Digital Evidence Management for Local PD

Digital Evidence Management for Local PD stores body-worn camera footage, in-car and CCTV video, photos, interviews and other digital evidence in one repository, linked to cases and kept under your retention schedule. It shares evidence with prosecutors, records every access in the chain of custody, and proposes redactions of faces, license plates and other details for a person to review before anything is released. Records staff answer public records requests from the same place, with the reasoning for each redaction kept on file.

The problem it solves

Local police departments now collect more video than they can manage: body-worn cameras, in-car systems, interview rooms, CCTV from businesses and residents, and phone footage. It sits on separate vendor systems, file shares and discs, linked to cases by hand. Sharing with prosecutors means copying files, retention is hard to apply, and every public records request for video means hours of manual redaction of bystanders, plates and screens. When the defense or a court asks who handled a file, the chain of custody has gaps.

Who it’s for

• Evidence and property units in municipal and county police departments and sheriff's offices
• Patrol officers and detectives who collect and use digital evidence
• Records and public information staff who answer public records requests
• Prosecutors' offices that receive evidence for charging and discovery
• Command staff, internal affairs and auditors who oversee evidence handling

1. CollectEvidence arrives from body-worn and in-car cameras, interview rooms, officers' phones and files submitted by the public, and is fingerprinted with a hash on arrival so its integrity can be shown later.
2. ManageEvidence is organized by case, retained under your schedule based on its category, and protected by legal holds when needed. Every view, download and change is recorded in the chain of custody.
3. ShareDetectives share evidence with prosecutors and other agencies by secure link or package, with what was shared, when and with whom recorded for discovery.
4. ReleaseFor public records requests and authorized releases, the system proposes redactions of faces, license plates, screens and audio. A records staff member reviews every proposal, and a second person approves before release.

Single evidence repository

Video, audio, photos, documents and device extractions in one place, linked to cases, whichever system captured them.

Chain of custody

Every upload, view, clip, share, download and disposition recorded with the person, time and reason, exportable for court.

Integrity hashing

A hash recorded on arrival and checked later, so the agency can show a file has not been altered.

Case linking

Evidence linked to case and incident numbers from your records management and dispatch systems.

Redaction proposals

Automated detection proposes redactions of faces, license plates, screens and spoken names for a person to review; nothing is released without human approval.

Redaction review

Frame-by-frame review to accept, reject or add redactions, with the reason for each recorded.

Prosecutor sharing

Time-limited secure links and case packages for prosecutors and partner agencies, with each access recorded.

Retention and disposition

Retention categories from your schedule, applied automatically by offense or event type, with disposition approved before deletion.

Legal holds

Holds placed on cases or files to stop disposition, with who placed them and why.

Public submissions

Residents and businesses upload CCTV or phone footage through a link tied to an incident, without needing an account.

Public records requests

Requests logged with their deadlines under your state law, responsive files identified and releases recorded.

Search

Find evidence by case, officer, date, location, category or tag, within what each user is allowed to see.

Officer

Uploads and tags their own evidence and views it for reports

Detective

Works case evidence, makes clips and shares packages with prosecutors

Evidence technician

Manages the repository, retention, holds and disposition

Records staff

Answers public records requests and reviews redactions

Supervisor

Approves sharing, releases and dispositions, and reviews tagging

Prosecutor (external)

Receives and views evidence shared for their cases

Body-worn and in-car cameras

Footage imported from your camera systems through their export or upload interfaces, with device and officer metadata.

Records management system

Case and incident numbers, offense types and case status from your RMS, for linking and retention.

Computer-aided dispatch

Incident numbers, times and locations from CAD, so footage can be matched to calls.

Prosecutor case management

Case packages delivered by secure link, or by file transfer to the prosecutor's system where they agree a format.

Interview room recording

Recordings from interview room systems imported and linked to the case.

Public records request system

Requests and deadlines from the tracking tool your city or county uses, with releases recorded back.

Single sign-on

Staff sign in through your identity provider (SAML or OpenID Connect), with your multi-factor authentication.

Work API

Evidence metadata, retention status and request data available to your reporting tools through the Moraph Work API.

Single sign-on and multi-factor

Staff sign in through your identity provider, so your password and multi-factor policies apply.

Role-based access

What each person can see and do follows their role, unit and the sensitivity of the case.

Encryption and keys

Evidence is encrypted, with keys Moraph staff cannot use without explicit, time-bound authorization.

Chain of custody

Every view, download, clip, share and deletion is logged with the person and time, and cannot be edited.

US hosting

Evidence and criminal justice information are hosted in the United States region only.

CJIS control mapping

Moraph maps its controls to the FBI CJIS Security Policy and supports your agency's own compliance; personnel screening and the security addendum are agreed in the contract.

Moraph cloud

Hosted and operated by Moraph in the United States region, the only region used for government data.

Dedicated environment

A single-tenant environment for agencies whose policies require isolation, scoped in the proposal.

With a managed service

Optionally run alongside a Moraph managed service for system connections, migration and administration support.

Policy mapping

We configure categories, retention periods, sharing approvals, officer viewing rules and release rules from your policies, retention schedule and state law, which your counsel confirms.

Source connections

We connect your camera, interview room, RMS and CAD systems. We need contacts for each system and, for camera systems, access to their export or upload interfaces.

Legacy migration

Existing evidence on file shares, vendor systems and media is imported in agreed batches, with hashes recorded and the import noted in each file's chain of custody.

Redaction setup

Redaction types, review steps and release approvals are configured, and records staff test them on sample footage before use.

Prosecutor onboarding

Sharing is set up with your prosecutors' offices, including how packages are delivered and how long links stay open.

Training and go-live

Officers, detectives, evidence staff, records staff and supervisors are trained on their own workflows. Units can be brought on in phases.

• Redaction proposals are suggestions. Automated detection can miss faces, plates or other details, so a person reviews every release and a second person approves it.
• Release decisions and their legal basis are your agency's. The product records them; your records staff and counsel decide what state law requires.
• It is not a camera system. It imports footage from your body-worn, in-car and interview room systems through their export or upload interfaces, which vary by vendor.
• It is not a records management system. Case data comes from your RMS.
• Moraph does not hold CJIS certification; there is no such certification. Moraph maps its controls to the CJIS Security Policy and supports your agency's compliance and audits.
• Forensic extraction from phones and computers is done with your forensic tools; their outputs can be stored and tracked here.
• Live video streaming and real-time camera monitoring are not included.
• Retention periods come from your schedule and state law; the product applies them but does not set them.

• Import sample footage from your own camera system and check the metadata that comes across
• Run redaction proposals on a sample video and review what was found and missed
• Share a case package with a test prosecutor account and export the chain of custody
• Configure two of your retention categories and walk a file through disposition
• Place a legal hold and confirm nothing under it can be deleted
• Confirm role separation: who can share, release and delete