Scene Preservation

This course is for the professional Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteers who would be first arriving on a possible crime scene. All missing person searches are a crime until ruled otherwise by Law Enforcement (L.E.). 

Any first responder who is working with law enforcement (L.E.) on a missing people search becomes an extension of the law enforcement agency in charge of the incident. Everyone involved has a duty to preserve all evidence and the crime scene for any search that may become criminal investigation. 

This course gives guidelines to help SAR personnel understand what L.E. is looking for in preserving a crime scene.  L.E. only has one chance of processing that scene, once the subject, clues or scene is handled / moved the scene has been changed and can never be reconstructed again. 

This class will give an overview of the steps those responders would need to take, so that the crime scene would not be compromised.

1. Proper SAR techniques to enter and preserve the scene until 

it can be released to Law Enforcement

                2.  Protecting the evidence/clues

                3.  Documentation

                4.   Field Exercise 

                5.  Court testimony.