[November 20, 2009] Primary Marking Touts eTWIST Sales Tweet Nov 21, 2009 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- Orders for eTWIST, a high-tech evidence tracking system from St. Louis-based Primary Marking Systems that allows police officers to collect, enter and scan evidence at the crime scene as well as in the police station, continue to grow, according to the company. In mid-November, the Maplewood Police Department, serving a suburb of St. Louis, received its first eTWIST station kit. Maplewood joins law enforcement agencies in Cold Spring, KY and Alexandria, KY that have ordered or purchased the eTWIST evidence tracking system since its launch this summer. Primary Marking stated that, according to eTWIST research, 25 of every 100 cases require evidence tracking. It takes an officer an average of two hours to enter repetitive evidence data information into an agency's back-end system, even longer if the report is handwritten. Recording the evidence at the crime scene with eTWIST saves up to 50 man-hours each week -- the equivalent of one fulltime police officer per year, Primary Marking said. "For a police officer, the more time spent behind a desk means less time patrolling the streets," said eTWIST Project Manager P.J. McIntyre. "eTWIST not only allows officers to collect and record evidence, it helps the property room keep track of the evidence and supplies a chain of custody record." eTWIST features easy-to-use Windows Mobile 5.0/6.1-based software that can be integrated with a Motorola mobile computing device. eTWIST allows officers to record evidence at the crime scene and generate RFID or bar code labels via a Zebra GX420t or RFID Printer. The information, including the case number, time, date and the officer's department service number, uploads to a database. The labels or RFID help make tracking and protecting the evidence's chain of custody easier. eTWIST is designed for law enforcement, military and private enterprise markets that require tracked chain of custody. State and local law enforcement agencies may be able to apply for federal funding through the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program to assist with purchasing technology. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]