Laura Young
ECB Publishing,a Inc.
The Florida Sheriff's Association (FSA) has granted the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JSCO) a $55,000 grant to build a new, larger, stand-alone evidence room.
Sheriff Mac McNeill says that JCSO needs a new evidence building because the existing room is nearly full. While some types of old evidence could be purged or destroyed, McNeill explains that the limitations on and slowness of that process mean that the current evidence room will not meet the needs of the department for much longer. His office is contributing around $15,000 from its existing budget to lay the foundation for the new building, including the cost of core samples required to obtain the building permit. The $55,000 in grant funding, says McNeill, will be sufficient to complete the project without having to go back to the County Commission for any further funds from taxpayers. When completed, the building will be about 15,000 square feet, roughly twice the size of the current evidence room, and a bit taller as well. The funding will pay for not only construction but also storage containers, racks, insulation, climate control and security, says McNeill.
To help manage past and incoming items of evidence, McNeill designated a deputy to serve as the department's evidence technician about three and a half years ago. Initially only a part of the deputy's duties, the responsibility has grown to nearly full time as the county has grown.
The grant money comes from funds set aside by the FSA to support fiscally constrained counties like Jefferson to make improvements toward law enforcement accreditation. Accreditation from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement
Accreditation (CFA) is voluntary but encourages sheriff's departments to continually review and improve their policies, practices and community relations.
These improvements cost money to implement, and FSA Governmental Affairs Coordinator Allie McNair explains that the Florida Sheriffs Accreditation Assistance Program helps fiscally constrained sheriff departments to meet the high standards set for accreditation. The FSA also provides accreditation coordinators to assist local agencies with policy, facilities inspections and training required to meet accreditation standards.
The CFA's Standards Manual for accreditation is a 280-page document with Evidence addressed in Chapter 27, where it specifies not only standards for collection of evidence, chain of custody and specialized personnel, but also for storage.
Sheriff McNeill says that his department operates well but that the process for voluntary accreditation provides helpful guidelines for ongoing improvement, including specifications for the new evidence room.