Archive for the ‘Crime Scene Investigation’ Category

Crime Scene Investigator Careers – CSI Salary & Job Outlook

CSI is more than merely the title of a very popular, long running television show with spinoffs galore; it also happens to be a very viable and very popular career field. Many of those who are interested in crime scene investigation start down the path because of things read in books or seen on television or in the movies. Of course, the actual career of a CSI technician is not exactly the same as those portrayed on television, but it is still a very exciting career that calls to many and is worth exploring for those who are drawn to it.

A crime scene investigator has a number of responsibilities at the crime scene. They will walk through the crime scene, look for evidence, and collect it using a very specific methodology that protects it from contamination. A CSI may also be tasked with taking photos of the scene and making sketches for later recreation and presentation in court. Some of the types of evidence that a CSI is likely to collect at crime scenes include fingerprints, bodily fluids, and weapons. When the investigator collects the evidence, he or she is also going to catalog it when transferring it to the lab. Investigators will also have to present their findings to others on their team, to attorneys, and in trials in many cases. The work schedule of an investigator can vary. Crime never sleeps, so it is common to have to work in the evenings and on holidays.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not distinguish crime scene investigators from forensic science technicians for their data collection purposes. That being said, the BLS projects that the need for forensic science technicians will grow 17 percent between 2016 and 2026, which is more than twice the rate of growth for all occupations combined. This 17 percent growth rate represents 2,600 new jobs. While not all of these jobs will be specific to crime scene investigation, some portion certainly will.

Because of the popularity of the field, it is likely that those who enter it will find stiff competition for jobs. Those who have more education, such as a bachelors degree in forensic science or a similar field such as criminal justice, or those who have experience working with law enforcement in another capacity, may have an advantage when it comes to looking for and finding work.

The ICSIA, International Crime Scene Investigators Association states that there are approximately 450 police agencies in the country that hire full-time civilian CSIs right now, with an additional 450 that have full-time CSIs who are sworn officers. These numbers are approximations, but can be a useful place to start when thinking about the demand for this position. Other, smaller agencies may have a need for specialists, and often officers take care of many of the duties a specialist would in other locales. This means that the competition could be fierce for these jobs, so more education is always a benefit.

One of the things that most have to consider when they are looking for a new career is the salary and the potential to make a good living. According to the BLS, a forensic science technician can expect to earn a median salary of $57,850 (BLS 2017). As with most positions, salaries vary widely based on experience as well as location. The same BLS data indicates that the lowest paid 10 percent of forensic science technicians earns less than $33,880 per year while the highest paid 10 percent earns more than $95,600.

The website Payscale.com tracks salary data specific to CSIs, which is also illuminating to consider. Among the 186 CSIs reporting to the site as of 2018, the annual median salary was $43,860, while the lower 10 percent earned $29,787 and the upper 10 percent earned $72,757.

From the available data, it would appear that a CSI makes somewhat less on average than a forensic science technician. This could be based on the fact that many forensic science technicians are required to have an advanced degree while it is often possible to work as a CSI without advanced training. Of course, this comparison also does not negate the fact that CSIs working in more urban areas, or who have more experience, are likely to make more than their more rural or less experienced counterparts.

As already alluded to, there is no one-size-fits-all path to pursuing a career as a crime scene investigator. In particular, those interested in the career will need to decide whether they wish to seek a position as a law-enforcement officer or try to be hired as a civilian CSI. Below are some of the most common steps followed towards the CSI career.

Overall, the timeline to getting started in this career depends heavily on whether one chooses the law enforcement route. Indeed, because a police academy typically takes less than a year to complete, this could be the more direct route. However, earning a bachelors degree may give new CSIs an advantage in the future, should the choose to pursue other avenues of work.

The American Academy of Forensic Sciences has a number of resources for those who have an interest in the field and who are considering it as a career.

One of the skills that will be helpful to those who pursue a career as a CSI include the ability to stay calm and composed at a crime scene. Often, those who are in the field will find that they are at crime scenes that can be disturbing, and the ability to maintain professionalism is important. Attention to detail, as well as problem solving skills, are vital tools to have as well. Great communications skills written and verbal are important as well for writing reports and for speaking with others on the team, and testifying in court.

While every crime and every crime scene will be different, the reality is it is the rigorous processes put into place by investigators, including CSIs, that ensure every crime is investigated thoroughly and accurately. Some of the regular tasks and responsibilities that crime scene investigators should expect to take on include:

The tasks that a CSI will find themselves doing depends on their level of experience. New CSIs will likely spend more time physically collecting and tagging the mountains of evidence that may be found at a crime scene, or even working in the evidence storage room to ensure things are organized. With time, CSIs will spend more time on recreating crime scenes, working with detectives, and supervising evidence collection.

Law enforcement officers are subject to the own education and training requirements. For civilian CSIs, there is no specific legal requirement for certification or licensure. However, some notable organizations do offer crime scene investigation certifications that may be useful in advancing in the CSI career, including:

Again, certification is not strictly required to earn a job or a promotion in the CSI field, however it can lend credibility to a CSIs expertise and therefore may be worth pursuing after gaining some experience in the field.

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Crime Scene Investigator Careers - CSI Salary & Job Outlook

Crime Scene Investigation | FSU Panama City

Housed under FSU Panama Citys Public Safety & Security program, the CSI major integrates analytic and hands-on practical exercises with the theoretical principles needed to work in areas such as crime scene, death investigations, medical examiners office, forensic labs and more. All academic coursework is offered online or face-to-face.

The required hands-on labs are offered in accelerated one-week (40 hours) summer semester classes. During the summer program students will work real cold cases and mock crime scene scenarios. Labs allow students to practice skills like blood spatter analysis, processing of fingerprints, facial reconstruction and recovery of buried bodies. All CSI specific labs are approved by the International Association of Identification (IAI) as training certification or continuing education hours.

Students can further tailor their education with a certificate inunderwater crime scene investigation, and graduates can further advance their career with a masters level with agraduate certificateor masters degree inlaw enforcement intelligence.

Through on-campus and online lectures and real-world crime scene scenarios, the program teaches students to collect, identify, classify and analyze physical evidence to help solve and prosecute criminal activity.

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Crime Scene Investigation | FSU Panama City

Crime Scene Investigation: Guides for Law Enforcement …

These guides are intended for use by law enforcement and other responders who have responsibility for protecting crime scenes, preserving physical evidence and collecting and submitting the evidence for scientific examination.

Follow Agency Policies!Actions taken following these guides should be performed in accordance with department policies and procedures and federal and state laws.

Jurisdictional, logistical or legal conditions may preclude the use of particular procedures contained herein.

If crime scene investigators do not act methodically, they risk contaminating or losing evidence. Approach a crime scene investigation as if it will be your only opportunity to preserve and recover evidence. Combine a scientific assessment of physical evidence with case information and witness statements as you assess the scene.

The steps presented on these Web pages are a guide to recommended practices for crime scene investigation.

For general crime scene guidance, see Crime Scene Investigation Guide, published by the National Forensic Science Technology Center with support from NIJ, BJA, and NIST.

Special Circumstances. In addition to generalprocedures, you also can find guides for investigating crime scenes where:

Date Created: July 12, 2017

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (season 11) – Wikipedia

Season of American television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

The eleventh season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered on CBS on September 23, 2010 and ended May 12, 2011. The season stars Marg Helgenberger and Laurence Fishburne.

Langston fights for his life ("Shockwaves") as Catherine meets a man from her past ("Pool Shark"), in the eleventh season of CSI. Willows and her team face both personal and professional demons this season, as they investigate cases including a decapitation ("Blood Moon"), the knife attack of a Vegas icon ("Sqweegel"), a woman with a hoarding condition ("House of Hoarders"), a T-Rex attack ("Cold Blooded"), a human shredding ("Bump & Grind"), a death connected to fracking ("Fracked"), a murder committed by a cat and a parrot ("Wild Life"), a body in a bin ("Man Up"), and the death of an FBI Agent ("418/427"). Meanwhile, Greg tries to romance a burlesque dancer ("A Kiss Before Frying"), Sara comes face-to-face with her mother-in-law ("The Two Mrs. Grissoms"), Ray's wife comes to Vegas ("All That Cremains"), Nick is forced to shoot and kill a suspect ("Targets of Obsession"), Sofia returns to the CSI team ("Father of the Bride"), and Catherine loses control of her team in Los Angeles ("Cello and Goodbye").

Liz Vassey departs the cast in episode two of the season, while Jorja Fox rejoins the regular cast in the season premiere. Laurence Fishburne departs at the season's end. Former cast members William Petersen and Louise Lombard guest star. Elisabeth Harnois makes her series debut.

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (season 11) - Wikipedia

Amazon.com: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Season 1 …

Product Description

Based on real life Las Vegas crime scene investigators, CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION follows the team as they solve chilling cases with innovative thinking and methodical scientific inquiry. Tackling cases peppered with grisly details, the Las Vegas PD Criminalistics Division is the #2 crime lab in the U.S., solving crimes that practically every other crime lab has given up on. Set in a town whose reputation for providing instant success for those willing to try their luck, CSI finds that the constant influx of visitors to the city that never sleeps also provides ripe targets for criminals of all varieties. The show also stars Paul Guilfoyle as Capt. Jim Brass, Robert David Hall as Dr. David Robbins and Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders.

DVD Contents:Disc 1: Pilot, Cool Change; Crate and Burial; Pledging Mr. JohnsonDisc 2: Friends and Lovers; Who Are You?; Blood Drops; AnonymousDisc 3: Unfriendly Skies; Sex, Lies and Larvae; I-15 Murders; Fahrenheit 932Disc 4: Boom; To Halve and to Hold; Table Stakes; Too Tough to DieDisc 5: Face Lift; $35K O.B.O; Gentle, Gentle; Sounds of SilenceDisc 6: Justice is Served; Evaluation Day; Strip Strangler

Disk 6 of the DVD also includes the following special features:* Featurette: "CSI: People Lie...But The Evidence Never Does"* The Who's "Who Are You" Music Video* Character Profiles

Murder, and its tale-telling aftermath, is the compelling subject of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Since it premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000, CSI was a ratings triumph, spawning a spinoff (CSI: Miami) and positioning itself for long-term success. As the first season demonstrates, creator Anthony Zuiker's foolproof formula was established early on, bolstered by a fine ensemble cast and requiring minimal tweaking as the season progressed; its Las Vegas-based "criminalists" eventually became "CSI" steeped in the scientific minutiae of forensic investigation, but the series arrived essentially intact, with an irresistible (and seemingly inexhaustible) supply of corpses and the mysteries that surround them. Influenced by the graphic precedent of movies like Seven and Kiss the Girls, CSI matches morbidity with dispassionate methodology; viewers are so fascinated by the investigative process that they're unfazed by intimate autopsies and internal (i.e., digitally animated) views of traumatized flesh, bone, and sinew.

While keeping abreast of cutting-edge technologies, CSI combines the ingenuity (and fallibility) of villains with the appealing humanity of its heroes. CSI director and entomologist Gil Grissom (played by series coproducer William Petersen) is introverted but ethically intense; he's both mentor and moral compass for his night-shift team, including a former stripper-turned-CSI (Marg Helgenberger); a recovering gambler (Gary Dourdan); an eager ace (George Eads) with room for improvement; a workaholic (Jorja Fox) who can't always remain emotionally detached from her cases; and a chief detective (Paul Guilfoyle) who's a necessary link to police procedure. Like The X-Files, CSI supports its characters with feature-film production values, employing a Rashomon structure that turns murder into a progressively accurate study of cause and effect. Script quality is consistently high ("Blood Drops" and "Unfriendly Skies" are exceptional), direction is slick and sophisticated, and the mysteries are complex enough to invite multiple viewings. Despite a regrettable shortage of DVD features, CSI's inaugural season remains addictively worthy of its lofty reputation. --Jeff Shannon

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