Fremont City Council Meeting: 04/02/24 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Police Department
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5105) DOC ID: 5105
Updated: 3/29/2024 11:28 AM by Dina Lewis Page 1
DIGITAL IMAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (DIMS) – Authorize the City Manager, or Designee, to Issue a Purchase Order and Execute Implementing Documents with Foster + Freeman in an amount not to exceed $160,135 for the DCS-5 DIMS latent fingerprint system
Contact Persons:
Name: Paul McCormick Sean Washington
Title: Lieutenant Police Chief
Div/Dept: Police Department Police Department
Phone: 510-790-6800 510-790-6969
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: The Fremont Police Department receives funding via the Citizens Option for Public Safety (COPS) grant each year and previously reported to the City Council that a portion of the funding would be utilized for Police Department capital equipment in FY 2023/24.
The Fremont Police Crime Lab photographs all viable latent fingerprint images found in the course of a criminal investigation. The photographs of those latent fingerprint images are digitally stored for comparison purposes and are utilized in past, current, and future criminal investigations. These images often help to identify a suspect in a crime. The Fremont Police Department utilizes a system to photograph and store the latent fingerprints commonly referred to as a Digital Image Management System (DIMS). The current system is almost 20 years old, is antiquated, and in need of replacement. Advances in technology have allowed contemporary DIMS to provide much greater detail in the photographing of the latent fingerprint images, expanded storage capacity, and enhanced ease of operator use.
The Foster + Freeman DCS-5 DIMS has been identified as the most appropriate system to meet the needs of the Fremont Police Department as it seeks to maintain its proficiency in the arena of latent fingerprint collection, analysis, and preservation.
BACKGROUND: The collection, analysis, and preservation of latent impressions (fingerprint, palm prints, and foot impressions) continues to be a high priority for any police department’s crime fighting efforts. The evidentiary value of latent fingerprints in a criminal investigation may lead to the conviction of those responsible for criminal activity, as well as provide exculpatory evidence refocusing the eye of suspicion away from the innocent. The use of latent fingerprints as evidence is well over one hundred years old, it and continues to be one of the most reliable and often used forms of evidence in the criminal justice system.
It is even more individualizing than DNA, since no two persons have ever been found to share the same fingerprint characteristics; even identical twins who share the same DNA have different fingerprints. Crime labs utilize various systems to organize and store items of evidence. For example, labs employ a Digital Image Management System (DIMS) to capture and preserve digital photographs of latent fingerprints developed during the processing of crime scenes and/or the processing of evidence items from crime scenes.
The current DIMS computer system utilized by the Fremont Police Department Crime Lab is responsible for the storage, preservation, and audit trail of all digital photographs of the Council Staff Report (ID # 5105) Meeting of April 2, 2024 Updated: 3/29/2024 11:28 AM by Dina Lewis Page 2
latent prints developed from processing evidence items in the Crime Lab, as well as latent prints developed from crime scenes. The digital photograph of the latent print is the only record of the recovery of the fingerprint from that particular item of evidence and should be stored appropriately as it would if it was any other item of physical evidence. These images are captured on camera equipment and saved to an external storage device, a SIM card.
The images on the SIM card are then uploaded onto the DIMS system, which is not connected to the camera equipment. The process is not seamless nor automatic. DIMS stores the digital photographs and creates an audit log of that digital evidence. The current hardware is very outdated, dating from the early 2010’s, and the operating system is also outdated and potentially could cease to function. The current DIMS system contains thousands of images of latent prints from criminal investigations dating back over 30 years.
Currently, the DIMS system is outdated, not compatible with new camera equipment and technology, and will likely cease functioning in the very near future. However, the Crime Lab continues to process and photograph latent fingerprints for ongoing criminal investigations.
The existing technology on the camera equipment currently used by Crime Lab personnel and Crime Scene Investigators (CSI) far exceeds the technology of the current DIMS system. Since the quality and resolution of the camera equipment is beyond the capabilities of the current DIMS system, the existing DIMS system is not currently being used. There are processes in place to warehouse all existing photographs of latent images via external storage devices. Transferring the existing images from the now defunct DIMS is a time consuming and laborious process, but it is the only way to guarantee the integrity and accessibility of the images.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: Technological advancements in the ensuing 20 years since the Department purchased the current DIMS has vastly improved the quality and quantity of images recoverable from items of evidence. The improved camera equipment results in more images being captured at a higher resolution than before. Additionally, newer DIMS provide various alternate light source (ALS) options which allow more images to be seen and thus captured. Finally, the newer, more advanced DIMS are much easier and much more efficient to operate.
In exploring DIMS vendors, Foster + Freeman is the only vendor whose DIMS system which offers the camera, computer, monitor, program, multiple Alternate Light Source (ALS) options, and a built-in Image Validation/Audit Trail in one system.
The DCS-5 computer system has its own Validation/Audit Trail that records every step of the latent print photography process. It creates several files that are stored digitally in its system and will electronically document each step it used during the photo capturing process. This creates a seamless process from the photograph to the witness stand if needed for court. The system’s logs will be able to be distributed during discovery since the DCS-5’s computer system comes with its own digital image management system. It is similar to the Department’s current DIMS system in that regard. This system is a comprehensive imaging system for the detection, capture, enhancement, and storage of latent print images. Therefore, only Foster + Freeman is capable of providing an all-in-one system and there are no other comparable products.
FISCAL IMPACT: The purchase price for the Foster + Freeman system is approximately $160,135 and will be paid from the FY 2023/24 COPS Grant, which was previously appropriated by the City Council in the COPS Grant Fund (Fund 151).
Council Staff Report (ID # 5105) Meeting of April 2, 2024 Updated: 3/29/2024 11:28 AM by Dina Lewis Page 3
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The proposed action is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) which is the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Purchase and use of computer software will not have a significant effect on the environment.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to issue a purchase order and execute implementing documents with Foster + Freeman in an amount not to exceed $160,135 for the purchase of the DIMS DCS-5 system.