A small gathering of City of Cleveland employees and invited guests took place on Tuesday, May 21, to mark the grand opening of the Cleveland Police Department’s new evidence storage building.
Situated behind Cleveland Police Department at 226 Peach Ave., this new 3,200 square foot facility, designed by BRW Architects and constructed by Contreras Building Group, promises to significantly enhance the operations of the police department.
One of the key advantages of this new facility is its capacity to relocate evidence currently stored within the police station. Additionally, it includes a state-of-the-art evidence-processing area that is tightly controlled to ensure the integrity of the chain of command necessary for the successful prosecution of criminal cases.
Following a welcome address by Cleveland Mayor Danny Lee, Police Chief Darrel Broussard highlighted the building’s robust security features, explaining that its layered construction makes it exceptionally challenging to breach. The building also has a security system with surveillance cameras that will alert officers next door in the event someone actually attempts a breach, and officers will be able to rapidly respond as the sally port of the police station is just 100 feet or so from the new evidence building.
The security of the property is paramount, supporting the oversight of property audits and evidence control in a professional working environment. Upon arrival, officers are provided with a designated area to process and package evidence, ensuring it is appropriately sealed, labeled, and stored, thus preventing cross-contamination. All collected evidence remains in the custody of law enforcement, where it must be carefully stored, monitored, and preserved as part of the chain of custody.
“This new evidence storage building is very well built. You can’t even get a phone call outside of it because the walls are so thick,” said Broussard.
The building also features bay doors that facilitate the processing of vehicles for evidence. In the coming days, a rolling file storage system will be installed in one of the large interior rooms.
“I’m so elated and excited about this moment of the dedication of the new Cleveland Police Department evidence storage building,” Broussard said.
The chief emphasized the crucial role of evidence in police work, highlighting how the outcome of criminal cases hinges on the quality and proper preservation of evidence.
“The storage and processing of evidence in the chain of custody must be top priority. In all cases, maintaining the smallest items such as DNA, handwriting, blood and fingerprints, the integrity of these items must be of the highest quality,” Broussard said.
I’m all for policing of our towns, but does Cleveland PD really collect so much evidence that they need a warehouse? I guess it’s better stewardship of our tax money than sending it to Ukraine.