ST. CLOUD POLICE DEPARTMENT

EVIDENCE AND CRIME SCENE UNIT

The Property/Evidence function and Crime Scene Processing Unit are one and the same. The Evidence Technicians are both custodians of all property submitted into the departments custody and the only crime scene technicians with advanced training.

Property/Evidence- The main function of this section is to provide for the security and control of all seized, recovered and evidentiary property as well as abandoned, lost or found property. Florida law governs how property is to be handled.

The property/evidence section handles over 2000 pieces of evidence a year while maintaining custody of items collected from more than 20 years ago on major crimes like homicides and sexual batteries or other capital offenses.

The method of collecting and submitting property is paramount for the successful prosecution of a case. Officers have guidelines for preparing, labeling and recording property. If it is sent to the lab for analysis, the State Attorney’s Office for court, another agency for comparison or viewed by an attorney or officer it must be receipted and signed for so as to maintain the integrity of the item.

The Evidence Technicians have the responsibility of making sure all property is accounted for at all times. A bar code system and a separate computer program are used to monitor and track an item’s every move. Once it is in our custody it is checked again and again through an annual audit and spot inspections by persons not associated with the function to maintain integrity.

The Crime Scene Unit- was established to assist patrol in the processing and collecting of evidence for advanced processing in major case investigations. The Crime Scene Technicians must be able to recreate an incident through pictures, sketches and diagrams. Evidence must be collected and preserved for examination, investigation and later court presentation. Every crime scene tells its own story and, based on the story, is put together to answer the who, what, where, when, why and how. Equipment, training and experience are all factors in putting together a solid representation of what took place. We currently have two technicians who are called upon to complete our on-scene investigations.  They have responded to a variety of cases from simple burglaries to major death scenes. There is a variety of items at a crime scene that can be collected and processed. Some items include dry or fresh blood, urine, hair, fibers, paint, glass, wood, metal, soil, tools and tool marks, footwear, clothing, jewelry and many other items.