• Audits evidence for procedural compliance
• Testifies in court hearings about duties and responsibilities, and remains available for call-outs to assist with the collection of evidence.
• Takes and maintains chain-of-custody or evidence/property; submits evidence to the Evidence Section, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and other appropriate laboratories for further examination and analysis.
• Receives and collects evidence from other law enforcement personnel.
• Preserves evidence for storage by ensuring proper packaging, labeling, and appropriate storage controls.
• Prepares evidence for analysis by initiating the required laboratory documentation forms and transports evidence to and from the FDLE.
• Responsible for ensuring evidence and property seized by the department are properly handled, secured, stored, and readily retrievable, that the chain of custody is maintained, and that any changes in custody have been properly and fully documented.
• Handles inventory of physical evidence not contained in hermetically sealed receptacles and therefore creates a high potential for exposure to biological or chemical hazard contamination that may have carcinogenic or potentially health-damaging properties.
• Documents chain of custody, condition, and storage locations and enters data in the department evidence records management system.
• Examines evidence for proper identifications, packaging, bio-hazardous properties labeling, integrity, and proper disposal requirements.
• Conducts periodic inventory of firearms, drugs, currency, and general property.
• Acts as a liaison between crime laboratories, investigators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys; confers with experts in relevant specialties as needed; remains available for call-out to crime scenes in order.
• Duties also involve the collection, examination, preservation, documentation, preparation, and analysis of human tissues or fluids or physical evidence having potential biological or chemical contamination, and uses chemicals, processes, or materials that may have carcinogenic or health damaging properties in the analysis of such evidence.
• Prepares reports and presentations of findings, methods, and techniques used to support conclusions, prepares court exhibits/reports, and testifies in court when required. Takes measurements of crime scenes and processes and reconstructs crime scenes to include trajectory analysis, blood-stain pattern analysis, and diagramming the scene.
• Responds to call-out situations to assist, organize, package, and take custody of evidence from search warrants and other crime scenes as required.
• Exposed to chemicals, firearms, narcotics, bio-hazardous materials (such as air/bloodborne pathogens, bodily excretions, contagious diseases, such as HIV, Tuberculosis, MRSA, Hepatitis, and molds) in the field, security vaults/lockers, or warehouse environment.
• Receives property from other law enforcement officers and civilians.
• Responds to and processes various crime scenes by searching for, documenting the location of, collecting, preserving analyzing, packaging, and preparing for presentation in court evidence such as paint, glass, printer matter, paper, ink, fabric, dust, dirt, combustible gases, hair, skin, blood, bones, human organs, human tissue, semen, urine, feces, saliva, vaginal secretions, narcotics, firearms and related materials, fingerprints, shoe/tire track impressions, and currency.
• Performs a variety of analytical examinations, such as processing the crime scene and related evidence using chemicals, powders, light source enhancement, or other methods.
• Completes photograph referrals, photographs, and prints of dead persons at the morgue.
- Associate degree (A.A. or A.S.) from an accredited college or university in Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, Chemistry, Biology, or related field;
- One (1) year related experience and/or training or equivalent combination of education and experience;
- Valid Florida Driver’s License with an acceptable driving record;
