What is the purpose of maintaining a chain of custody?

Maintaining a chain of custody serves the crucial purpose of preventing the loss of evidence through meticulous documentation. This process ensures that every piece of evidence collected during an investigation is accounted for from the moment it is gathered until it is presented in court. Each individual who handles the evidence must document their interaction with it, including who collected it, where it was stored, and how it was transported. This thorough documentation helps establish the integrity and authenticity of the evidence when it is later examined in legal proceedings. By ensuring a clear and unbroken record of custody, it becomes more difficult for anyone to dispute the validity of the evidence, ultimately upholding the justice system's standards and reliability.

In contrast, while proper storage of evidence, communication among officers, and managing police records are all important aspects of law enforcement procedures, they are secondary to the primary goal of maintaining the integrity of evidence through a well-documented chain of custody.