By Dena Weiss, Faculty Member, Criminal Justice at American Military University
Crime scene technicians are responsible for photographing, looking for latent prints, and collecting evidence at crime scenes. Because of crime volume, crime scene technicians do not respond to all crime scenes. Many departments rely on specially trained officers or public safety aides to handle crime scene processing of less violent offenses such as motor vehicle thefts and burglaries of homes and vehicles.
Training of officers for this time-consuming and methodical work is often a limited, one-time event. Refresher courses on crime scene processing are typically not offered, providing minimal assurances that officers are following protocol or handling evidence properly. Without periodic training, officers are also not exposed to changing technology or more efficient methods of crime scene processing and evidence collection.
Challenges of Crime Scene Processing
Every crime scene is different and involves decisions such as whether to process evidence at the scene, collect evidence for later processing at the crime laboratory, or request assistance from the crime scene unit. When deciding how to approach latent print processing, factors that may affect the method include weather conditions, contamination of evidence, and whether the evidence is on a porous or nonporous surface.
Full Story: Officer training to improve crime scene processing
