Bag, Tag, And Clear: The General Process Of Crime Scene Cleanup Services
Posted on: 6 November 2018
Crime scenes are usually a mess. It does not matter if it is a trucking accident or a homicide scene; there is always a lot to clean up. Generally, the process goes "bag, tag, and clear," and it looks something like this:
Bag Anything the Police Want for Evidence
Usually, the police will bag their own evidence, but sometimes there may be some evidence that is "questionable." The police may not have ruled out that something really is evidence, in which case they ask the cleanup crew to bag it for them, just in case. An example of "questionable" evidence may be a shard of glass laying in a scattered pile, all of which may have traces of blood on it. When it does not appear to be blood of anyone at the crime scene, it is "questionable" evidence because it may be staged or a "red herring." At any rate, the cleanup crew would be asked to bag this anyway.
"Tag" Everything
A crime scene cleanup crew will "tag" everything. In short, they label it, they number or letter it, and if it is collected into a bag, it is labeled again. On a bag label it list what it is, where it was found, the date, the time it was found, the time it was cleaned up, and any pertinent information regarding into whose custody it was placed. If the police considered it of no import after bagging and tagging it, then the cleanup crew is free to dispose of it in regular trash, recycling, and/or mark it for blood-borne pathogens/hazardous waste disposal.
Clear the Rest
The police forensics team has to photograph the entire crime scene. Then the cleanup crew begins their work, and when all is said and done, the final remains of a crime scene are swept up, thrown out, cleared away, and washed away thoroughly. In the event that there is blood on the scene, crews tend to first douse things with hydrogen peroxide, which destroys blood cells completely. After it is wiped clean, then bleach is used to disinfect. This removes all traces of blood so that if there are future crimes in the same location, past blood evidence will not be rendered present by Luminol, and only present crime scene blood can be viewed. After everything has been destroyed, cleaned, disinfected, and cleared, then civilians or civilian drivers can cross through or move into that space.
To learn more, speak with local crime scene cleanup services.
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