NEW ALBANY POLICE DEPARTMENT - New Albany, Ohio

3. Blood Stained Material
When the stain is small, the fiber technique should be used. Cut four to
six gauze fibers ½” long from a gauze pad or utilize sterile cotton swabs.
Moisten the fibers with distilled water. Swab the blood stains with the
fibers, concentrating the stain on the fibers as much as possible. The
fibers should be air dried in a container before they are marked, sealed,
and receipted. The dried fiber samples do not require refrigeration.
These items will be air dried prior to packaging. After thoroughly dried,
the items will be packaged in brown wrapping paper or paper bags,
marked, sealed, and receipted. Multiple items must be packaged
individually to avoid contamination.
4. Other Stains, Tissues, or Biological Material
Other types of stains can be collected using the same procedures as
previously described for wet and dry blood.
Body tissue must be collected and placed in a sterile glass bottle in a
sterile water solution, capped or sealed, marked, receipted and
refrigerated in the Property Room refrigerator.
Other biological material, if not air dried, must be refrigerated after being
marked, sealed, and receipted.
Perishable evidence collected at a crime scene and secured in the Property Room will
normally not be submitted to the crime lab until a suspect is developed or standards of
comparison are obtained.
In the event perishable evidence is delayed in submission to the crime lab for any reason,
it will be documented on the lab report and/or submitting officer’s report.
Biological evidence from crimes where DNA examinations are a possibility should be
handled as follows:
Fresh blood must be collected in a tube in a quantity not less than 5 ml. If the
sample is not going to be submitted to a DNA lab within a short period of time, it
should be sent to a crime lab so that a stain can be made of the material for
preservation.
Dried stains need to be collected in a quantity not less than ¼” in diameter.
When hair is pulled from a suspect for examination, the preferred quantity is ten
from each area of the head (top, sides, and back) and pubic region.
If evidence is to be submitted to a commercial DNA lab, it must be submitted
through a crime lab for preliminary examination.
All DNA evidence shall be stored in the Property Room freezer with a
temperature of not more than 4 degrees Celsius.
All stains and swabs shall be air dried and placed in a paper bag or other
container that prevents moisture build up.
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