Polished Badge Training

Protect the Scene

Crime Scene Control and Evidence Preservation for Patrol Officers

A crime scene can be lost in minutes and never recovered. The officers who arrive first decide whether investigators find the scene intact.

If you don't need to touch it, don't touch it.

This course teaches patrol officers how to take control of a scene, protect it from contamination, recognize and preserve evidence, and turn it over intact to investigators. Officers learn what to do, what not to touch, and when collection by patrol is justified.

It is taught by Rich Rodriguez, with more than 40 years of service and more than 24 years in investigations, through photos and video from real scenes that show how scenes are saved, and how they are lost.

What This Course Covers

  • Why scenes are lost: how contamination happens and what it costs the case
  • Arrival: balancing life-saving actions with scene preservation
  • Perimeters, a single entry point, and the crime scene log
  • Controlling officers, supervisors, EMS, family members and media at the scene
  • Recognizing physical, trace, digital and fragile evidence
  • Protecting and documenting evidence, and collecting it only when agency policy allows or it would otherwise be lost
  • Chain of custody and turning the scene over to investigators

Course Details

Duration

1 full day · 8 hours

Format

In person. Presentation, real case photos and video, and group discussion.

Audience

Patrol officers of any rank, including the first officers on scene, newer officers, and officers preparing for a future role in investigations.

Instructor

Rich Rodriguez

Price

$175$125per officer

Colorado Launch Rate · Through June 30, 2027

Class Minimum

10 paid officers. Host agencies receive free seats. See how it works

In-Service Hours

8 hours. Every officer receives a Certificate of Completion, and we provide the attendance roster for your POST records.

"40 years of service. What Rich teaches, he lived."

Polished Badge

Officers leave able to take control of a scene, protect what matters, and hand investigators the scene the way they found it.

The scene is only as good as the first officer who held it.

Give your patrol officers the training before the next call. Let us bring this training to your department.

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