Evidence Storage Room Design Services
Purpose-built evidence room layouts for police departments, sheriff’s offices, and federal agencies. We design secure, organized storage systems that maintain chain of custody and pass accreditation audits.
Talk with a specialist. Call (800) 326-4403 or Email Sales@MH-USA.com
Shop Wire Mesh Cage Kits for Evidence Rooms
Standard-size welded wire cage kits, priced online, for the firearms, narcotics and valuables enclosure inside an evidence room. Every kit must be anchored to sound concrete; for full evidence room layouts or tall, braced enclosures, request a free layout and quote.
Complete Evidence Room Storage Systems
From intake to long-term storage, we design evidence rooms with the right products for every stage of the chain of custody.
Material Handling USA designs and installs complete evidence storage systems for law enforcement agencies across the United States. We work with industry-leading manufacturers to provide mobile shelving, pass-through lockers, security cages, weapons racks, drying cabinets, and more — everything your evidence room needs to stay organized, secure, and audit-ready.
Below you’ll find every product category we offer for evidence rooms, with details on how each system supports your chain of custody requirements.
Evidence Room Products
Click any product below for detailed information, specifications, and applications.
Evidence Rooms Designed for Compliance
We understand the unique requirements of law enforcement evidence storage — from chain of custody to CJIS compliance.
Secure. Organized. Audit-Ready.
Every evidence room is designed around your department’s volume, retention policies, and accreditation requirements.
- Intake & pass-through zones for secure evidence submission
- Temporary evidence staging for active case materials
- Long-term storage areas with high-density mobile shelving
- Weapons & narcotics vaults with controlled access
- Biological drying stations with ventilated airflow
- Purge & disposal workflow for evidence lifecycle management
- ADA-compliant access built into every layout
- Climate control planning for sensitive evidence preservation
How to Zone an Evidence Room by Evidence Type
Evidence categories should set the room map. General storage is not a substitute for refrigeration, freezing, drying or restricted storage when the evidence type needs something different.
Design around the workflow and every handoff
Evidence typically moves from intake to temporary holding, processing or drying, permanent storage, retrieval, and release or disposition. A pass-through locker separates the patrol side from the secure room, so a custodian retrieves each item from inside without letting anyone else in.
Give every range, carriage, shelf, bin, refrigerator, freezer and cage a permanent location code. Record the location with the evidence record and document every later move. Each unnecessary transfer is one more handoff staff have to explain in court.
| Zone | Temperature and humidity target | Typical system | Access and security notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| General controlled storage | 60°F to 75°F (15.5°C to 24°C), below 60% humidity | Steel shelving, bins or high-density mobile shelving | Restricted room access, location control, documented retrieval |
| Refrigerated evidence | 36°F to 46°F (2°C to 8°C), below 25% humidity | Lockable evidence refrigerator or refrigerated locker | Alarmed monitoring, access log, separate from general storage |
| Frozen evidence | At or below 14°F (-10°C) | Evidence freezer | Restricted access, temperature logging, alarm review |
| Drying area | Controlled airflow, drainable and cleanable surfaces | Drying cabinet or dedicated drying room | Controlled entry, contamination prevention, documented handling |
| Firearms | Per item condition and agency policy | Weapon rack or lockable cabinet | Restricted enclosure, visible identification, separate ammunition control |
| Narcotics and valuables | Category-specific environmental control | Vault, security cage or locked cabinet | Second lock layer, camera coverage, access logging |
| Digital media | Stable controlled storage | Individual compartments, cabinets or protected shelving | Restricted handling, inventory tracking, controlled workbench |
These targets follow published evidence storage condition guidance. Confirm the required condition for a specific item with the responsible laboratory and your agency policy.
Keep biological evidence out of general storage
Wet or bloody items need drying before long-term packaging. Plan hanging space, cleanable floor and wall finishes, a water source and a refrigerated pass-through for items that need cold holding. Smaller intake operations can use forensic evidence drying cabinets instead of a full drying room.
Separate restricted categories
Firearms, controlled substances, valuables and hazardous items should not share open general shelving. A secure cage or vault creates a second boundary inside the evidence room while keeping the contents visible to cameras.
Plan for oversized property
Bicycles, doors, tires and tools need a route from the receiving point to their storage position. A room can have enough floor area and still fail if the door, aisle or turning path cannot take the largest item.
Secure Evidence Storage Facility Design: Four Layers of Protection
A secure evidence storage facility is not one locked door. Security is built in layers, and the layout should show where each layer sits before equipment is chosen.
| Security layer | What it protects | Design decisions that belong on the drawing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Building and perimeter | The evidence unit as a whole | Room away from public corridors and exterior walls where possible, no windows into storage, solid walls to the deck, camera coverage at every entry |
| 2. Room entry | Everything inside the room | One controlled staff door, card or key access with a log, pass-through lockers so officers never enter, alarms on the door and locker access side |
| 3. Enclosures inside the room | Firearms, narcotics, cash, jewelry, hazardous items | Wire mesh security cage or vault with its own lock and log, visible from the custodian position, door sized for the largest item |
| 4. Item and location control | Each package | Sealed packaging, permanent location codes on every shelf, bin, locker and cage, barcode or RFID scan at every move |
Let layers two and three drive the floor plan
Put the custodian workstation where it can see the room door, the pass-through locker wall and the cage door at the same time. Run the cage wall to the ceiling or add a mesh roof so the enclosure cannot be reached over the top, and size its door for the largest firearm case or bulk package you expect to store.
Mesh enclosures are usually the fastest layer to configure. Lay out the footprint, door swing and panel heights with the security cage configurator, then check the result against camera sightlines.
Evidence Storage Refrigerators and Freezers: Where Cold Storage Fits
Cold storage is part of the layout, not an appliance added later
Biological evidence, sexual assault kits, blood and urine samples and some liquid evidence need refrigerated or frozen holding. The design question is not only which unit to buy but where it sits in the workflow.
A refrigerated evidence locker gives each deposit its own locked compartment, so officers can submit cold-holding items after hours without a custodian present. Open refrigerators and freezers hold more volume but belong inside the secure room, where only the custodian has access.
How to choose evidence storage refrigerators
Locker or open refrigerator
Keyed or keypad compartments let several officers deposit without seeing each other’s evidence. An open unit holds more but must sit inside the secure room.
Pass-through or single-sided
A pass-through refrigerated locker is loaded from intake and emptied from inside the room, which removes one transfer. It belongs on the wall between intake and secure storage.
Refrigerator, freezer or both
The receiving laboratory tells you which items must be frozen and which only chilled. Many rooms need both. Do not plan on one unit doing both jobs.
Lock and access record
Every unit should lock, and the design should show how access is logged, either at the compartment lock or through the room access system.
Monitoring and alarm
Plan a continuous temperature record and an alarm that reaches a named person after hours. Decide on the drawing who receives that alarm.
Power and backup
Give cold storage a dedicated circuit and confirm with the building engineer whether it is on emergency power. A weekend outage can destroy years of casework.
Placement rules for cold storage
Keep refrigerators and freezers out of the drying area so compressor heat does not fight the drying airflow, leave service clearance around each unit, and place them where the custodian can see the doors, never in a corridor outside the secure room. If the room will grow, reserve a second cold-storage position with power already stubbed in.
Wet items that need chilling before they are dry usually move through a refrigerated pass-through locker first, then to the drying cabinet or room, then to permanent packaging and shelving. Draw that path on the plan so each handoff is short and documented.
Climate Controlled Evidence Storage: HVAC, Monitoring and Zone Placement
The room itself has to hold a stable condition
Climate controlled evidence storage means the whole room, not only the refrigerators, holds a stable temperature and humidity. Paper, tapes, digital media, textiles and packaged biological evidence all degrade faster in heat, damp air or direct sunlight.
The California POST evidence and property management guidance recommends a stand-alone evidence-room HVAC system and a storage environment of about 60°F to 75°F with humidity below 60%.
Layout choices that make climate control work
Own HVAC zone
Put the evidence room on its own thermostat and, where possible, its own air handler so it does not swing with the rest of the building at night and on weekends.
Keep supply and return clear
Tall shelving and mobile carriages can block diffusers and return grilles. Mark them on the drawing and keep the clearance the mechanical engineer asks for.
Humidity control
Humid climates need a dehumidifier or dedicated coil with a drain. In the dry Mountain West the bigger risk is heat gain, so avoid unshaded roofs and sun-facing walls.
No windows into storage
Daylight adds heat and ultraviolet exposure. If an existing room has windows, block and insulate them.
Monitoring
Log temperature and humidity in the general room and with a separate probe in each refrigerator and freezer. Keep records for the life of the evidence.
Separate hot and wet zones
Drying releases moisture and refrigeration releases heat. Place both on the side of the room away from paper and digital media storage.
When the building cannot deliver a stable room, an insulated modular room or a controlled cabinet can create a smaller climate controlled zone inside a larger property room. That is often cheaper than upgrading the HVAC for the whole space.
How to Size and Specify Your Evidence Storage Room
Gather these seven inputs before asking for a layout. They are what turns a list of products into a room that works on day one and still fits in ten years.
- Measure the room. Record length, width, ceiling height, columns, openings, door widths and corridor access. Note sprinkler heads, lighting and ductwork before shelving height is set.
- Document the floor. Confirm slab condition, levelness and allowable floor load with the project engineer. Mobile shelving adds rail and carriage loads, and seismic design may apply, particularly in the Mountain West.
- Separate evidence categories. Count biological evidence, firearms, narcotics, digital media, valuables, hazardous items, general packages and oversized property. Each may need a different enclosure, condition or access level.
- Measure inventory by linear feet. Record current shelf footage by package type, then add the growth and retention assumptions your agency approves. Boxes, bags, weapons and bulky items use space differently, so do not size from case counts alone.
- Map intake and disposition. Show receiving, temporary lockers, processing, drying, cold storage, permanent storage, restricted zones, release staging and exit path, with as little crossing between unsecured and secured areas as possible.
- Locate building services. Mark HVAC equipment, electrical panels, outlets, data points, drains, ventilation and backup power. Refrigerated and frozen units need their own power and alarm plan.
- Confirm operating requirements. Decide who may deposit and retrieve evidence, how after-hours intake works and where staff scan or log each transfer, so credentials, logs, alarms and cameras support the written procedure.
Design mistakes we see repeatedly
- Biological evidence in general storage. Warm, uncontrolled storage speeds degradation and invites questions about preservation.
- Skipping drying-room details. A missing floor drain, cleanable finish, hose access or hanger rods means costly rework. Put them on the drawings.
- Connecting evidence HVAC to general ducts. The room then swings with the building at night and on weekends.
- Relying on one lock. A locked door alone does not document every event. Layer access control with logs, alarms and cameras as agency policy requires.
- Leaving clearances and oversized access to the end. Shelving that conflicts with sprinklers, lights or ductwork, or a rack the largest item cannot reach, shows up after delivery.
- No evidence relocation plan. During a retrofit the agency still needs controlled access to active evidence, so phase the move and document every transfer.
Send your room dimensions and evidence category counts for a free evidence room layout and quote. Call (800) 326-4403 or email Sales@MH-USA.com.
Overhead evidence room storage ideas: cages that lift to the ceiling
If your floor plan is maxed out, overhead storage can add a locked zone without expanding the room.
Use the ceiling as an extra storage zone
Most evidence rooms run out of floor long before they run out of height. An overhead lift fixed to the ceiling structure carries a lockable steel cage above the existing shelving. Staff lower it to load or audit, lock it, and raise it out of reach, so you add secure evidence room storage without moving any units on the floor.
Our partner Lift and Store, building overhead lifts since 1992 with more than 10,000 installations, makes the lifts and cages. According to the manufacturer, typical lead time is about six weeks.
What to check before you plan overhead storage
- Structure: an engineer or installer confirms the joists or framing can carry the lift and a loaded cage.
- Clearances: sprinkler heads, lights and HVAC ductwork, plus a clear floor path under the cage.
- Power and access: power at the ceiling and controls limited to evidence staff.
- What goes up: long-term, overflow or low-turnover items, not daily intake.
Built-in safety, per the manufacturer: a motor brake that holds the load at any height, hold-to-run switches, a free-fall arrestor, aircraft-grade steel cables and a double upper limit switch. Lift and Store rates standard lifts at up to 800 lb per 8-ft section and backs them with a 5-year mechanical and 1-year electrical warranty.
See how an overhead evidence cage works, or compare it with mobile security cages that lift. We are an authorized Lift and Store dealer and can quote it with the rest of your evidence room.
Evidence Room Gallery
Real evidence room installations designed and supplied by Material Handling USA.
From Concept to Completion
Getting a custom evidence room design is easier than you think. Here’s our proven process.
Share Your Needs
Tell us your department size, evidence volume, retention policies, and accreditation requirements.
We Design the Room
Our team creates a full CAD layout with product placement, workflow zones, and security features.
Review & Refine
We walk through the design, adjust for your specific compliance needs, and finalize the quote.
Ship & Install
Products ship direct. Professional installation available — we work around your department’s schedule.
Evidence Room Design FAQs
Common questions from law enforcement evidence managers and facility planners.
Our design and CAD layout service is completely free. You only pay for the products and installation. We’ll provide a detailed quote after reviewing your floor plan and requirements.
Yes. Every evidence room we design is built around CJIS security policy requirements, CALEA standards, and applicable state accreditation requirements. We design for compliance from the start.
Absolutely. Most of our projects involve retrofitting existing spaces. Send us your floor plan and we’ll maximize your available square footage with the right combination of storage products.
Most CAD layouts are completed within 5-7 business days after we receive your floor plan and requirements. Complex multi-room projects may take 2-3 weeks.
Yes. We offer professional installation nationwide. Our crews work around your department’s schedule and can install during off-hours or weekends to minimize disruption.
General temperature-controlled storage is commonly specified at 60°F to 75°F (15.5°C to 24°C) with humidity below 60%. Refrigerated storage is commonly 36°F to 46°F (2°C to 8°C) with humidity below 25%, and frozen evidence at or below 14°F. Confirm requirements with the responsible laboratory and agency policy.
Ask the receiving laboratory which items must be refrigerated and which must be frozen, then choose a locking unit for each. Refrigerated pass-through lockers suit after-hours intake; open refrigerators and freezers belong inside the secure room. Every unit needs a temperature log, an after-hours alarm, a dedicated circuit and a backup power plan.
Measure the current inventory in linear feet by evidence category and package type, then add the approved retention horizon, special categories, oversized items, ceiling and sprinkler clearances, floor load, door widths and aisle requirements.
Related Products & Resources
Ready to Build a Better Evidence Room?
Send us your floor plan and evidence management requirements. We’ll design a compliant, organized evidence room that passes audit and serves your department for decades.