Crime Scene Equipment Checklist
Essential
- Bindle paper
- Biohazard bags
- Body fluid collection kit
- Camera with flash and tripod; extra film, if not digital; extra flash memory cards, if digital
- Casting materials
- Consent/search forms
- Crime scene barricade tape
- Cutting instruments (knives, box cutter, scalpel, scissors, etc.)
- Directional marker/compass
- Disinfectant (such as a 10% bleach solution)
- Evidence collection containers including rigid containers for firearms and ammunition boxes, pie boxes with sheet cotton for document recovery; manila folders
- Evidence identifiers (numbers, placards)
- Evidence seals/tape
- First-aid kit
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- High-intensity lights
- Latent print kit
- Magnifying glass
- Measuring devices
- Permanent markers
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Photographic scale (ruler)
- Presumptive blood test supplies
- Sketch paper
- Tool kit
- Tweezers/forceps
- Window screen fabric in rolls or sheets
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Optional
- Audiotape recorder
- Bloodstain pattern examination kit
- Business cards
- Chalk
- Chemical enhancement supplies
- Compass
- Entomology (insect) collection kit
- Extension cords
- Flares
- Forensic light source (alternate light source, UV lamp/laser, goggles)
- Generator
- Gunshot residue kit
- Laser trajectory kit
- Maps
- Marking paint/snow wax
- Metal detector
- Mirror
- Phone listing (important numbers)
- Privacy screens
- Protrusion rod set
- Reflective vest
- Refrigeration or cooling unit
- Respirators with filters
- Roll of string.
- Rubber bands.
- Sexual assault evidence collection kit (victim and suspect)
- Shoe print lifting equipment
- Templates (scene and human)
- Thermometer
- Traffic cones
- Trajectory rods
- Video recorder
- Wireless phone
Evidence Collection Kits
Blood Collection
- Bindle
- Coin envelopes
- Disposable scalpels
- Distilled water or single use sterile water droppers
- Evidence identifiers
- Drying box
- Latex gloves
- Photographic ruler (ABFO scales)
- Presumptive chemicals
- Swabs
Fingerprint
- Adhesive and gelatin lifting materials
- Brushes
- Chemical enhancement supplies
- Cyanoacrylate (super glue) wand/ packets
- Fingerprint ink pads, cards and card holders for exemplar collection
- Flashlight
- Forensic light source
- Lift cards, including 8 ½” x 11” card stock
- Lift tape
- Measurement scales
- Powders
Bloodstain Pattern Documentation
- ABFO scales
- Calculator
- Laser pointer
- Permanent markers
- Protractor
- String
- Tape
Electronic and Digital Evidence Recovery
- Anti-static bags
- Bubble-wrap and other packing materials
- Cable tags and ties
- CDs and 3½-inch diskettes
- Faraday Bags
- Hand truck
- Nut drivers, hex and star-type
- Pliers: needle-nose and standard
- Rubber bands
- Magnifying glass
- Printer paper
- Secure-bit drivers
- Screwdrivers, non-magnetic flat-blade and Philips-type
- Tweezers, small non-magnetic
- Wire cutters
Excavation and Evidence Recovery
- Cones/markers
- Evidence identifiers
- Hand tools (hammer, chisel/screwdriver, forceps, hand saw, box cutter, drywall saw, etc.)
- Metal detectors
- Paintbrushes
- Shovels/trowels
- Sifting screens
- String
- Weights
- Wooden/metal stakes
Impressions–footwear, tire tracks and tool mark
- Bowls/mixing containers
- Boxes
- Casting Kit (e.g. Duplicast©, Mikrosil© or polyvinylsiloxane (PVS) materials, silicone-type sealant)
- Dental stone
- Evidence identifiers
- Material for forms
- Measurement scales
- Permanent markers
- Snow print wax
- Stirring sticks
- Water
Pattern Print Lifter
- Chemical enhancement supplies
- Electrostatic dust lifter
- Gel lifter
- Wide format lift tape
Trace Evidence Collection
- Acetate sheet protectors or clear secondary liners
- Bindle paper or weigh paper for bindles
- Butcher paper
- Clear packing/sealing tape 2 ½ to 4 inches wide
- Cotton-tipped swab
- Flashlight (oblique lighting)
- Forceps/tweezers (disposable or clean smooth tipped)
- Glass jars, bottles, vials with air-tight, screw-on lids
- Metal friction lid cans with fitting lids
- Slides and slide mailers
- Trace evidence vacuum with disposable collection filters
- Transfer pipettes (glass or plastic)
Article compiled from Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide to Law Enforcement