Criminal mischief is no longer the sole culprit in undermining the time, resources and dedication of our nation’s law enforcement. There’s a new fox in the hen house and this parasite can be even more insidious than the crooks locked away down the hall.
Falling to the wayside is adequate and secure storage space for police stations nationwide. Known most commonly as evidence lockers, these mini fortresses are intended for the storage of criminal evidence, cash from drug deals gone awry and confiscated weapons from questionable purveyors.
The importance of the safe upkeep of evidence rooms and lockers cannot be overstated. Without proper storage, key evidence in criminal cases could be compromised, possibly jeopardizing the freedom of countless innocent men and women. Lost evidence could also create a nightmare for state prosecutors who are looking to put away malicious criminals who are known to have high rates of recidivism.
Recently, a police station in Merced, California was reprimanded for the “sub-par at best” maintenance of its evidence locker. When most people think of police evidence rooms, images of huge reinforced-steel vaults come to mind. While this is an exaggeration of any police station’s resources, the Atwater evidence locker room was a far-cry from average. In reality, the Atwater station’s evidence room primarily consisted of a space at a local mini-storage without a proper alarm.
Newly inducted police chief, Michael Salvador, didn’t mince words when he gave his appraisal of the dire situation at the Atwater Police Department.
“The place was a mess. It wasn’t properly cleaned up,” he said. “There was stuff everywhere that made it really difficult to do the audit. It was very difficult to determine what items had been purged out of the evidence room and destroyed.”
The quickly unfurling fiasco at the Atwater police station is likely to have unforeseen consequences for years to come. Only time will tell how many appeals or adjudications will be lost due to misplaced or tampered evidence that was brought on by the improper storage of evidence.
Jails are for crooks, hazmat storage lockers for evidence
Without a proper inquiry, it’s impossible to discern the number of subpar storage lockers that are currently serving police stations nationwide. Fortunately, U.S. Hazmat Storage has a real solution to this common storage dilemma. Our two-hour and four-hour fire rate storage lockers can safely secure evidence, weapons and money behind steel paneling that can withstand abuse from criminals and mother nature alike. Unlike traditional safes or locked rooms, these storage lockers are nearly impervious to any disaster imaginable while still offering venerable protection.
Forget traditional evidence rooms, invest in hazmat storage locker for police protocol
The advantages of a U.S. Hazmat storage locker compared to a traditional evidence room are numerous and industry specific. For starters, the price of a storage locker compared to a newly built evidence room is like debating the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony: only one will cost you undue time and heartache. A U.S. Hazmat Storage locker will also take up far less space than a traditional brick and mortar evidence room. As a public servant, you owe it to our tax paying citizens to allocate the most affordable and practical storage locker for evidence.