Customer Webinar: How Custom Queries Enhance Evidence Control
Date: July 16, 2025
Time: 10:00 am PT
Instructor: Shannon Turner & Maddie Timm
How Custom Queries Enhance Evidence Control
Here’s how custom queries in FileOnQ help you uphold justice and maintain control over your evidence:
- Pinpoint Evidence Location Instantly: When evidence is constantly in motion—to the lab, to the prosecutor, out for disposition—it’s easy to lose track. Custom queries allow you to create specific searches that can tell you the exact location of any piece of evidence at a moment’s notice. You can search by case number, item type, current custodian, or any other relevant field you track. This eliminates wasted time searching and prevents misplaced evidence.
- Streamline Workflows and Reduce Intake Delays: With exploding evidence volume and staffing challenges, slow intake can quickly lead to backlogs. Custom queries can be designed to identify bottlenecks in your workflow. For example, you could run a query to see all evidence awaiting lab analysis for more than 48 hours, or all items waiting for disposition approval. This visibility allows you to proactively address issues and keep evidence moving through the system efficiently.
- Ensure Chain of Custody Integrity: The chain of custody is paramount in evidence management. Custom queries can be used to generate detailed reports on every transfer and handling of an item. Need to see everyone who has had possession of a specific piece of evidence? A custom query can instantly pull that history, providing an accurate and defensible record for court. This helps prevent breakdowns in the chain of custody and ensures the integrity of your evidence.
- Improve Reporting Accuracy and Consistency: Inaccurate reporting can have serious consequences. Custom queries allow you to generate precise and consistent reports tailored to your specific needs. Whether it’s an audit of all firearms, a list of evidence awaiting return to owner, or a summary of disposed items, custom queries ensure your reports are always accurate and reflect the true state of your evidence. This helps you avoid inconsistencies and maintain reliable data for decision-making and compliance.
By giving you the power to ask and immediately answer specific questions about your evidence, FileOnQ’s custom queries are instrumental in building your Evidence Control Center, ensuring you maintain a firm grasp on every piece of evidence, every step of the way.
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Who Should Attend:
- FileOnQ Customers
About the Instructor:
Shannon Turner
Since her career began in 1981, Shannon has worked in many facets of the criminal justice system. Her broad knowledge base includes criminal defense, prosecution, victim advocacy, the courts, and evidence management. She was an evidence technician and crime scene investigator for 10 years and understands the intricate components of criminal investigations.
Since 2004, Shannon has focused exclusively on evidence management in a variety of capacities. As an evidence specialist with FileOnQ, Shannon has personally worked with over 300 agencies from the U.S. and Canada to help them increase the efficiency of their evidence management through technology. Many of the projects included developing new policies and procedures, recommending new storage methods, and providing input on property room design. Shannon has assisted agencies in planning and executing the move of their evidence facility and conducted audits and inventories. Her experience with both small and large agencies at the city, county, and state levels has given her vast knowledge that she uses to benefit other departments.
Shannon is an enthusiastic and engaging instructor. In 2022 she became the instructor of the semi-annual 40-hour evidence management course offered by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. She has been an instructor at the annual California Association of Property Evidence (CAPE) conference and a facilitator for webinars sponsored by the Washington State Law Enforcement Information and Records Association (LEIRA). She is also the instructor of the evidence track for LEIRA’s biennial conference and conference speaker of the Oregon Peace Officers Association.
Shannon’s fundamental passion for justice motivated her to provide expert witness services in civil actions on behalf of post-conviction exonerees. She finds this work fulfilling and is an outspoken advocate for The Innocence Project.