
A Law Enforcement Career: My Sliding Door By Nancy B. Cabelus, MSN, RN, DABFN
A typical day begins: My telephone rings at 2 a.m., waking me from a sound sleep. In the darkness, I reach for the receiver and answer, "Hello?"
A familiar voice asks, "Can you work?"
Groggily, I respond, "What do you have?"
Not surprisingly, he says, "A homicide."
I click on a lamp and search for a pen and scrap of paper, jot down the details of my assignment and sometimes ask for rough directions to the crime scene. I quickly shower and dress in the appropriate attire: blue, military-style battle dress uniform (BDUs) and combat boots. I carry with me a travel mug filled with what is essential to clear the cobwebs in my brain: lots of hot, black coffee. I leave my driveway not knowing what awaits me at the crime scene or when I will return home.
Balancing Dual Careers
I am a Connecticut state trooper. In , I graduated from the State Police Academy where I lived and trained for six months. All of my law enforcement assignments have been exciting and diverse, but my current position is by far the most absorbing, interesting and challenging to date. For the past six years, I have been assigned to the major crime squad as a crime scene detective. In this role, I process crime scenes, collect forensic evidence and investigate the circumstances of heinous crimes.
I am also a registered nurse with a master's degree in forensic nursing. People frequently ask which career came first and why did I change careers. Quite frankly, nursing was my first career and I never left it. Since the start of my career as a state trooper, I have worked as a per diem RN in local hospitals and healthcare facilities, keeping my skills current and practicing in a profession I truly enjoy. Each day, I bring those skills to work with me, knowing that somehow they will be put to use, either at a crime scene or dispensing free medical advice around the office. My dual careers in law enforcement and forensic nursing have allowed me to blend career paths that frequently converge.
When I entered the police academy, I did not realize at the time that the beginning of a career in law enforcement was actually my professional "sliding door." I wonder today, if I hadn't been curious about a career in law enforcement, would I still be the anonymous scrub nurse behind a mask? Would I be a forensic nurse or even know what forensic nursing is? I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to pursue a career in law enforcement and continue my career in nursing.
Is it Really Like CSI?
Sometimes people ask if the role of a crime scene detective is similar to that of characters portrayed on the television series "CSI." Well, as good as I sometimes think we are, we don't typically solve crimes in 60 minutes or less like the CSI folks do week after week. Crime scene processing is slow paced, tedious and tiresome work. It often lacks TV's glamour. It is missing the adrenaline rush found in "ER" and hospital settings, and cases may drag on for years before resolution in the criminal justice system.
In Connecticut, as in most states, crime scene detectives are police officers with arrest powers. Although their duties include processing crime scenes for evidence, they do not perform sophisticated laboratory tests on the evidence collected. All forensic evidence is submitted to the Connecticut Forensic Laboratory for examination and analysis. The Connecticut lab is renowned for its former director, Dr. Henry Lee. Our laboratory techs are civil scientists who work skillfully in the laboratory environment. They do not chase down and interrogate the "bad guys" as CSI would have us believe.
As depicted on television, our encounters with psychopaths, serial killers and rapists are more common than the general public would imagine. One never knows who really lives behind the closed doors of what may appear to be a happy home. It is sometimes chilling to discover that a person that you least suspect is actually a child molester, bank robber or murderer.
Jurisdiction
Situated halfway between New York City and Boston, Connecticut has its share of violent crimes. The state has 169 cities and towns and eight counties. The Central District Major Crime Squad, to which I am assigned, covers the central portion of the state and about 70 cities and towns. Few of the cities have local police departments that possess the resources to independently investigate high-profile incidents. Most rely on the assistance of the state police for crime scene processing or support with the investigation. The squad has five detectives and one supervisor who routinely respond to crime scenes. I am the only female in the group, and not surprisingly, the only forensic nurse.
At the Crime Scene
The crime scene is easy to recognize. It's the place surrounded by police cars, yellow crime scene tape and the news media. The first responding uniformed officers are responsible for keeping the scene secure until our arrival and providing integrity of the perimeter until our work is complete. When we arrive at the crime scene, our supervisor gives each detective an assignment ranging from case officer, photographer, evidence officer and so on. Crime scenes are methodically processed the same way every time. We work from a crime scene van that houses all the equipment we will need for scene processing such as cameras, light sources and evidence packaging materials.
Photodocumentation of the scene is done with 35mm cameras and video recorders. (Presently, the use of digital cameras is not authorized by our agency.) All members of our unit have received specialized training on evidence recognition, collection and preservation. Since the chain of custody begins at the crime scene, detectives must be aware of the precise location of the evidence, the time it was collected and by whom. Observations made at the crime scene such as weather or lighting conditions, prepared food on the stove or uncollected mail in a mailbox may be helpful to detectives in determining when a victim was last seen alive. This may also be useful information to know when interviewing suspects and witnesses about the crime.
If there is a body at the scene, it is photodocumented in its place before it is moved. A sketch map is prepared by investigators to further describe the relationship of the body to items of evidentiary value at the scene. The jurisdiction of the body ultimately belongs to the office of the chief medical examiner (ME). For this reason, detectives will not move the body until a representative from the ME's office arrives. Evidence such as hairs or fibers may be collected from the body at the crime scene when there is concern that such evidence may be lost upon transport. Additional evidence, such as the victims clothing, inked fingerprints or bullet fragments may be collected upon autopsy and turned over to law enforcement.
In cases when rescuers have transported the victim to a hospital, a detective must respond there to preserve and collect forensic evidence. Whether the victim is dead or alive, important physical evidence may be unintentionally lost, discarded or destroyed by personnel who render treatment to the victim. As a forensic nurse, I am able to identify, collect and preserve evidence from a victim at the hospital or crime scene that police officers without this training may overlook.
For me, forensic nursing bridges the gap between law enforcement and traditional clinical nursing.
Nancy B. Cabelus, MSN, RN, DABFN, is adding writing for forensic nurse magazine to her list of accomplishments in .
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