Crime scene cleaning
Crime scene cleaning is a specialized service focused on the professional cleaning and decontamination of locations where crimes have occurred. This process typically takes place after forensic investigators have documented the scene and collected necessary evidence. Crime scene cleaners, often referred to as biorecovery technicians or trauma scene practitioners, work to restore these sites to a habitable condition while ensuring the safe disposal of hazardous biological and chemical materials.
The significance of their role extends beyond simple cleaning; they help mitigate the emotional and psychological burdens that property owners may face when confronted with the aftermath of a violent incident. Cleaning involves addressing biohazards such as blood-borne pathogens, human tissue, and other potentially infectious substances, while adhering to strict safety regulations.
These professionals not only disinfect various surfaces but also meticulously search for overlooked evidence, which could be crucial for investigations. Given the risks associated with exposure to biohazardous materials, crime scene cleaning is typically performed by trained specialists rather than general janitorial staff. Overall, this service plays a critical role in both public health and the restoration of affected spaces.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Crime scene cleaning
DEFINITION: Professional cleaning and decontamination of a crime scene, including disposing of biologically or chemically hazardous materials and restoring the site to habitable condition.
SIGNIFICANCE: Crime scene cleaners restore a site after forensic investigators have documented the event, collected evidence, and released the scene. Sometimes, in the course of complete restoration of a crime scene, professional cleaners uncover forensic evidence previously overlooked by investigators.
Police and forensic investigators officially release a after it has been documented and all victims and have been physically removed. Such a scene, particularly if it was the site of a violent crime or drug-related activity, may then be uninhabitable and unusable until it has been cleaned by specialists. The owners of crime scene locations may hire professional cleaning services to avoid the psychological and emotional impact of cleaning these sites themselves. In addition, crime scenes often pose a hazard of contamination by blood-borne pathogens, microscopic organisms that can cause disease, including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In the United States, federal law prohibits employers from exposing workers to blood-borne pathogens unless they have been trained to handle blood; thus commercial enterprises, landlords, and business owners usually hire specialists rather than have their janitorial staff restore crime scenes where blood has been spilled.
Crime scene cleaning is sometimes referred to as biohazard remediation, bioremediation, crime and trauma scene decontamination, or biorecovery. Crime scene cleaners are also called biorecovery technicians or trauma scene practitioners. Technicians in the United States can be trained and certified by occupational groups according to standards set by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Crime scene cleaning involves complete disinfection of floors, walls, ceilings, plumbing, and furniture, where possible, and safe disposition of irretrievably damaged furniture and personal items. Potentially infectious substances—such as bone fragments, blood and other bodily fluids, human tissue, and insects—are isolated, packaged, and disposed of in accordance with state and federal regulations for handling biohazardous material. Workers also clean up any larvae, insects, vermin, or other means by which pathogens could be spread around a site. Chemicals left behind by emergency medical personnel or investigators are completely removed.
Biohazard technicians also clean areas where suicides have occurred or where bodies have decomposed over time, accident scenes, and places damaged by animal waste or remains, mold, water or fire, odors, and chemicals left behind by illegal drug manufacturing (typically the poisonous substances used to make methamphetamine). Some are prepared to respond to bioterrorism, decontaminating areas where disease-bearing bacteria have been deployed.
Beyond surface cleaning, professional crime scene cleaners search for bodily fluids and other materials hidden under floors, in plumbing, and underneath or behind installed furnishings. They may therefore find evidence relevant to an investigation that was not immediately apparent to or forensic investigators. Crime scene cleaners should be trained to identify and report such findings; otherwise, their thorough cleaning and remediation of a scene will completely destroy any evidence left behind.
Bibliography
Cooperman, Stephanie. Biohazard Technicians: Life on a Trauma Scene Cleanup Crew. New York: Rosen, 2004.
DeBruyn, Jennifer. "'Out, Damned Spot': The Art and Science of Forensic Restoration." The Biochemist, vol. 45, no. 5, 2023, doi.org/10.1042/bio‗2023‗141. Accessed 14 Aug. 2024.
Jacobs, Andrew. “Cleaning Needed, in the Worst Way.” The New York Times, November 22, 2005, pp. B1-B6.
Reavill, Gil. Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning up After CSI Goes Home. New York: Gotham Books, 2007.