What kind of training is needed to be a crime scene technician?
The minimum qualifications to work at the Sheriff’s Office are a high school diploma or a G.E.D. The training is on the job, and lasts a minimum of 16 weeks. The first four weeks the trainee learns how to operate each piece of equipment, how and what to photograph, how to process for fingerprints, and how to collect and package evidence. The next twelve weeks are broken down into two phases – the first part is where the trainee is exposed to calls and the trainer works the call, the trainee takes “pretend” pictures, packages “pretend” evidence and latent fingerprints, and writes a “pretend” report. In the second part, the trainee will be responsible for the investigation – photographs, evidence, latent fingerprints and the report. Through this phase the trainee is given less and less guidance and during the last two weeks, the trainee works the call with little or no assistance from the trainer.
