40 Hour Basic Evidence Technician Program-Rockford

PURPOSE OF COURSE:    This five-day, 40-hour program has been designed by Tri-River Police Training Region, along with Trooper Heather Hansen, a Crime Scene Investigator with the Illinois State Police. The purpose of this course is to educate Evidence Technicians in the art and science of crime scene investigation as it relates to collection, identification, and preservation of evidence to be submitted to a forensic science laboratory for analysis.

COURSE OVERVIEW:     This program is designed for recently assigned Evidence Technicians and will introduce them to various evidence collection, identification, and preservation techniques. The impact of these techniques upon specific criminal investigative disciplines will also be discussed. Course topics include the following:

• Crime scene management

• Crime scene photography

• Crime scene sketching, diagramming, and animation

• Forensic Laboratory Sections

• Evidence recognition, handling, packaging, and submission

• Trace, tool mark, and firearm evidence

• Footwear/tire track castings

• Latent prints, impression evidence, and AFIS technology

• Biological evidence and D.N.A.

• Search warrants and consent to search

• Gun shot residue tests and results

• Advances in evidence technology

• Report writing

COURSE GOALS:   This program will provide students with the following skills:

• Learn the basic use of their department’s 35 mm and digital cameras

• Recover latent fingerprints, footwear impressions, and tire track impressions from crime scenes

• Process a recovered stolen vehicle and document the evidence recovered through photographs

• Demonstrate through a variety of practical exercises how to write reports, package a variety of types of evidence, and explain what the lab capabilities are in relation to the types of evidence collected.

• Demonstrate the use of Mikrosil on tool marks and impression evidence

• Identify the forensic specialty that will analyze the evidence collected at a scene

• Proficiently photograph a burglary scene using four different ranges that depict the location of specific evidence at the scene

• Recognize the need for and limitations of search warrants and consents to search

• Perform presumptive field tests used to determine presence of blood