I'm standing up a new forensic lab and am looking for evidence storage ideas. I don't have a separate room for this storage, so whatever container I go with, will be sitting in the actual lab itself, which will be restricted to forensic analysts, but naturally wouldn't be as restrictive as an evidence room.
I did a couple searches to this site and didn't get quite what I was looking for. External google searches bring up a lot of hints about single drive storage and fire protection, close, but not quite.
Any vendor ideas, suggestions, horror stories, etc?
Thanks!
Phoenix Safe International works just fine for me.
http//
Any kind of safe, or firesafe will do the job if you're just talking about your hard drive evidence or tapes with image files. If you're talking about actual computers, anything that is lockable and well constructed will do. The basic requirement is that your evidence storage is separately secured from your general facility (the key to your lab won't open the storage) and that access and transfers are logged. Both of these requirements are relatively easy to fulfill.
We use Sentribox's
http//
@Jdunn and mayhew24
Why did your companies settled on those products/vendors?
When I started with the company - they already had 1 sentri box and they have ordered two more since I've been working for them. I can't tell you the reasons why the boss ordered them, but I can take a guess. They are heavy duty sheet metal, and they are not too big so they don't take much room in the office! They are opened with one key that moves two bolts so easy access. They have the option to be bolted to the floor - although I can't see the landlord of our office building being too happy with that one… They have hydraulic arms that help open the lid for you and this keeps the lid open as well. Very simple yet clever design.
Vendor wise - very helpful customer service. One of the locks we got with the boxes were a bit stiff so the company sent us a new lock and told us we could keep the old one as a backup.
Price wise, don't quote me, but I think they were around £200 a pop. And for that money they are well worth it, the vendor also does a fireproof version as well just to give you more piece of mind. Baring that in mind, we have the standard non-fireproof safes and I can probally put a fair bit of money on the fact they would still be able to withstand a fair amount of abuse - before turning into mini ovens.
Great suggestions, thanks. I'm leaning towards one of the Phoenix cashier safe's as a matter of fact. I like the "deposit" bins that they have at the top. That can be used as an evidence drop.
Before anyone contacts us about how to deal with fire damage, I work with Mayhew24 and just wanted to point out that our office was completely untouched by a recent fire that did effect another wing of the general office block complex (although events like this do tend to concentrate the mind)
I have a Stack-On 24 gun fireproof safe. It is rated at either 1200 or 2000*F (don't remember now). The one side has the gun storage area and the other has 4 shelves that are perfect for storing items such as ammo, cleaning kit, and hard drives lol .
Great suggestions, thanks. I'm leaning towards one of the Phoenix cashier safe's as a matter of fact. I like the "deposit" bins that they have at the top. That can be used as an evidence drop.
I wouldn't be "dropping" hard drives into an evidence safe if I were you. The good thing about a traditional opening safe (or firesafe) is that you can keep a copy of the evidence log in the safe with the drives to further secure your chain of custody.