Mesilla Marshals Host Crime Scene Investigation Training

The Mesilla Marshals Office hosted a four-day crime scene investigation training course beginning Monday, Sept. 21, bringing together law enforcement personnel, interns and a medical examiner’s office representative for instruction in evidence collection and crime scene processing.

Participants included personnel from the New Mexico State University Police Department, Las Cruces Police Department and Mesilla Marshals Office, along with new NMSU interns and an assistant pathologist from the El Paso Medical Examiner’s Office.

The basic and advanced training covered crime scene protocols, photography, evidence searches, evidence collection and crime scene sketching.

Participants also received hands-on instruction in processing evidence using super glue and creating shoe-print and tire impressions using dental stone.

A new component of the training focused on documenting bullet casings using a grid and measurements along X and Y axes.

To successfully complete the course, participants were required to pass a mock crime scene practical examination as well as a 50-question, closed-book written test.

The four-day course concluded Sept. 24.

The Mesilla Marshals Office shared the training during National Forensic Crime Scene Investigators Week and encouraged the public to support crime scene investigators, whom the agency described as “last responders.”