Forensics Services
The mission of this unit is to provide law enforcement agencies and the public with impartial, competent, professional and expeditious forensic services and training. This unit provides support throughout the Sheriff’s Office to facilitate the general law enforcement mission. This unit also provides technical support, crime scene processing and latent fingerprint comparisons to outside agencies as directed by the Division Commander. There are two units:
The Crime Laboratory Section is responsible for the technical aspects of collecting, preserving, analyzing and documenting evidence. Unit staff also physically identifies and compares fingerprints and other evidence connected with criminal cases, testifies in court as expert witnesses, and does related work as required. They are also responsible for submitting work results into the California Identification System (Cal ID), an automated system maintained by the Department of Justice for retaining fingerprint files and identifying latent fingerprints.
The Property/Evidence Section is responsible for receiving, storing, recording, safeguarding, releasing and disposing of evidence or abandoned property, and to perform related work as required.