Chain of Custody Procedures and Documentation Questions

Comprehensive mastery of chain of custody practices covering the full lifecycle of physical or digital evidence. Candidates should understand evidence identification and tagging, secure collection techniques, how to log who handled evidence and when, and required metadata such as reason for handling and duration of custody. Include procedures for secure transport and transfer with signed transfer logs, storage and access control practices, environmental and tamper protections, and maintenance of audit trails and analysis documentation that link evidence to investigative findings. Be prepared to discuss legal compliance and admissibility concerns, how breaks in the chain are detected and mitigated, jurisdiction specific requirements and retention policies, documentation formats and recordkeeping best practices, and how to design, implement, or improve organizational protocols to prevent chain breaks. Interviewers may probe for examples of policies, handling checklists, training practices, incident handling when chain integrity is threatened, and metrics used to measure process compliance.