Alicia Rose Rossi

I am part of a team of four. Although we are a team, we often work separately and complete different calls throughout the day. For scenes that are more complex, we will combine our skills and knowledge and complete the scene together. Communication is very important to what we do.  Because we work separately during the day we have to work together to manage the calls that need to be completed.  We also provide each other with support and feedback to make sure we are meeting our goals as a team, unit and service.

Each day, I attend scenes, collect evidence, and document the scene with photographs and notes. My team is part of the special investigations and support bureau. As a result, we are called upon to support officers on the road and investigators in specialized units. Everyday, I use the skills and knowledge that I gained in the science courses I took when I did my Bachelor of Science degree. This program had a very practical approach to learning and we were able to apply what we learned to mock crime scenes. I use and apply those hands-on skills every day and at every scene that I attend.

Problem solving and planning is part of our daily tasks. This happens as we prioritize calls of service that we need to attend as well as administration work that we need to complete. We also interact with members of the public and members in other units in the service. As a result, we are constantly considering the needs and feedback that we get from those that we interact with.

We use different types of equipment to complete our tasks each day. Cameras are used to document each scene we attend and to document any evidence we may collect. We have specialized cameras such as a UV-IR camera. This camera can “see” parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that the human eye cannot. These cameras ae used in documenting specialized evidence. We also use high-powdered oblique lights, called Crime-Lites, to assist us in documenting evidence such as footwear and fingerprints. We also use many specialized techniques at the scenes we attend to assure we are documenting the scene and the evidence in the most efficient and thorough way. We do this so that the evidence is clear and easy for investigators to decipher and use.