(Washington, DC) – Mayor Adrian M. Fenty today joined Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy L. Lanier and Office of Property Management Director Robin-Eve Jasper to break ground on the future state-of-the-art Property and Evidence Warehouse for the Metropolitan Police Department. The District will partner with Akridge on the $20 million project at a site near the former DC Village emergency shelter, which the District shut down in October 2007 due to poor living conditions.

“We’ve got to provide our police force the tools to do their jobs,” said Mayor Fenty. “This facility will be equipped to handle millions of items of evidence held by the Metropolitan Police Department and integrate best practices and advanced technology for safe and responsible storage.”

The new 30,000 square-foot warehouse MPD Property and Evidence Warehouse will greatly improve upon the current facility in the areas of design, capacity, safety, security, environmental working conditions, air conditioning, lighting, electricity, and inventory tracking automation.

The new and improved facility will feature:

• computer-automated storage system for logging and retrieval of evidence
• secure and controlled access to all areas
• video event logging of transactions
• radio frequency handheld portable terminals
• bar code scanning & printing techniques
• refrigerated units for storing DNA samples

The District expects construction to be complete by the fall of 2010. The project is also expected to achieve at least LEED Silver certification or higher, incorporating the sustainable development goals for all public projects as outlined in the District’s Green DC Agenda.