When you join the police, you need to complete a two or three year probationary period as a general Police Constable. This gives you the skills and experience you need to progress in your career. After that, you can move into a wide variety of exciting roles, such as specialising in forensics.
Interest in forensic roles has grown rapidly in recent years. With technological advances within the field, police forces have been able to increasingly utilise the power of forensic techniques to assist in solving crimes.
As a Crime Scene Investigator, it’s your role to gather forensic evidence from crime scenes that will ultimately lead to the detection and prosecution of criminals. You'll process crime scenes using specialist techniques to visualise, capture and recover evidence. It’s your responsibility to gather this information and intelligence as part of an investigation.
Here’s a bit more about what being a Crime Scene Investigator involves:
- You’ll be responsible for preserving, capturing, and assessing evidence at crime scenes using digital capture, forensic and fingerprint techniques
- You’ll develop and implement short term plans within each investigation to assist the wider investigative objectives
- You’ll handle evidence from investigations in line with agreed protocols to maintain the integrity, continuity and security of the evidence for investigative processes and court proceedings
- You’ll assist with investigations by observing, assessing and recording all aspects of the crime scene and the immediate environment, ensuring all findings are available for the wider investigation
- You’ll support the Criminal Justice process by providing accurate and timely Streamlined Forensic Reports (SFR), statements and other documentation
- It’s your role to identify situations when specialist support is needed to advance an investigation.
As a Crime Scene Investigator, attending upsetting incidents is part of the job – it’s vital that you remain focused on the task despite difficult circumstances. But you'll receive all the training and support you need to be able to do your job.
Keen observation and problem-solving skills are paramount. You need to be able to break down seemingly straightforward problems into their component parts and determine the appropriate action. This role requires an organised officer, as you’ll need to process and categorise large amounts of evidence whilst managing a high volume of investigations, efficiently and effectively.
Evidence that you collate will often be used in criminal proceedings, so the ability to present evidence in court and other hearings is a must.
A Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) is a professional within the field of law enforcement who is trained to analyze crime scenes. A Crime Scene Investigator is responsible for collecting evidence found at a crime scene. This process is required to expedite the investigation attached to the crime.
Following the obtainment of evidence, the Crime Scene Investigator will process his or her findings and report the information to the coordinating law enforcement official or member of Government. The evidence gathered is necessary to further an investigation. The ability to gather pertinent evidence is crucial to accurately pinpoint an assailant.
The requirements attached to crime scene investigation will vary widely depending on the underlying organization and the national standards of the particular field. In some jurisdictions, a Crime Scene Investigator is also a sworn law enforcement officer. In this instance, the individual possesses the authority to arrest suspects and pursue leads in a case.
The majority of Crime Scene Investigators will work for a law enforcement agency or an organization. Various industries, such as insurance companies, will hire investigators to evaluate car accidents in order to determine whether or not the insurance agency is required to pay for the accident. Hiring organizations will utilize a tiered system, similar to the tiered system employed by law enforcement agencies, when hiring a Crime Scene Investigator.
A Crime Scene Investigator in the Lab
In a laboratory setting, a Crime Scene Investigator will process evidence to gather information concerning the site of a crime. For example, a Crime Scene Investigator may look for skin, fingerprints, hair fragments, or fiber samples in hopes of extracting DNA to better locate the suspect. A Crime Scene Investigator may also incorporate various techniques to lift fingerprints from the crime scene. The fingerprints obtained by the Crime Scene Investigator can be used to identify the subjects involved in the underlying crime.
Securing a Crime Scene
All crime scenes possess crucial information that can be extracted by a Crime Scene Investigator to elucidate those individuals involved in the crime. As a result of the importance latent in the evidence, a Crime Scene Investigator must secure the scene to ensure that no evidence is tampered or compromised. The Crime Scene Investigator will collect any and all evidence in hopes of securing the identity of suspects.
The Crime Scene Investigator is also responsible for establishing a chain of custody for the evidence. This process will ensure that the evidence is not tampered with when transferred from the field to the laboratory.
Working Conditions
The working conditions of this particular profession are fairly brutal. Aside from the emotional toll of the occupation, a Crime Scene Investigator is often on-call throughout a given work day. The particular functions and responsibilities will vary based on the crime scene. However, investigating a crime scene will always require a keen understanding of various investigatory techniques.