HPD Upgrades Property & Evidence Storage

property evidence mobilized storage systems compact pallet racksThe Houston Police Department originally stored all of their property and evidence in an antiquated building that was much too small. Evidence storage was a significant challenge and required increased levels of staffing and time spent on finding, storing, and retrieving evidence. The HPD was determined to solve this problem once and for all when they built their new property room. They also faced exponential growth of evidence and property. With the installation of mobilized storage systems in the form of compact pallet racks and high-density shelving, HPD was able to store and organize 1 million property and evidence items in less space and with more accessibility than ever before. (Watch Property & Evidence videos)

HPD was especially concerned with DNA evidence. The importance of DNA evidence has significantly increased the amount of evidence police departments need to collect and store long-term. HPD identified their project challenges to be:

  • Safeguarding the integrity of evidence
  • Accommodate up to 1 million different items with unique space needs, from drugs and jewelry to large items such as bicycles
  • Easily and efficiently store, locate, and retrieve evidence
  • Optimize their existing storage capacity with the building’s unique angles

public safety icon

See More Public Safety Storage Solutions

Mobilized Storage Solution

mobilized powered high density dna evidence storageSouthwest Solutions Group® consulted with HPD to understand their storage needs and building design.

The first evidence storage solution included a compact pallet rack mobilized storage system. With the mobilized pallet racks, otherwise fixed rows of racking are mounted on movable carriages that move back and forth on a rail system. This way, the system is able to compact stored evidence into a much smaller footprint by condensing aisles into just a single movable aisle (with the ability to open multiple aisles at once). The racks provide 100% accessibility to every pallet or storage location and are easy to use; users simply press a button to open an aisle. The compact pallet racks deliver the maximum amount of storage density possible.

In the property and evidence room, the majority of items must be stored in six standard boxes, so the carriages of the pallet rack system were designed to that one set of carriages stores small boxes, another stores medium, and so on. The carriages are arranged so the box sizes increase from one side of the room to the other. All boxes are stored on a total of 33 mobilized carriages.

SSG also recommended a powered high-density mobilized storage system for additional evidence storage. Weapons were also stored in mobile high-density units with highly configurable shelving. Each weapon is placed in a box and the shelves are arranged for maximum density.

hpd weapons handguns rifles knives storage

Results

HPD’s property room is now a technically advanced and highly functional building that is able to maintain the integrity of evidence through proper security, climate control, and storage efficiency. 

HPD was able to reduce their storage space by 30% and save significant construction costs. The property room also earned LEED certification through their use of sustainable design and construction.

The weapons storage area now provides enough space for 22,984 handguns, 5,256 rifles, and 17,500 knives in a single room with quick and easy access to each.

Contact Us for Mobilized Storage Systems

Southwest Solutions Group has installed mobilized storage systems and other innovative space-saving solutions just like this one. Before you commit to anything, we will even provide you with a free consultation to determine your exact storage and space needs. For more information or to speak with a specialist in your area, call us at 1-800-803-1083 or send us a message today.

shopping cart iconVisit Our Store To Purchase Public Safety Products

See specifications and pricing for property & evidence bags, police uniform gear shelving, and firearm racks.

Public Safety Testimonials

nebraska state patrol

“Southwest Solutions is highly professional and knowledgeable in the area of digital scanning. My organization has been working with SSG on scanning your highly sensitive and complex records. Their expertise has been extraordinarily beneficial to us as nobody in our organization has any knowledge of this process. They were able to easily guide us through the process, ask us the right questions and explain the pros and cons to help us decide how to complete this project. I would STRONGLY recommend SSG for anyone who is considering digitizing records.”

Nebraska State Patrol
Rogers Police Department

“The installation guys were very professional, courteous and efficient. There was not much room to work but they managed to get the job done quickly, allowing space for me to continue to work and watch them at the same time. They vacuumed and cleaned up all the packing material/boxes exhibiting true professionalism. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job in a remarkably short amount of time.”

Rogers Police Department
Crawford County Sheriffs Department

“We had no issues with our new Spacesaver Units, before, during, or after installation, and I attribute this to Larry’s professionalism. I’d also like you to know that if the future presents a need for additional items that your company supplies, I would not hesitate to contact your company based on Larry, the service he provided, and the way he represented your company. ”

Crawford County Sheriff's Department
City of Laredo Police Department

“The sales representative and installers were extremely professional and helpful. Our products we delivered and installed as scheduled. I was very proud to take pictures of our installation and show it off to our administration. We are very satisfied with the improvements to our department thanks to the products you have installed.”

City of Laredo Police Department

See more Public Safety testimonials