IT Governance Business Case Foray Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) Improvements Police Department
Background The Police department (PD) has maintained an on-premises Foray DEMS server since 2010. It is principally used to store and manage images and videos captured by the Crime Scene, Latent Print, and Digital Forensics Units. It is currently managing 15TB of digital evidence. The Police department is proposing that the previous DEMS project funding be used toward this project. The initial DEMS project was not executed per the police department's request. They requested that the initial DEMS project be closed. That project was intended to provide consolidation of the department’s evidence management platforms and more efficient data sharing with partner agencies. This business case will be requesting to utilize those unspent funds, along with requesting new funds.
Current Business Problem •
The current tracking method for latent print lift cards, recovered shell casings, and test-fired bullets is inefficient.
•
A large amount of digital evidence from the Digital Forensics Unit is stored in offline media without backups.
•
There is currently no interface to the PD’s Records Management System (RMS) in place to help streamline data entry between the two systems.
Current Pain Points •
Cell phone extractions are being stored on 1TB external hard drives rather than backed up online cloud storage.
•
Storage and management of physical evidence is inefficient and slow without use of label printing and rapid location via barcode scanning.
•
There is currently no simple and efficient method for CID investigators and other sworn officers to transfer photos or videos taken in the field directly into the DEMS.
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Lack of efficiency in sharing data with outside agencies due to the complexity of the server residing on premises. Must rely on sharing evidence via DVD & Flash Drive.
Desired Business Value City of Durham’s Strategic Plan Goal: Innovative & High Performing Organization Initiative: Develop and implement a continuous improvement model that includes evaluation and process improvement to analyze and improve City services • Provide secure off-site storage & management with scalable storage capacity
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Enhanced management of physical evidence items with barcoding, label printing, and online chain of custody tracking
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Mobile device support for uploading evidence directly from the field into the DEMS
Future State Benefits •
The software will allow for secure scalable cloud-based storage
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Fast and efficient management and searches of physical evidence items using barcodes and printed labels
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Efficient and secure data sharing and elimination of need to share evidence via DVD & Flash Drive
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The software will allow for RMS integration which provides police the ability to avoid duplicate data entry and export reports from DEMS into RMS
Recommended Solution and Analysis
Recommended Solution: Foray Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) Software as a Service (SaaS) solution
Description
Cloud based software as a service that allows the Police department to store, maintain, search and analyze their digital evidence gathered at crime scenes
Pros
• Newly generated digital evidence will be stored in the cloud • Mobile application provides ability for investigators and other sworn officers to send evidence directly from City Smartphones to the DEMS • Faster and more efficient storage and retrieval of physical evidence items.
Cons
• None
Foray Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) : Financial Estimate COST ESTIMATES Description
FUNDING
Year 1 Costs (Hours)
Annual Run Costs (Hours)/ KTLO
Labor $ (Hours) Internal TS: Business Analysis TS Services TS PMO Internal Department: Police
Professional Services
Departmental Funding Amount: CIP/IT Governance Funding Amount (One Time):
Software: Foray ADAMS SaaS & Cloud Storage Other:
$174,539
25 hours
5 hours
10 hours
0 hours
Funding Requested (Y/N):
5 hours
5 hours
Project One Time Costs:
$22,245
10 hours
0 hours
Project Run Costs (External):
$79,268
20 hours
8 hours
*Total Project Funding Cost for Year 1
$22,245
$0
Total Project Funding requested for Year 1
$0
$0
$79,268
$79,268
$0
$0
Y
$101,513 $0
Total Recurring Cost
$79,268
*Minus recurring funding within Police budget
$50,110
*Additional funds requested for recurring costs
$29,158
Non-Labor $ Hardware:
$50,110
*Total Project Funding Requested (External), includes External Year 1 Run Costs and Non-Labor
Risk Identification Description of Risk
Risk Impact
Mitigated (Y/N)
Contingency(Y/N)
Poor execution
Low
No
No
Project team turnover
Low
No
Yes
Vendor performance
Low
No
Yes
Cyber Security
Low
Yes
No
Mitigation Risk (Costs)
Contingency Risk (Costs)
Our Ask We are asking the IT Governance Steering Committee to cancel the first DEMS business case and to approve the reallocation of the unspent funds as a part of the Steering committee approval for the business case for the Police Department Foray Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) Improvements for submission to the City Manager for approval of additional funds required through the BMS department.