What are Best Practices for Managing Digital Evidence?

he International Association for Property and Evidence has been teaching Property and Evidence Management class since 1993. In that time they have instructed of 25,000 property room professionals and all 50 states and most of the provinces in Canada.

IAPEs goal is ensure that anyone who works in the property room, whether a supervisor or manages of the property room understands all of the complexities , nuisances and liabilities of the property room.

Additionally, IAPE also provides a Certification Program – CPES (Certified Property and Evidence Specialist) for all students and an Accreditation Program for departments

Dr. Alexis Grochmal:

Doctor Grochmal has been a member of IAPE since 2015, and an IAPE Certified Property and Evidence Specialist since 2020. Alexis is an Administrative Officer with 17 years of experience with the Prince George Police Department in Virginia. Alexis specializes in Property and Evidence management and is a Digital Evidence Specialist. Alexis’s current roles include Property and Evidence manager, Public Safety IT, and Public Information Officer. She has also managed several other areas within her department, gaining experience in asset forfeiture and records management at the State and Federal levels.

Alexis possesses a Bachelor’s degree in Emergency Management with a minor in Homeland Security from Eastern Kentucky University and a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity and Networking from Old Dominion University. She has further augmented her expertise by recently earning a Ph.D. in Cybersecurity from Marymount University.

Steve, a dedicated police officer with 26 years of experience, transitioned from a small department to the Everett Police Department near Seattle. Throughout his dynamic career,  he navigated diverse roles such as uniformed patrol, crime prevention, property crimes detective, and digital forensic investigator.

As a property crime detective, he spearheaded initiatives to combat theft and trafficking of stolen items from the city’s pawnshops and secondhand businesses. Transitioning to a digital forensic specialist for 13 years, steve collaborated with investigators and prosecutors on complex criminal cases. Highlights of his work include processing surveillance videos, analyzing mobile devices, documenting crime scenes, imparting crime scene photography expertise, and implementing digital evidence best practices.

Upon retiring in 2021, Steve embarked on a new chapter as a Digital Evidence Specialist at FileOnQ. In this role, he has significantly contributed to product training, development guidance, testing, sales and customer support, and training on digital evidence handling and best practices. His cross-departmental experience offers invaluable insights into the complexities of evidence management, allowing him to empathize with the challenges faced by officers and police administrators.