Police & Crime Scene Photography

Photographs are an essential means of documenting physical evidence. Photography is a skill that requires both training and practice. This two day course begins by introducing the student to the basic fundamentals of photography ensuring they can take well exposed photographs. Intermediate topics discuss how to properly document various types of scenes (burglary, crash, domestic battery, homicide, etc.) with photographs. The course will then expand on those fundamental skills by discussing advanced photography concepts that can be used to document all aspects of a crime scene including photographing: fluorescence, trajectory lasers and footwear impressions. The student will also learn how to establish and maintain chain of custody of their photographs and how they may be asked to testify to those photographs in court or during a deposition along with numerous other topics.

Terminal Learning Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate how to take well sequenced, properly exposed photographs of physical evidence at crime scenes or other locations.

​

Required Equipment: Each student should bring their agency issued digital camera, batteries, battery charger, tripod and any additional camera related equipment they have. Camera batteries should be fully charged prior to the start of class. Cameras can be shared between multiple people from the same agency.