The homicide cleanup team dispatched a liaison to the detective to consult about the materials they intended to dispose. The homicide cleanup company which frequently did meth lab cleanups as well as odor removal clean ups, suicide scene clean ups and blood scene clean ups followed a protocol which mandated that, before the dispose of any items which may contain evidentiary value for a criminal prosecution, they must consult with the lead officer of an investigation or his designee.
Criminal rules of evidence are quite specific with regard to the development of proof for a criminal case. The police must be able to show the chain of custody of any particular piece of evidence. This means they must establish when and where the physical item was found, how it was stored, who transported it to the police station and where it was kept until the trial. Once a trial is held, a log must be maintained to show when it was checked out, to whom it was given and who is holding it for use at trial.
If the homicide cleanup staff fails to notate when a piece of evidence was found and to whom among the police it was given, this could complicate the prosecution’s task proving its case, and in rare instances, fatally jeopardize the prosecution. To the extent that a homicide cleanup company may rely on its good track record cooperating with the police, a breach of the protocol could cost the homicide cleanup company future business.
This information was originally published as part of the Crime Scene Cleanup blog at http://www.advancedbio-treatment.com/blog. For more insight into the world of crime scene cleanup, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/crime.scene.cleaners.







