Sioux City Journal, siouxcityjournal.com
BYLINE: Dolly A. Butz – dbutz@siouxcityjournal.com
Link to Article
Sioux City, IA
Use of DNA evidence keeps police shelves full
SIOUX CITY — The shelves of the evidence property room in the basement at police headquarters are brimming with cell phones, laptops, purses and blood-spattered clothing sealed in paper bags.
The bulk of the items were obtained from crime scenes; others are found property.
With 74,000 pieces of evidence in storage, Jeff Paulsen, evidence clerk for the Sioux City Police Department, is running out of room.
An aisle dedicated to drug paraphernalia is overflowing, according to Paulsen, and computer-related crimes, which have exploded in the past three years, have netted numerous personal computers that are taking up valuable space on shelves.
One case alone, Paulsen said, contains more than 800 pieces of evidence stored in 10 2-foot by 3-foot boxes.
“Eight hundred items in that many boxes, it doesn’t sound like a lot until you’ve got it piled up someplace in storage,” he said.
Sioux City police identification technician Zac Chwirka said today, judges and juries expect DNA evidence to be presented at trial, and consequently, investigators are collecting more objects from crime scenes in an effort to find DNA.
“As a result of that and what we’re able to do from the processing end of things, we do collect a lot more (evidence) than we actually used to,” he said.
Earlier this month the City Council authorized the city to obtain bids to buy and install a new evidence storage system for the evidence property room. The current storage system is at least 35 years old and presents a tipping hazard.
The new shelves, which will be on rolling racks, will more than double the current capacity. A new computer system with bar coding capabilities will cut input time in half. Paulsen said the system will also help him maintain the chain of custody, locate evidence and dispose of it.
“I can’t foresee us ever running out of room,” he said.
Hair, TV, section of wall
The evidence property area of the police department is made up of a main room and four smaller rooms. Drugs, weapons and money are secured in separate rooms, as well as a safe.
Pieces of evidence can range in size from as small as a strand of hair to as large as a big-screen TV, according to Paulsen. Vehicles that have been seized are kept at the National Training Center near Sioux Gateway Airport.
The most unusual items in storage include an assortment of women’s underwear in various sizes that were found scattered along the road and a large section of wall from a homicide case.
Years ago, Paulsen and Chwirka explained, investigators wouldn’t look for microscopic blood spatters at the scene of a burglary or swab beer bottles for DNA from a reported criminal mischief case. But with the development of the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, CODIS, the database can generate leads from biological evidence collected at crime scenes.
“Now the carpet gets rolled up and the walls get all swabbed even if it doesn’t look like nothing is there,” Paulsen said.
Homicide evidence kept
After packaging the evidence, police officers or identification technicians turn it over to Paulsen by placing it in one of the blue lockers that line a wall in the department’s basement. Paulsen can open the locker from the other side in the evidence property room and retrieve the package for storage.
Each piece of evidence is filed by case number. Hazardous materials are marked with bright orange stickers.
Paulsen places the evidence on shelves depending on the crime. He has a separate aisle for burglary, drug, computer and sex abuse crimes, miscellaneous evidence, and property to be returned to it owner. Blood, saliva and other bodily fluids are stored in a refrigerator.
Evidence from most cases that have gone to trial is removed from the evidence property room within about 60 days. Evidence from cases police are actively investigating can be kept for up to five years. Under the Iowa Statute of Limitations, evidence from sex abuse cases must be stored for 10 years, and evidence from homicides is kept forever. The oldest evidence in storage is from a 1954 murder case.
When evidence is no longer needed, the items are disposed of. Paulsen and Chwirka incinerate drugs, narcotics and blood-stained clothing. Papers are shredded and then recycled.
Found property can be held at the police department for 90 days before it reverts to city ownership. Paulsen can then sell those items or donate them to charity. Clothing in good shape is often taken to Goodwill, and cell phones are given to the Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.
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International Association for Property and Evidence
“Law Enforcement Serving the Needs of Law Enforcement”
www.IAPE.org
