R2012-152 AUTHORIZING EVIDENCE COLLECTION VEHICLE PURCHASE

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DECATUR POLICE DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM#12-32 MEMO TO: Michael T. McElroy, Mayor Ryan P. McCrady, City Manager FROM: Todd A. Walker, Chief of Police David T. Dickerson, Deputy Chief of Police DATE: July 13, 2012 SUBJECT: Evidence Collection Vehicle Purchase SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION: The purpose of this memorandum is to request the expenditure of funds to Sirchie Corporation—Vehicle Division for the acquisition of an Evidence Collection Vehicle.The Decatur Police Department does not currently have a ve- hicle designed exclusively for the collection of evidentiary items and this purchase will fill the gap. The Police Department's proposed funding method is to utilize funds entirely from the Drug Fund,thereby not rely- ing on any General Operating Funds or Tax Payer Based Funds. There will be no impact to the General Operating Expenses of the Decatur Police Department Budget. The Line Item utilized for the funding will be Drug Related Expenses 25462502-435200. BACKGROUND: The Decatur Police Department responds to an array of crimes each year, many of which require a response from Adult, Juvenile and Street Crimes Narcotics Detectives, including personnel specially trained in CSI duties. Many of these crimes require an enhanced crime scene processing/evidence recovery response. Detectives have histori- cally been required to store crime scene equipment within portable containers and carry that equipment to and from a standard vehicle for transport to a crime scene.The Department does not have a vehicle specially designed for ev- idence recovery purposes. This limits not only the amount of crime scene processing equipment which can be trans- ported in one vehicle,however it also slows down the actual response itself due to the time required to carry equip- ment back and forth. The fact that the Department does not currently have an Evidence Recovery Vehicle creates limitations to the ease in which Detectives go about performing their duties.The Department personnel currently have no way to effective- ly process evidence at the scene of a crime, rather are required to transport items of evidence to the in-house LEC lab or transport the items to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab in Springfield. With the acquisition of an Evidence Recovery Vehicle,there will be ample counter space to process,package and tag items on scene. The Sirchie Evidence Recovery Vehicle we propose to obtain(Model SPAR 500) is equipped with basic evidence collection field kits, laminated evidence processing work surfaces and heavy molded shelving units for storage. There is ample room within the unit to store all the needed equipment to process a crime scene,therefore the small totes currently being used will be obsolete for major crimes. 115