1). Full Name, Department you work for, How long at Department, Number of officers, official title.

Kelli Jo Gauthier, Waite Park Police Department, 2 ½ years, 21 Officers, Records & Evidence Tech

2). Who is in the evidence department with you?

Mainly, it’s just me. The evidence supervisor is Sgt Rebecca Grosz.

3). What is your involvement with MAPET?

I am an annual member and recently volunteered to help with the upcoming first annual conference.

4). What are some of your favorite evidence technician/property room manager tasks?

Purging!!!

5). What is the most unique/weird item currently in your property room?

A prosthetic leg. Surprisingly, the owner has not been in a hurry to come in and pick it up.

6). What is currently your biggest challenge?

Consistency about retention policies.

7). Recent victory in your property room?

When I started, I was tasked with a complete overhaul/inventory of an evidence room that had been neglected for over 20 years. I had to touch every piece of evidence, review it for purging, and also rearranged and reorganized the entire room. In addition, I implemented a new database (PMI), so I had to transfer all items into the new system. The entire project took about a year to complete, but now it is so much easier to find things and navigate purging.

8). What advice would you give to new techs in the field?

Get Supervisor or Attorney approval before purging important items (CYA) and keep your organization simple and consistent.