Principle 3: Effective Investigation
and responsibilities of investigators and investigative body staff and should be
disseminated so as to provide instruction and notice to those involved in the
investigative process.399 To ensure that investigators are thoroughly familiar
with SOPs, investigative bodies should provide ongoing training on the procedures for evidence control.400 Investigators themselves should ensure that they
are familiar with the policies and procedures for evidence control.401
Sample Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Proper Chain of
Custody in Investigations
The International Association for Property and Evidence and the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime’s considerations for SOPs in criminal investigations can be
extended to the electoral context and may include:
Requirement that all evidence be logged into the investigative body’s records at the
time of collection. The log or database should detail the items retrieved, how the
investigative body retrieved the evidence, the location of collection, and the date of
collection;
•
Requirement that all evidence be kept in a designated control area;402
•
Requirement that the investigative body notifies the finders or owners of
property taken into custody as evidence and issues a written receipt;
•
Procedures for the temporary release of evidence from the designated control
area for purpose of investigation or adjudication;
•
399
Requirements for packaging, movement, and disposition of evidence.403
Id.
400 Cf. Comm’r of Canada Elections, Ch. 9 Collection, Use, and Preservation of Evidence, in Investigators’ Manual 1 (2004) [hereinafter Canadian Investigators’ Manual Ch. 9] (noting that investigators “must be thoroughly familiar with the . . . procedures
for the control of evidence”).
401
Id.
402 A designated control area refers to a secured space, with regulated access, where evidence is preserved during the
course of investigation.
403 Latta & Giles, supra note 399, at 13–14; U.N. Office on Drugs & Crime, Crime Scene and Physical Awareness for Non-Forensic Personnel 15 (2009).
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