Agencies should adopt policies to ensure that all evidence is collected, analyzed, and retained in a manner that is impartial, consistent, and thorough and that is designed to minimize any contamination or alteration of information.

Agencies should have written policies requiring that officers thoroughly, accurately, and intelligibly document evidence that is collected.

Except when information must be redacted for confidentiality, privacy, and safety purposes, agencies should share all relevant evidence with prosecutors, in an ongoing fashion, regardless of the status of an investigation or criminal case.

Agencies should adopt policies setting out the circumstances and manner in which evidence is to be retained and preserved, both before and after adjudication, taking into account factors such as the nature of the offense, the potential probative value of the evidence, the interests of the defense and others, and storage costs.

Agencies should develop policies and procedures to minimize the negative effects of human factors that can reduce accuracy in evidence collection.