SAN ANTONIO — Meigan Duffy had become accustomed to hearing the sound of distress in people's lives as a 911 operator in San Antonio. But she knew the incoming calamity was a stepping stone.
After asking people, "What's your emergency?" for seven years, Duffy in 2012 was offered a civilian spot in the San Antonio Police Department's Crime Scene Unit.
"We don't get to wear high heels and drive Humvees and dress up," Duffy said. "We're usually pretty dirty by the end of the day."
In sharp contrast to the sleekly produced primetime CSI shows whose investigative teams solve crimes in 60 minutes, Duffy said her first crime scene was a gut-wrenching suicide.
"Suicides, they hit you differently. It's a different kind of pain," she said.
Duffy remembers a man crying at a table because his brother had taken his own life.
"They were here from a different country," she recalled. "And they only had each other."
From there, Duffy went to a murder at a south San Antonio hotel.
Her shift was 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but she didn't get home until almost noon.
"I questioned myself, 'Is this what you really want to do?' And the answer was yes," she said. "So I went, took a nap, got up and came back the next day."
'Dealing with the details'
SAPD Sgt. Kelly Bender went from middle school science teacher to a civilian crime scene investigator, or CSI, after hearing about the job on a career day. After two and half years, Bender went to the San Antonio Police Academy, where she did patrol and community policing.
Then, she was promoted to detective within CSI.
"I love being on patrol because I love dealing with people," she said. "In the crime scene unit, you don't deal with people. You want the people out of the scene. So you're dealing with the details."
After 20 years at the department, Bender said they collect evidence from a few misdemeanor crimes. Most of their work involves felony offenses.
"The shootings, the cuttings, robberies, sexual assaults," Bender said.
The locations they have to process are bloody, foul-smelling and regrettable to the eyes, but still the CSI must do their job.
"I don't think humans were meant to see some of the things that patrol officers – and, in particular, our crime scene personnel – have to see," Bender said. "The trick there for me is to look at it from a more clinical point of view."
The unit comprises 36 civilian crime scene investigators and 14 peace officers. While they all process scenes and collect evidence with the same technology, the officers can get warrants and make arrests—if necessary.
Civilian CSI applicants are required to have a college degree. Their specialized training takes three months. Then, they hit the street.
The path to becoming a detective is much longer, requiring the police academy, patrol and promotion.
"You're just looking for the physical evidence," Bender said. "What does the physical evidence tell you as to what happened here?"
A laborious job, and a time-consuming one
She said investigators do not go into scenes trying to prove guilt or innocence. They are looking for the facts, which can be overwhelming.
"I've learned to kind of step back, take a second, observe what's going on, and just break it down into what needs to be done," Duffy said.
The job is laborious, too. Crime scene analysis does not stop at a single location. Investigators have even more work to do at the office, such as evidence preservation.
Fingerprints, DNA, blood splatter technology and trace evidence are ways they document a scene, which is also time-consuming.
"We try to be efficient so that we can handle as much as we can, but we cannot sacrifice that thoroughness," Bender said. "We don't get to go back. We've got a one-time shot to document this and to search and collect the things that we need."
Sometimes, officers have to wait for a CSI. But Bender said what they collect will be tested in court. She said they strive to be efficient, not rapid.
One CSI typically handles scenes unless the crime is more complex—three shifts of investigators who work ten-hour shifts or longer carry the load.
SAPD also has 111 Uniformed Evidence Detective Investigators, who can both do patrol work and process a scene to supplement CSI.
Nothing prepares a CSI to process crimes where an officer is killed. Duffy was at the scene where Detective Benjamin Marconi was shot to death in November 2016.
She said crimes involving children, the elderly and animals bother her the most.
"I've learned in this field that life is short. You have to treasure your moments with your family," she said. "You know, you never know when you walk out the door."
Training in the division progresses as crime technology improves.
According to ZipRecruiter, a CSI makes $61,101 in Texas. The City of San Antonio pay plan lists CSI jobs at three levels, ranging from $48,494.42 to $69,030.26. Civilians looking to apply can learn more here.
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