Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
I have been a CSI with my police department for over 7 years, with a total of almost 13 years on the force. Where I work, you get so much experience just because of the call volume and high crime rate. A few years in my city is a lifetime career elsewhere. This is what it means to do my job:
1. Having a degree in Criminology, with continued education courses several times per year. Federal agencies are great at sponsoring those courses, as are non-profits that use retired specialists.
2. Being a professional photographer under every weather and lighting condition possible, to include having to go up a fire truck ladder (up to 100 feet high) in order to get an overhead picture(s) of a scene. This is not fun in a high wind environment.
3. Getting down on your hands and knees in order to look for evidence in the grass, under furniture, under car seats, etc. or having to climb and maneuver to look for evidence in attics, on rooftops, in crawl spaces, etc. Spiderwebs galore! No time for claustrophobia either.
4. Having to stand over decomposing corpses with maggots coming out of every orifice and taking up close pictures. The smell alone makes many people puke and run out of the area. Suck it up because it has to get done.
5. Handling biohazardous material such as bloody clothes, dirty drug paraphernalia (don't stick yourself), forensic chemical agents and reagents, etc. Don't cut corners and ignore masks, gloves, scba, etc. if called for.
6. Being biohazard trained and certified to include wearing all levels of hazmat suits. Level A means you are zipped up inside a completely closed suit with your own breathing apparatus. If your oxygen tank is not properly filled/registering, you can run out of air with no avenue of escape. Not to mention dehydration or heat exhaustion/stroke.
7. Being familiar with and utilizing a variety of physical sciences as you process evidence. Chemistry, biology, physics, etc.
8. Being a medical expert when it comes to anatomy and the effects of different types of wounds such as gunshot, stabbing, slashing, blunt force trauma, etc. These questions will usually be diverted to a doctor such as a forensic pathologist, but you will get asked about them.
9. Being a firearms expert to include weapon nomenclature and trajectory analysis.
10. Being able to write coherent, detailed, and chronological reports that covers every aspect of your investigation, and then being able to explain yourself in court based off what you wrote/did (often years earlier...court cases take time to come around). Expect to be on the stand for hours and/or days.
The list goes on and on...
1. Having a degree in Criminology, with continued education courses several times per year. Federal agencies are great at sponsoring those courses, as are non-profits that use retired specialists.
2. Being a professional photographer under every weather and lighting condition possible, to include having to go up a fire truck ladder (up to 100 feet high) in order to get an overhead picture(s) of a scene. This is not fun in a high wind environment.
3. Getting down on your hands and knees in order to look for evidence in the grass, under furniture, under car seats, etc. or having to climb and maneuver to look for evidence in attics, on rooftops, in crawl spaces, etc. Spiderwebs galore! No time for claustrophobia either.
4. Having to stand over decomposing corpses with maggots coming out of every orifice and taking up close pictures. The smell alone makes many people puke and run out of the area. Suck it up because it has to get done.
5. Handling biohazardous material such as bloody clothes, dirty drug paraphernalia (don't stick yourself), forensic chemical agents and reagents, etc. Don't cut corners and ignore masks, gloves, scba, etc. if called for.
6. Being biohazard trained and certified to include wearing all levels of hazmat suits. Level A means you are zipped up inside a completely closed suit with your own breathing apparatus. If your oxygen tank is not properly filled/registering, you can run out of air with no avenue of escape. Not to mention dehydration or heat exhaustion/stroke.
7. Being familiar with and utilizing a variety of physical sciences as you process evidence. Chemistry, biology, physics, etc.
8. Being a medical expert when it comes to anatomy and the effects of different types of wounds such as gunshot, stabbing, slashing, blunt force trauma, etc. These questions will usually be diverted to a doctor such as a forensic pathologist, but you will get asked about them.
9. Being a firearms expert to include weapon nomenclature and trajectory analysis.
10. Being able to write coherent, detailed, and chronological reports that covers every aspect of your investigation, and then being able to explain yourself in court based off what you wrote/did (often years earlier...court cases take time to come around). Expect to be on the stand for hours and/or days.
The list goes on and on...
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