Scientific Support Unit

The SSU examines all forensic evidence for the whole of the UK. The work is challenging but very rewarding and the unit is committed to providing the highest standards.

Crime Scene Examiners

Our Crime Scene Examiners (CSEs) attend crime scenes and recover forensic evidence such as fingerprints, DNA and footwear impressions. They also take photographs at crime scenes.

Crime Scene Co-ordinators oversee complex crime scenes while Crime Scene Managers are responsible for specific crime scenes and investigations. CSEs attend all crime scenes when required, assist in property recovery and deploy to specific operations.

Central Submissions

Once it has been collected, evidence is taken to our Central Submissions unit. Central submissions have a broad understanding of all forensics — they look at every case and decide which forensic process should be applied, either externally or internally.

Examination in the lab

Our laboratories screen evidence for biological fluids (eg. blood, saliva etc) and use various chemicals to enhance fingerprints on items recovered from crime scenes. 

Lab staff process all evidence from incidents across the rail network of England, Wales and Scotland, including the DLR and London Underground. They work mainly in the laboratory, but occasionally go out to scenes to process items that cannot be moved.

Taking fingerprints and DNA

When a suspect is brought into custody, their DNA and fingerprints are taken by officers and sent to our Forensic Custody unit, who replicate all forensic samples that have been collected.

All fingerprints collected at the scene of a crime or incident are passed to our Fingerprint Bureau.  The bureau compares fingerprints found at crime scenes with those held on record to identify offenders.

Photographing evidence

The specialist photographers in our Photography unit take images of evidence to be used in investigations or court cases.

Hi-tech Crime

The Hi-tech Crime unit examines digital evidence found on computers, mobile phones, SIM cards, memory devices, sat-navs, digital cameras and gaming consoles. Hi-tech crime investigators are highly trained and provide a service to the whole Force (England, Wales and Scotland).

These devices can be scanned for photographs, documents and other data, without affecting the data that is stored on the device. This evidence can then be stored so that it can be used in court.

Hi-tech crime investigators also provide technical advice and support to officers encountering such media during investigations.

See more photos of our SSU at our Flickr page.