LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES maintain an extensive inventory of crime scene evidence. The proper tagging, labeling, and marking of evidence provides a chain of custody to support the claim of evidence presented in court is the same evidence that was collected at a crime scene. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology can facilitate, standardize, and automate inventory for law enforcement evidence management.

RFID Technology for Evidence Management has three basic components: RFID tags, RFID readers, and an application database to store and access information obtained from the tags and readers. Tags are classified as passive, active, or semi-active. Passive tags are the most common, and the most applicable to evidence management. They consist of a printed antenna and an integrated circuit, or chip, which has a unique ID number. RFID readers enable the user to rapidly scan the information from mounted enterprise readers, or handheld devices.

PADtrax Evidence Solution by C&A Associates is an evidence tracking and management system that utilizes RFID at its core and throughout every step for the custody of evidence. PADtrax is the only three-time patented RFID application dedicated to evidence and with systems installed nationally.

Reliable. PADtrax utilizes a logical system of checks-and-balances to advance an item through the processes of evidence custody. By design, this means there are two parts to every transaction: a human element and a hardware element.

Easy to use. PADtrax is the ultimate blend of simple and efficient Evidence Management software with incredibly fast hardware to track the movement of personnel, evidence, and proactively alerts you to issues in real-time.

Do what you need. PADtrax uses customized hardware techniques and proven algorithms to make your inventories faster. Going faster means having more time, which leads to complete inventories.

Meet Chain of Custody Requirements

RFID technology removes the possibility of lost evidence while mitigating your security risk. Locating evidence efficiently and effectively is not an option – it is an imperative. MIA evidence can be spotted in seconds within the evidence vault.

Secure Your Evidence. The PADtrax RFID solution is designed specifically for meeting the evidence management requirements of law enforcement. PADtrax software is configured according to your agency’s requirements and provides complete chain of custody. Electronic chain of custody logs and reports track all events related to the evidence, from inception to disposition.

Currency Discriminators with Counterfeit Detection

In addition to PADtrax RFID evidence solution C&A Associates has developed the PADtrax LE (Law Enforcement) Edition Currency Discriminator.

While we are counting and capturing serial numbers, we can identify counterfeit bill and reject them on the fly. Get a list of your denominations, total count, and serial numbers at 800 bills per minute!

Customize your receipts with two signatures? Need the data to be digital? The PADtrax LE Discriminator can write reports to your flash drive or be e-mailed directly to your network to drop reports onto your server.

For more information on all of their law enforcement solutions, please contact C&A Associates Inc at 225-791-7797, or see their website: www.caassociates.com

ETM Insights is a sponsored section of EvidenceMagazine.com