Chain of Custody

Imagine that a team of investigators collects all the evidence from the crime scene, and some of the evidence goes missing after a few days, or there is any change in the evidence. No individual can be held accountable in this scenario because there is no proper process for documenting the evidence owners. This problem can be solved by maintaining a chain of custody document. A chain of custody is a formal document containing all the details of the evidence. Some of the key details are listed below:

• Description of the evidence (name, type).
• Name of individuals who collected the evidence.
• Date and time of evidence collection.
• Storage location of each piece of evidence.
• Access times and the individual record who accessed the evidence.

This creates a proper trail of evidence and helps preserve it. The chain of custody document can be used to prove the integrity and reliability of the evidence admitted in court. A sample chain of custody can be downloaded from here.