Community Service Officers

INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION

INVESTIGATIONS SUPPORT

Property and Evidence

The Property and Evidence Technician is tasked with maintaining the chain of custody f o r a l l e v i d e n t i a r y i t e m s submitted to the Property Room. D o c u m e n t i n g t h e i n t a k e , storage, security, release and disposal of all items is the primary focus of property room personnel. In 2009, a total of 1104 items were entered into the property room. This is an increase of over 20% from the items entered in 2008. With the assistance of an online software program, the property room personnel are able to dispose and release property promptly to ease overcrowding issues that could arise as a result of the increase in evidentiary items. For instance, in 2008, only 58 items were released or destroyed, but in 2009, 915 items were released or destroyed. As of December 31, 2009, there were a total of 3,933 items being held in the Owatonna Police Department property room.

Crime Scene Technicians

The Crime Scene Technician program includes 4 officers. Officer Joel Hunt, Officer Terrence Flynn, Officer Willie Goodsell, and Corporal Tom Munns make up this group of both Patrol Officers and Investigators. When on patrol, the Officers drive a Chevy Tahoe that is fully equipped to hold all of the equipment needed to properly process any form of crime scene.

Crime Scene Technicians attend regular training and keep up to date on their skills. Crime Scene Technicians are trained in crime scene photography, latent print development and recovery, footwear evidence, biological and trace evidence recovery and crime scene reconstruction. Their expertise and training is an invaluable resource for the investigations division as well as the prosecuting attorney.