What jobs are available in police forensics?
NZ Police employs people in a wide range of forensics jobs. Some roles can only be filled by police officers; others may be filled by civilians.
Civilian forensic positions
Roles include:
Crime Scene Attendants
- attend burglary, theft and theft from car scenes to gather evidence from complainants and witnesses as well as forensic evidence.
Fingerprint Officers
- attend serious crime scenes
- search, enhance and collect finger, palm and footprint evidence
- examine and treat items to recover finger, palm and footprint evidence
- make identifications by comparing recovered latent prints and known offender prints
- present expert evidence at court.
Behavioural Analysts
- work with Criminal Profilers to analyse serious sexual offences and sexually motivated homicides
- assist in developing strategic and targeted approaches to investigations
- give expert opinion advice on the propensity of criminal offending behaviours to the courts.
Electronic Crime Analysts
- recover electronic evidence, such as from cell phones and computers.
Document Examiners
- use a range of scientific techniques to determine the authenticity and/or origin of documents, including examining hand writing and signatures to determine authorship.
Scene of Crime Officers (SOCOs):
- attend crime scenes
- gather all evidence from crime scenes such as burglary, stolen vehicles and aggravated robberies
- dust for fingerprints, shoeprints, collect trace evidence and DNA
- gather and document information and evidence to assist in the investigation of the crime.
Other roles include:
- DNA Administrator
- Photo Management personnel
Forensic positions for Police Officers only
Forensic Photographers
Serious Crash Investigators
Criminal Profilers
Most officers in these roles already have several years' experience in a variety of police positions.
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