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Career Description

Collect evidence at crime scene, classify and identify fingerprints, and photograph evidence for use in criminal and civil cases.

What Job Titles Police Identification and Records Officers Might Have

• Crime Scene Investigator
• Crime Scene Technician
• Criminalist
• Forensic Specialist

What Police Identification and Records Officers Do

• Maintain records of evidence and write and review reports.
• Package, store and retrieve evidence.
• Analyze and process evidence at crime scenes and in the laboratory, wearing protective equipment and using powders and chemicals.
• Dust selected areas of crime scene and lift latent fingerprints, adhering to proper preservation procedures.
• Photograph crime or accident scenes for evidence records.
• Submit evidence to supervisors, crime labs, or court officials for legal proceedings.
• Identify, compare, classify, and file fingerprints, using systems such as Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) or the Henry Classification System.
• Look for trace evidence, such as fingerprints, hairs, fibers, or shoe impressions, using alternative light sources when necessary.
• Testify in court and present evidence.
• Serve as technical advisor and coordinate with other law enforcement workers or legal personnel to exchange information on crime scene collection activities.
• Coordinate or conduct instructional classes or in-services, such as citizen police academy classes and crime scene training for other officers.
• Process film and prints from crime or accident scenes.
• Perform emergency work during off-hours.
• Interview victims, witnesses, suspects, and other law enforcement personnel.

What Police Identification and Records Officers Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Police Identification and Records Officers Should Be Interested In

• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

What Police Identification and Records Officers Need to Learn

• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.