CSI Shropshire: Telford police lift the lid on cutting-edge techniques to catch criminals

PC Robert Hughes, a Community Safety Engagement Officer in North Telford, has been sharing details on what the force's crime scene investigators (CSI) do – and what it takes to become one.

He explained how investigators puzzle out the evidence after an incident to try and find out what has happened, and if it was a crime at all.

Writing on West Mercia Police's Neighbourhood Matters website he said: "CSI are the people who attend crime scenes looking for evidence and understanding.

"The understanding part is often overlooked, but it is the most interesting part of our work.

"We use logic to puzzle together clues into an understanding of what may have taken place.

"Some scenes we attend may not be crimes at all, so we need to establish if a full response is required."

PC Hughes said the process followed is methodical, with a set format – often in difficult situations.

He said: "We take photographs before we make any changes to a crime scene to demonstrate that our actions have not introduced things accidentally.

"We then record how our actions change the scene or reveal evidence.

"While not very artistic, we take photographs of challenging subjects, in challenging conditions.

'We have to be methodical'

"Of course we find, record and recover all manner of evidence types.

"Fingerprints, DNA and footwear impressions may be our favourites, but anything could become evidence.

"We have to be methodical and thorough to identify where evidence may be, as most is invisible before we enhance it."

PC Hughes spoke of the safeguards to ensure that the evidence is effectively preserved.

He said: "Fingerprints have been used to detect crime for over 100 years and continue to be recovered daily.

"DNA has been in regular use since the mid 1990s, though the sensitivity has increased dramatically since then, posing many challenges.

"We use tightly controlled procedures to ensure no contamination of a sample occurs.

"These procedures start long before we even attend a crime scene.

"There are assistant CSI staff who clean and monitor our equipment, stock and vehicles.

"There is a small team dedicated to testing and improving our practices and procedures.

"This all ensures we can comply with the code of practice set out by the Forensic Science Regulator."

'It takes dedication'

He added: "We also have to deal with dead bodies, including all the things that can come out of them. It’s not glamorous and the hours can be long and anti-social. It takes dedication to stick with CSI as a career.

"We have a CSI tasking team who research and allocate work to the CSIs. There are CSI team leaders who run small teams of CSIs and manage major crime scenes. There are managerial posts directing the development of the department. Almost all roles in forensic services are carried out by police staff rather than police officers. Only collision investigators remain police officers."

PC Hughes said that there are a number of routes into the profession – but that competition is fierce.

He said: "Most CSIs have a science-based degree, though it is possible to join at a lower grade and be promoted.

"Some police forces also accept volunteers, which is an excellent way to make contacts and gain experience.

"There are very few CSI posts nationally so competition is fierce - anything you can do to make your application stand out is worth doing."