GB2268920A - Evidence protection kit. - Google Patents

Abstract

A material evidence protection kit, for use by police forces and the like, consists of a two compartment packing pouch which houses plastic disposable gloves in one compartment and a plastic restraining strap 7 and a sleeveless smock in the other, all clean-room packed and heat sealed in film. The restraining strap 7 acts as non-metallic handcuffs and incorporates a pull-tag 15 for quick and easy disengagement. In use the arresting officer first opens the first section of the pouch and puts on the gloves and can thereafter open the second section of the pack and, with gloved hands, apply the restraining strap 7 to the suspects behind-back" hands and thereafter cover that person's top body and head with the sleeveless elasticated smock 1 which includes an elasticated hood 4. By this technique the effect of cross-contamination between the suspect and the officer and the surroundings is reduced to a very low level. <IMAGE>

Description

EVIDENCE PROTECTION KIT This invention relates to a material evidence protection kit which is intended for use by individual officers of any type of police force.

It is now well known that material evidence,which may be present on the body or the apparel of a suspect at a scene of an incident or atrocity, should only be taken under circumstances where cross-contamination from the district or the arresting officer is not possible. In endeavouring to achieve such a situation some police techniques have been to place the suspect in a set of disposable overalls and then transport him,or her, to a "Clean Room" at headquarters but this has not proven satisfactory because,in the first instance, it is usually necessary to restrain the suspect with handcuffs and this in itself introduces a device which is an alloy of a heavy metal and which is difficult to clean due to its intricate surface area and its requirement for some sort of lubrication. Heavy metal contamination intereferes with the detection of some firearms residues.In the second instant the overalls have to be pulled over the suspect's clothing and such manouverings tend to detach particles and fibres from his person. What is required in these circumstances is a basically non-metallic evidence protection kit which can roll or fold-up into small bulk and which can be issued as clean-room sealed packs which can be carried on the officer in a pocket or stored in a patrol car.

Such a kit is the subject of the present invention. According to this invention there is provided a material evidence protection kit comprising a sleeveless smock which has an elasticated bottom hem and an elasticated top part in the form of a head covering,a plastic restraining strap and disposable gloves all of which are clean-room packed and heat sealed in film to produce a two compartment bag with the gloves in one section and the remainder of the kit in the other. A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing inwhich: Figure 1 Is a front elevation of the sleeveless smock.

Figure 2A Is a plan of the plastic restraining strap.

Figure 2B Is a sectional side elevation of the locking part of the restraining strap.

Referring to the drawing the material evidence protection kit comprises: (a) A sleeveless smock 1 which is basically rectangular in shape and which has an elasticated bottom hem 2 which gathers-in around the lower parts of the hips,when in use,and which has an upper part 3 which incorporates an elasticated hood 4 and a neck closing part 5 which can be held closed,after fitting,with a series of studs 6. Thos sleeveless smock 1 has to be loose fitting so that it can easily be placed over the top part of the body of the restrained suspect and conversely easily removed.

(b) A plastic restraining strap 7 which is to be used as a substitute for conventional handcuffs and which is basically a commercial self-locking strip which is normally used for cable bunches,boxes and even young tree staking but which in this case has a quick release tag which fits through a hole 8 in the locking toggle 9. In this device the top surface of the strip 10 is smooth and the reverse side 11 has a series of serrations or notches 12 along most of its length. In use the end 13 is inserted into the slot 14 and pulled through until it tightend on the object to be restrained or held tight.

In this case the tension is held constant because,once tightened,the strap cannot move out again because of the locking mechanism of the toggle 9 on the strap serrations 12. In this kit,however,the hole 8 is fitted with a pull-tag 15 which fits through the hole and can be pulled to force back the toggle 9 thus disengaging the serrations 12 and releasing the strap's grip.

In use,without this release innovation, the plastic "handouffs' would have to be cut-off at the clean room at headquarters and this would be both wasteful and could evoke accidents where snips or scissors are used near the hands of a suspect who may ve violent or un-cooperative.

(c) Apair,or more,of disposable gloves for use by the arresting officer0 (d) A heat sealable plastic bag or pouch which carries all the items of the innovation as a kit in a rolled-up or folded small bulk form together with instructions for employment and where the gloves are heat sealed in the pack in a separate compartment from the other items thus enabling the arresting officer to show that he,or she,only approached the suspect with gloved hands and only opened the other part of the kit pack with gloved hands.

In the development of this material evidence protection kit it has been found to be convenient to produce the sleeveless smock in non-woven textile material and it has also been found beneficial to use material which has been impregnated with one or two hundred parts per million of benzalkonium chloride to firstly act as an anti-static agent and secondly as a biocide. A body cover without sleeves and large enough to fit over a suspect whose hands are held behind his back with the described, easily releasable,restraining strap is a new and important advancement in the technique of obtaining material evidence which is fair and just to the suspect because it greatly reduces the probability of cross-contamination from the police officer to the suspect.

Claims (5)

1. A material evidence protection kit comprising a sleeveless smock which has an elasticated bottom hem and an elasticated top part in the form of a head covering,a plastic restraining strap and disposable plastic gloves,all of which are clean-room packed and heat sealed in film to produce a two compartment bag with the gloves in one section and the remainder of the kit in the other.

2. A material evidence protection kit as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the plastic restraining strap incorporates a pull-tag for rapid disengagement of its locking toggle.

3. A material evidence protection kit as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the sleeveless smock incorporates a neck opening top front which re-seals by means of a series of snap closing studs.

4. A material evidence protection kit according to Claims 1 and 3 wherein the material of the smock is a non-woven fabric of the cellulose disposal type.

5. A material evidence protection kit according to Claim 4 wherein the fabric contains an effective amount, about 100 p.p.m. ,of benzalkonium chloride to act as an anti-static agent and biocide.

6 A material evidence protection kit as herein described with reference to the drawings.