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Description
Programme outcome the project contributes to: “Improved capacity for law enforcement agencies in crime prevention and investigation”.
The project is aimed at the improvement of the crime scene investigation, including improvement of the crime scene inspection for finding and collecting evidence, and improvement of the system for storing of evidence. The project will result in the implementation of minimum quality standards during crime scene inspection and improve the evidence management process, including ensuring the management of the evidence from the crime scene to the court and achieving a significant reduction of time required to process evidence and prepare expert conclusions.
The project will include, inter alia, the following main activities:
- Delivery of equipment for mobile forensic technical laboratories to perform on-site inspections to help fix and seize traces and gather evidence on the spot in cases of urgency and field testing;
- Trainings for police officers responsible for the collection and storage of material evidence;
- Upgrading premises for storing material evidence up to the EU standards and in accordance with the inter-ministerial requirements through renovation and equipment of material evidence warehouse;
- Establishing IT system for registering and tracking seized material evidence.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to improve the investigation of crime scene, including crime scene inspection for detection and gathering of material evidence. The implementation of the project had to provide for the activities of seizure of evidence, ensuring their authenticity, proper preservation for subsequent investigations and their storage until finalizing all necessary investigative activities, as per the Penal Proceedings Code. The envisaged and later on implemented activities were related to improving the quality of the investigation in the pre-trial proceedings by increasing the expertise of crime scene inspection in accordance with international practices and norms. The Promotor had to complete both hard and soft measures in prder to achieve the panned objectives - purchase of forensic equipment for crime scene investigation, development of a system for registering seizured material evidence, renovation of premises for storage of material evidence, trainings in Bulgaria with the participation of international lecturers, as well as study visits in EU country.
The specialized equipment supplied under the project - IT equipment, label printers, laser readers, 3D scanners for inspection and reconstruction of crime scenes, cases for conducting field tests for narcotic substances, cases for seizing traces and material evidence, metal detectors , tents, as well as materials for packaging and storing seized physical evidence - ensure the work of seizing, preserving and storing traces, but also help to increase the capacity of the investigation and improve expert forensic activities.
The developed and implemented database for registering and tracking seized material evidence also improves the work of forensic experts and investigating police officers in the country in the process of investigating crimes.
The renovated and equipped 26 storage facilities of ten Regional Directorates of Interior, used for storing material evidence, also contribute to the provision of reliable material evidence in the course of criminal proceedings, to the better quality of investigation and proving the objective truth.
590 Ministry of Interior employees in the country were trained, which led to an improvement in their knowledge in the field of forensics, improved the quality of the investigation and the evidence collection process.
The project activities as a whole contribute to the outcome of the program by strengthening the capacity of law enforcement agencies, improving the capacity to conduct pre-trial proceedings and enhancing international cooperation.
The implementation of maximum quality standards during the inspection of the crime scene and the improvement of the process of managing evidence seized from the crime scene were achieved, achieving a significant reduction in the time required for processing evidence and preparing expert conclusions within the framework of the criminal process.
The implementation of this project contributed to the achievement of the program results by improving the capacity of law enforcement agencies in their forensic expertise and in the investigation of crimes.
The existing evidence storage facilities renovated and equipped under the project contribute in the long term to improving the investigation of crimes through the preservation and high-quality storage of seized evidence from crime scene inspections.
The storage facilities will be renovated and equipped according to requirements, according to the internally built automated information system for registering and tracking material evidence, which will be used in the long term for the needs of the investigation by all structures of the Ministry of Interior.
The acquired knowledge and exchange of experience with Swiss experts will provide an upgrade of the expertise of the employees directly involved in forensics and will lead to the improvement of their knowledge and capacity in the field of forensics and crime scene examination. It will also improve the investigation activity in the criminal process and the collection of material evidence. It is planned to upgrade knowledge in the future through additional trainings conducted by the employees trained under the project.