Evidence Harbor (Java)

Evidence Harbor is a JavaFX desktop application for law enforcement evidence management, impound workflows. It is free to use, actively developed, and designed for any police department needing a lightweight on-premises solution.

License

Licensed under the Evidence Harbor Free Use, No Resale License.

• Free to use by police departments and other public safety/government users
• Permitted to modify for internal use
• Redistribution allowed on a non-commercial basis only
• Selling or commercial resale requires written permission
• Provided as-is, no warranty

See the LICENSE file for full terms.

Tech Stack

Component	Version
Java	21
JavaFX	21.0.5
Build	Maven
Database	MariaDB

Project Structure

src/main/java/com/evidenceharbor/
  app/          # Bootstrap, navigation, session, permissions, shared helpers
  domain/       # Domain models (Evidence, Case, Officer, Person, Charge, ...)
  persistence/  # Repository classes and DatabaseManager
  ui/           # JavaFX controllers organized by module
    admin/      # Admin dashboard, user management, permissions, audit trail,
                #   lookup admin, bank account ledger, evidence audit
    cases/      # Case list, case detail, add evidence
    dropbox/    # Dropbox check-in workflow
    evidence/   # Evidence detail and intake
    inventory/  # Inventory view
    people/     # People management
    reports/    # Reports
    settings/   # Settings
    shared/     # Shared UI components
  tools/        # Utility tools
  util/         # General utilities
src/main/resources/
  fxml/         # JavaFX layout files
  sql/          # Schema and seed scripts
  styles/       # Global CSS themes

Modules

Evidence

• Cases — create and manage cases, attach charges, link people (victims, suspects, witnesses, etc.), add evidence
• Inventory — full evidence inventory with search and status tracking
• People — person records with role associations across cases
• Dropbox Check-in — officer dropbox session workflow; processes items with status In Dropbox
• Reports — evidence and case reporting
• Add Evidence — barcode-driven intake with chain of custody

Admin

• Admin Dashboard — agency overview
• User Management — create/edit officers with role and password management
• Permission Management — per-officer permission overrides on top of role defaults
• Audit Trail — system-wide audit log
• Lookup Admin — manage lookup tables (evidence types, storage locations, statuses, etc.)
• Bank Account Ledger — track agency fund accounts and transactions
• Evidence Audit — evidence audit records

Impound

• Impound Lot — vehicle impound intake and tracking

Permission System

Roles: admin, evidence_tech, officer

Each role has default permission flags. Admins can add or remove individual flags per officer. Effective permissions are computed at login as:

effective = role_defaults + granted_overrides − revoked_overrides

Permission flags gate both navigation visibility and runtime access checks via SessionManager.can(flag).

Notable gating:

• can_view_all_evidence — required to access Inventory, Reports, and Dropbox Check-in
• can_manage_users — required for User Management and Permission Management
• can_view_audit — required for Audit Trail
• can_manage_settings — required for Settings and Lookup Admin

Navigation Pattern

Two-level layout:

1. Top row — module tabs: Evidence, Impound, Quartermaster
2. Secondary row — workspace tabs within the active module

Navigation is enforced server-side in Navigator.java — unauthorized navigation attempts redirect to the default page for the user's role.

Startup Flow

1. DatabaseStartupScreen — verifies DB connection
2. FirstTimeSetupScreen / SetupWizard — runs on first launch to configure agency settings
3. LoginScreen — PBKDF2 password authentication
4. Main workspace loads with nav visibility applied per effective permissions

Dropbox Workflow

Sessions only activate when at least one evidence item has status In Dropbox at a valid dropbox location. Each session is logged to dropbox_sessions and generates chain-of-custody records.

Database

Schema and seed data are applied automatically at startup by DatabaseManager using the MariaDB scripts in src/main/resources/sql/.

Dependencies & Installation

This section covers everything needed to build and run Evidence Harbor from source on Windows.

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1. Java Development Kit (JDK) 21

Evidence Harbor requires Java 21. The Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is recommended.

Download: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/java/openjdk/download#openjdk-21

Install:

1. Run the installer (.msi)
2. Note the install path (e.g. C:\Program Files\Microsoft\jdk-21.0.10.7-hotspot)
3. Set JAVA_HOME before running Maven:

$env:JAVA_HOME = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\jdk-21.0.10.7-hotspot"

To make this permanent, add it to your system environment variables.

Verify:

java -version
# should output: openjdk version "21.x.x"

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2. Apache Maven

Maven handles compilation, dependency resolution, and running the app.

Download: https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi — download the binary zip (e.g. apache-maven-3.9.9-bin.zip)

Install:

1. Extract to a stable location (e.g. C:\Users\<you>\Maven\apache-maven-3.9.9)
2. Add bin\ to your PATH, or call it directly:

& "C:\Users\<you>\Maven\apache-maven-3.9.9\bin\mvn.cmd" --version

Verify:

mvn --version
# should output: Apache Maven 3.9.x

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3. MariaDB 12.2.2

Evidence Harbor connects to a local or networked MariaDB instance.

Download: https://mariadb.org/download/ — select version 12.2.2, Windows x64 MSI

Install:

1. Run the .msi installer
2. During setup, set a root password (or leave blank for local dev)
3. Default port is 3306 — leave as-is unless you have a conflict
4. Enable the MariaDB Windows service so it starts automatically

After install, create the database:

CREATE DATABASE evidence_harbor CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

You can run this in the MariaDB command-line client:

mysql -u root -p
# then paste the CREATE DATABASE statement above

The schema and seed data are applied automatically by the app on first launch — you do not need to run SQL scripts manually.

Default connection settings (configured via the first-time setup wizard on first launch):

Setting	Default
Host	127.0.0.1
Port	3306
Database	evidence_harbor
User	root
Password	(blank or whatever you set during MariaDB install)

Connection settings are saved to %USERPROFILE%\EvidenceHarbor\db.properties after first setup.

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4. Tailscale (Optional — for remote/multi-site access)

Tailscale is used to securely connect officers at remote sites to a central MariaDB server over a private VPN without opening firewall ports.

Download: https://tailscale.com/download/windows — version 1.96.3

Install:

1. Run the installer
2. Log in with a Tailscale account (free tier supports small teams)
3. On the server machine running MariaDB, note the Tailscale IP (e.g. 100.x.x.x)
4. On client machines, set the MariaDB host in the Evidence Harbor setup wizard to that Tailscale IP

This is optional — if all machines are on the same local network, Tailscale is not needed.

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5. Maven Dependencies (auto-resolved)

These are declared in pom.xml and downloaded automatically by Maven on first build. No manual installation required.

Dependency	Version	Purpose
org.openjfx:javafx-controls	21.0.5	JavaFX UI controls
org.openjfx:javafx-fxml	21.0.5	JavaFX FXML layout loading
org.mariadb.jdbc:mariadb-java-client	3.4.1	MariaDB JDBC driver
org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter	5.10.2	Unit testing (test scope only)

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6. Required Downloads Summary

Software	Version	Required	Download
JDK 21	21.x	Yes	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/java/openjdk/download#openjdk-21
Apache Maven	3.9.x	Yes	https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi
MariaDB	12.2.2	Yes	https://mariadb.org/download/
Tailscale	1.96.3	No	https://tailscale.com/download/windows

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Build and Run

$env:JAVA_HOME = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\jdk-21.0.10.7-hotspot"
mvn clean javafx:run

Packaging

mvn clean package

Main class: com.evidenceharbor.app.MainApp

Notes

• .gitignore excludes build output and local DB artifacts.
• After major FXML changes, run mvn clean before launch to clear stale compiled resources.
• All ComboBoxes in the UI are type-searchable (filter as you type).