Volusia County Sheriff’s Office: Modernizing Evidence Storage Facilities

By Stuffey | January 3, 2020

When it comes to proper evidence storage, being able to upgrade products and facilities is always a welcome opportunity. Sometimes, it’s imperative.

On average, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office’s (VCSO) evidence storage facility receives hundreds of new items every month – about 20,000 annually. Before early 2019, the office housed these items inside an old Volusia County prison built in 1938. Although not constructed with evidence storage in mind, the building served its purpose well.

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However, with issues ranging from narrow doorways and inadequate space (e.g., some boxes/records stored in old cells with the cots removed) to occasional flooding and even the odd reptile incursion, the structure’s days in that capacity were numbered. While the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies always found the space in good order, a move to something newer, bigger, and better became inevitable with time.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Today, the VCSO’s evidence storage warehouse sits near the Sheriff’s Office Training Facility and the Emergency Operations Center. Close to four years in the planning, the space features ceilings designed to accommodate custom 20-foot-tall ActivRAC “high-bay” Mobile Shelving. The facility boasts nearly 290,000 square feet of workspace and state-of-the-art air quality, safety and security efficiencies.

Here, storage was more than merely a part of the project; indeed, it was the project! The nearly 300,000-square-foot facility provides evidence storage only – a far cry from a Depression-era prison farm.

“We had a strong relationship with the general contractor (GC) and did a lot of work with the architect,” said Patterson Pope Sales Representative Ron Nienhuis. “Being able to collaborate so closely with the customer, the GC, and the architects, allowed us to ensure that the VCSO got not only the best products but that those products were seamlessly integrated into the design of the space.”


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Stuffey

About Stuffey

To say that Stuffey was made for this role would be an understatement. A life long hoarder, Stuffey understands how the Laws of Stuff can wreak havoc in the real world of an organization’s space. Now as part of his reformation, he is committed to passing on to you his secrets in our battle against the tyranny of STUFF.

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