Choose a Career in Crime Scene Investigation

Today we live in a society where violent acts are becoming more and more prevalent. Since 9/11, it seems like our society has become more violent and has either taken to committing violent crimes or acts against each other, or defending against them. I was a law enforcement officer for 16 years during the 1980's up through 1998. Since that time it seems like even our law enforcement officials have become less willing to help their fellow man than they were before. Sure there are exceptions, but it is seems to be increasing to a point where the police officer doesn't care, doesn't want to be bothered, or doesn't know how to handle certain situations.

Most of your first line officers i.e. the patrolman does not know how to investigate even the simplest crimes unless they are really motivated toward solving crimes and to that end working toward becoming an investigator in some field. Their job is to patrol and work your basic crimes and accident scenes. Yes there are exceptional professionals out there starting up that will someday make very fine investigators. It does take patience, time, experience and training. Take for example the field of forensic science. In the fields of forensic science, crime scene investigators, (and it is not like you see on TV except for some of the tests and processes used) find even the minutest substances that can help put away the bad people or help clear the innocent. It is not an overnight process in most cases sometimes it may take days, weeks, or months to get the evidence, but they can almost always get enough to do the job. You've most probably heard of cold case files, these are usually cases that are five to ten years old or older. A lot of times new techniques in forensic science help to identify and locate the perpetrator(s) who may have thought they got away with something.

Crime scene investigators have at least an associate degree, most a bachelor degree and some doctorate and master degrees. The fields of forensic sciences are appealing to many young people for the investigation and examination stages. They do not realize that sometimes it takes good old fashion legwork done by detectives to get some of the real evidence. There are fields in forensic sciences that cover photography, hair, fiber, tool marks, fingerprints, body fluids, hand writing, toxicology, fires or arson and explosives, sound distinctions, and footprints. Also tire marks, DNA, and a myriad of others and it keeps growing with the new science technology added each day.

You might be gifted in math or one field of science or another or perhaps you have a special technique for talking to people and getting them to tell you things. Those attributes are very special to forensics and law enforcement. Maybe you love photography; there is crime scene photography. Maybe your specialty is working in computers; there are forensic computer science fields for recovering data from hard drives that would be very valuable to the investigation.

All of this to say, that no matter your specialty or special gift(s), look at a field that takes those gifts and through training, experience and education makes them even better. From small town to big city they all need good investigators and good forensic professionals.