Standard Operating Procedures

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are a set of procedures that employees are expected to perform for a given task. By having consistent methodologies, errors are less likely to occur. If employees followed their own rules, it would be difficult to track exactly what was done. Should an employee leave, the company or agency may be left with confusion. At the local agency I am working for, each investigator currently has their own methods. This works here because there are only a few investigators that use the lab. Each case is also handled by one investigator from beginning to end. However, SOPs can still be useful for the lab. New investigators who are not familiar with the agency's procedures can read them like a manual and perform the steps correctly. If we have a forensic duplicator that a technician is not familiar with, he or she can look at the SOP, follow the steps, and still complete the task. SOPs are not procedures set in stone. Not all cases are the same and may require different procedures to be performed.

Forensic Lab Update

We received the computers for the lab and I already set them up. Now, we need to add a network switch in the room so that each computer can communicate with each other. Once the switch is in place, we can share the hard drives from each computer to allow easy file transfers among the machines.

Although there are three computers, we are only using two monitors. We have the two LCD monitors that came with the new PCs and two huge CRT monitors. However, due to limited space, we removed the CRT monitors from the room. Instead, we are using a KVM switch for two of the computers. We also need to get the forensic server up. I am trying to get all of this set up as soon as possible because it will be put to the test soon!

Some companies in the private sector do some things to impress a client such as running simulated processes on multiple screens. It's all for show. However, the public sector is different. There are no clients to impress. Sometimes, we need to work with what we have and aim for functionality. That's not to say that labs in the public sector are not impressive. I have seen some very nice labs from the state and federal government.