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ABOUT THE CSI UNIT The Crime Scene Investigations Unit began as a pilot project in 2004, and was formalized into a permanent unit in 2005. An initial team of seven full-time CSI detectives and three part-time detectives took part in an intensive eight-week training program to learn the newest techniques to identify, collect and preserve various types of physical evidence. In addition to the training, the unit purchased state-of-the-art equipment, providing the detectives the ability to investigate crime scenes at a higher level not previously achieved. The CSI Unit responds to all major crime scenes including homicides, sexual assaults, kidnappings, and officer-involved shootings to properly process and document the scenes. This enables the detectives from other responding units to focus their efforts on interviewing involved parties and to quickly track down potential leads in a case. USING DNA TECHNOLOGY The advances in DNA processing in just the last five years have led to dramatic changes in what kind of evidence is collected and how crimes are solved. Because biological material may be present at a crime scene even if it is not visible to the naked eye, this has spurred the development of new high tech equipment such as the Polilight. Purchased by the Seattle Police Foundation, the Polilight is designed to locate this potentially hidden evidence by using different bands of light to assist crime scene investigators in locating evidence that either fluoresces or absorbs light. This allows for an improved efficiency in finding evidence that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. By deploying detectives specially trained in the latest techniques to collect evidence, the Department’s new Crime Scene Investigations Unit, working in partnership with the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, has helped to greatly improve the quality and consistency of the samples sent to the lab.
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The Rofin Polilight is a tool used to search for biological and trace evidence. |
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