Crime Scene safety...

[R.H.]

Our crime scene people are made up of a mix of sworn and civilian and our agency is starting to address the issues of civilian safety. Were looking at what other departments do for their civilians such as training, equipment such as mace, vests, tasers, firearms, etc.

Anyone out their care to share what their department does for its civilian CS people.

Thanks
Randy

[jpadilla5]

Our forensic unit is completely civilian. We carry pepper spray and are required to wear a vest. We have nothing else, except our radio, flashlight and camera for protection.

Out in the field, our safety is in the hands of the officers. We are not allowed into a crime scene if they are actively looking for suspects in the area. We wait until patrol is code 4, then we go into the scene. Either the suspect is in custody or it's a cold call. If there is an outstanding suspect, officers will wait at the scene with us until we leave.

[moorel]

Our unit is completely civilian. No one is armed or trained in using tasers or mace and we are not issued vests. We do not allow our examiners to be on scene without an armed officer securing the area we are working. The officer/Detective has to stay on scene until we leave. The only exceptions to this are when we are in a secured tow yard or precinct. Our vehicles are also unmarked.

There have been a couple of times we have been asked to be on scene when they do a large bust and at that time they have been issued vests and kept out of the main area. Otherwise they keep us in a seperate location and call when it is safe for us to enter, staying with us until we are finished and leave the area.

[Neville]

How very interesting, we have a mix, the civies have only a brush to tickle the offenders with, some tape to stick them to the floor and if they get very aggressive powder to throw in their face (no stabb vests in sight). We get to go to some dodgy places out in the country and often only one female on her own, I guess our society is still concidered safe by our bosses!

[rawilson]

Greetings,
Party line is that civilian CSI are not to be left on scene alone. Having said that, officers are usually in the car catching up on paperwork and not "with" the CSI in the scene. That isn't a slam, it is a fact of life. So, drum the "warm fuzzy/cold prickley" into your CSI...if they don't have a warm fuzzy feeling about the scene tell the officer and have them stay with the CSI. Have a plan. Have a back-up plan.

[Pat A. Wertheim]

Party line is that civilian CSI are not to be left on scene alone.

That was the "party line" when I was a civilian CSI in Plano, Texas, in the late 1980's. But as many other places, it was only followed when it was convenient for the responding officer to wait around.

I got a call one night to a rape at one of the local hotels, La Quinta, I believe. So I responded to the room on the first floor, but no squad car was in the parking lot and nobody answered the door of the designated room when I knocked. Dispatch advised that the responding officer had taken the rape victim to the hospital. I was a little perturbed, but decided what the heck. I went to the front desk and got the key, then went back to my car and got my kit. I opened the door, turned on the light, and barged in -- to find a woman asleep in bed! Needless to say, I scrambled out of the room in a big hurry and hauled butt back to my car at a full run, where I radioed dispatch and demanded to speak to the lieutenant on duty. After listening to me rant for a few minutes, he sent another officer and had the original officer call me from the hospital where he had taken the rape victim. Turns out there were two women. They had gone to a bar and got drunk. One had picked up a man and the three of them went back to the hotel room. The woman who hadn't picked the man up had a few more drinks and passed out in bed. Meanwhile, the man acted on the impulse he thought was proper under the circumstances, and he left after he was satisfied. That woman started to sober up and had second thoughts about what she had done, so she called the police and reported that she had been raped. Of course, the officer arrived and took her to the hospital for a rape kit. The other woman was still drunk and passed out (read: "sound asleep") in bed and he left her there. So, having been informed of the story, I entered the room again when the second officer arrived. We placed an evidence marker on the pillow next to the sleeping woman's head and did all the crime scene photography. She was breathing deeping and snoring lightly, but she wouldn't wake up. We finished processing the scene and left her there to sleep it off. Oh, and we did turn out the lights when we left so she could have a good night's sleep. I have no idea what she remembered the next morning when she woke up.

But after that, I didn't enter any more crime scenes without an officer present. My mind could imagine all kinds of scenarios if that woman had woken up with me there alone -- none of them good!

[csi_hopeful]

Wow, so there are really a lot of places in the US that employ civilians for processing crime scenes? I mean, where your main job is the processing of the crime scene (at least)? I'm glad. I hate feeling guilty about not having the desire to be a sworn officer and hate feeling like I might have to feel less than a csi if I were to be a civilian csi. I sure do feel hopeful about becoming a civilian, now that I see others work as civilians. It makes sense, hiring civilians, but still, it makes me, a 21 year old criminal justice major in his 3rd year, worry that I'll have no choice but to become an officer.

[Ann Horsman]

I am a civilian here in VT and when and if I'm need to respond to a scene I pack a firearm with me. There are no gun laws in VT (thank God for small favors!) so anyone can carry. I always have some sort of defense weapon all the time as it is. I was a sheriff deputy for 20 years prior to becoming a civilian examiner. Not to get off the subject but the crime with firearm rate is very low here too.

[antonroland]

Get them all trained to competency in handguns, carry cocked & locked.

Maybe there is a business opportunity for me...