading Investigation and Case Management solution with Digital Evidence, Physical Evidence, and our mobile app, which provides an all-in-one integrated solution to document crime scenes, dictate notes and evidence descriptions, record interviews, and automatically capture and store evidence for immediate access by approved parties.
