CLPEX Chat Board

Hope everyone is having a great summer. Our agency recently implemented LIMS and I had some questions regarding digital images of latent prints and how everyone else is treating them in regards to items of evidence.

In the past we had to create a CD containing latent print images that was treated as an item of evidence. This was costly in both price and time.

This recently was brought to our attention: https://anab.qualtraxcloud.com/ShowDocu ... x?ID=37898

What is your agency doing in regards to treating digital images of latents as evidence? If you do create the images as an item of evidence, do you check out the image during ACE-V or technical/admin review to maintain a chain of custody?

Thank you in advance for your tips and insights!

We have a relatively old LIMS still (in the process of updating), and images being submitted to us have to be on CDs and submitted as evidence. Image we create as part of our exam is stored in LIMS for archive/electronic record.

The ANAB communication was also recently brought to my attention, and have some conversations scheduled in the next few weeks to see how we are going to address it.

So unfortunately, not much help to answer your question, but more of just to say - we are in the same boat, and also curious what others have to say.

We did store them on disks, and the disk was the evidence.

Then we moved to Dataworks DIMS, and then to Evidence.com DIMS, to store digital images (the digital image is still the evidence). Both DIMS systems track when an image is uploaded, opened or downloaded to track the chain of evidence.

We also may scan in a lift card, creating a digital image, however this is just a working copy of the evidence. The evidence, per FRE, is still the lift card.

Our agency has used Foray Technologies Adams Web system since 2010. Any images are uploaded to the secure server, where the original remains intact, and any access to or processing of the images is tracked. It's pretty easy to see the information for audits and such. They also incorporated cloud-based technology for system updates. When we started using LIMS in 2019, an interface was created to transfer lower quality jpg copies of images from Adams Web into our LIMS worksheets for the official record. That may change in the future. I like the tracking of the images - there's a full chain of custody as well as a complete history of image processing - all requiring no effort from me.