Overview

Crime scene investigators (CSIs) go by many names, including evidence technician, crime scene technician, forensic investigator, crime scene analyst, criminalistics officer and more.

In the past, most CSI’s were trained police officers, and today most still work out of police stations. However, the role is increasingly being given to “civilians” with scientific, rather than law enforcement, expertise.

CSIs spend most of their time in the field, working at crime scenes. The CSI’s job is to:

• Secure the crime scene
• Take detailed measurements
• Sketch and diagram the scene
• Take photographs
• Document all evidence taken from the scene (location, nature, etc.)
• Package and label evidence for transfer to the lab
• Attend and photograph autopsies
• Write a report detailing evidence collection procedures and conclusions
• Testify to their findings in court
• Maintain equipment and restock portable evidence collection kits

The physical evidence collected by CSIs may include fingerprints, footprints, trace materials, hair and fibers and biological evidence found at the scene and on the victim’s body.

The evidence collected by the CSI is then transferred to a lab, in strict accordance with chain-of-evidence procedures. In the lab, technicians, including forensic chemists, forensic biologists and forensic toxicologists, analyze the samples. CSIs rarely process evidence, unless they have special training in fingerprint processing or blood spatter analysis, for example.

The CSI then prepares a written report detailing how and where all the evidence was collected. CSIs often must testify in court about their findings.

A CSI’s work is often messy, smelly, long and physically demanding. But a CSI finds the reward in uncovering the physical evidence that explains how a crime was committed and “whodunit.”

This career profile was reviewed and approved by Max Houck, M.A., Director, Forensic Science Initiative, West Virginia University.

You can download, save and print a PDF of this career profile:

Crime Scene Investigator 14 May 2008 [pdf, 163 KB]

Working Conditions

A CSI must be prepared to work:

• Long shifts, on call, day or night, on holidays and on weekends
• Anywhere a crime has occurred, including areas that may be unsafe and/or unsanitary
• While wearing protective clothing, eyewear, gloves and other safety equipment
• Carrying heavy equipment
• In every type of environment, from cramped basements to dense brush to a knee-deep murky ponds
• In all types of weather
• With body parts, bodily fluids, and remains in every state of decomposition
• Around offensive smells and emotionally disturbing sights
• With the latest technology – and to continually learn new technologies and methodologies
• Carefully and methodically, even when under severe time pressures
• With a wide range of people, including law enforcement, lab personnel, and attorneys

Seeing the results of crimes on a daily basis can be emotionally taxing on the CSI. The workload can be overwhelming and the pressure to “work faster” intense. Being on call can take time away from family and friends, leading to burnout.