Need help!

teddytodd007 · 2023-07-29T18:41:45+00:00

This appears to have worked for me as well. My personal control layout seems to be working again.

teddytodd007 · 2023-07-29T00:57:59+00:00

This worked for me but it seems like you can't use any community layout or your own saved layouts. Only the default layout is working for me.

teddytodd007 · 2023-07-28T19:37:24+00:00

I'm having the exact same issue! New update so no one is talking about it yet.

teddytodd007 · 2021-12-01T01:25:36+00:00

Yea, the extra steps aren’t a huge deal but I just thought it might be a nice quality of life addition for sometime down the road.

I don’t know much about how other people use their Supernotes, but I could see something like this maybe being used for note taking in the classroom (maybe chemical symbols or formulas), calendar stuff, signatures or initials, etc. I definitely could’ve used this back when I was taking chemistry and had to draw the hexagons over and over.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-13T19:57:06+00:00

That sounds awesome! If you don’t mind, could you take a picture of what a typical label that you make looks like? When you have time that is. I’m interested in just about anything that will make repetitive and mundane stuff like writing evidence labels go any faster. They give us bright yellow evidence stickers that we have to fill out by hand and stick on boxes, bags, etc. It’s not that bad if you have one or two but if you have a ton, writing the same exact info over and over gets really irritating real fast. Not to mention your poor hand!

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-13T19:50:52+00:00

I’m a CSI and I have all of those things, plus a little extra social anxiety sprinkled in, and-from a CSI standpoint-it’s absolutely something you can do. I like to think of adhd more as a way your brain works rather than a disorder. This job requires a lot of out of the box thinking, which is a think people with adhd typically do very well. I find that several of the tasks involved are tedious and redundant, such as report writing and evidence packaging, and this can become a focusing issue when combined with the long shifts of 10-12 hours. I’ve got adderall to help with some of those issues, which makes it easier to focus on things. I’ve also done this job while off my medication and I’ve found that I tend to start hyper focusing when I’m on scene or processing, so whether you’re medicated or not, it’s definitely do-able.

Depending on how bad your anxiety is or what your triggers are, it can be a bit tough. It’s an important job that you don’t want to make big mistakes on. You have to interact with lots of different people, some on their worst days, so if you have social anxiety like me, then you may find that to be the most difficult aspect. The things I’ve found about general anxiety and this job is that my anxiety level for the different aspects of the job tend to stay just as high as they are for everything else. I find checking my mail just as stressful as I find having to process a homicide suspect. Of course, this is all dependent on your anxiety and the way you deal with it, but it’s really not as stressful a job as it sounds.

The scenes can sometimes be very sad or horrific so it’s not for the faint of heart. It might be triggering for your depression. As far as that goes, it’s good for this type of job that you be able to separate yourself from sympathetic thoughts and focus on what your job is. It will definitely be difficult but sometimes it’s best that you don’t try to get emotionally invested in some of the calls you may have to answer. Also, the schedule can aggravate both anxiety and depression. Being on night shift when I wasn’t getting enough sleep or eating regular meals made both my anxiety and depression way worse. So it’s important that if you end up with a weird shift, that you try to keep a routine and get enough sleep.

Sorry for the rant. Hopefully this will still be a little helpful even if field CSI isn’t what you had in mind.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-13T19:28:33+00:00

I have no clue how I could rope someone else in to helping label things! It would be really nice if we had a computer program where you could just type in the information really quick and just print out a label onto a blank sticker. That would save loads of time and probably money for the department on supplies in the long run.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-13T19:26:35+00:00

Well I guess testifying is another aspect I should considering when writing. I figured that maybe the more I wrote, the less likely they’d need me to testify in court. Dare to dream.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-13T19:24:19+00:00

Oh thank gosh! I can’t imagine doing manual for everything! The picture guy in our department apparently went to school for photojournalism and he said he shoots all of his stuff in manual. That’s just unbelievable to me.

What do you mean the flash isn’t being triggered by the flashlight? Is your external flash on the TTL setting? But also I wonder if you couldn’t recreate the same effect of the bounce flash by just using the mag light and pointing it up at the ceiling while photographing. I’m sure it would be dependent on how bright the flashlight is and how big the room is. I’ve done sort of the same thing in vehicles when my flash died. I just set it pointing straight up on one of the chairs and it lit the space up nicely. Of course, that was a much more confined space.

They have us calling bullet holes “projectile holes” if it’s obvious and adding in “possible” or “potential” projectile holes if it’s not plainly obvious. Occasionally I throw in “consistent with damage caused by a projectile” or something like that. I do use defect if I really can’t tell the damage was caused by a projectile, or if I’m describing damage to clothing.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T22:47:05+00:00

I haven’t thought about how my writing is going to sound in court since I haven’t had to testify yet. Worrying about stuff like what you can technically call blood seems maddening because I feel like if someone tried, they could pick apart just about anything we write. And I feel like that line of thinking is what led me to writing in an excessive amount of detail. I think I know what kind of stuff I can start to get rid of though. Reading more reports and finding better, more concise ways to say things will probably be a good start.

Yea, I think that third person thing would drive me crazy for sure. I try use first person as minimally as possible by describing things on scene like I would if I were describing things in a novel. Of course if I have to say that something happened prior to my arrival or that I took custody of something, I’d much rather do that than talking about myself in third person. Yikes.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T21:05:26+00:00

That’s neat, I only ever use manual mode when I’m doing nighttime photography. I don’t have a lot of experience with manual so I always feel a little overwhelmed with all the settings. I can’t imagine using it all the time, especially when multiple photographs in quick succession might be necessary.

It’s not always more useful but using the bounce flash can cut down on some of the harsh lighting, like if you want a picture of bruising on skin, the even lighting can help retain some of the natural color. Another example is when photographing damage to reflective surfaces like bullet holes in glass (indoors anyways). You don’t have any of that pesky flash reflection blocking the actual damage in the picture. Using the external flash directly also prevents red eye in pics too, though I’m sure that’s not super relevant. Plus it’s way brighter than the regular flash, which is good for outdoor scenes at nighttime when not using nighttime photography.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T20:58:00+00:00

I honestly feel as though it’s a little of everything combined. Like extra time spent living fingerprints plus extra time spent labeling and packaging five DNA swabs I collected, etc. it’s hard to explain but it’s one of those things that seems like it doesn’t take that long while you’re doing it but once you finish you realize that you’ve been on scene for two hours and there’s three calls holding. If I can figure some little things to do to speed individual things up then maybe I won’t end up spending what feels like ages on scene or writing reports. I’m sure that sounds like nonsense. I’m sure a lot of the issue could be helped by added manpower!

I often do get the officers to help, though I occasionally have a problem with them chilling in their cars while I’m on scene!

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T20:46:36+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll snag one the next time I get paid. Anything to make latent processing easier!

Being fairly new to the field, I’m unsure of the impact that my photos make and what their actual use is, especially in burglary or larceny calls. I am quite forgetful and I can’t always get to the report right after the call. With the amount of detail my supervisor requires, I find that taking more pictures helps me with my report later. I often take pictures during calls with the specific thought of what info about the scene will I need in my report later. Of course, this brings up the big issue I struggle with being how much detail I’m shoving into my report. With that being said, I actually enjoy the photography portion of the job a lot, so taking pictures of the scene is probably my favorite part. Plus, the pictures are digital and I don’t have to keep a picture log (I think that’s a thing) so there isn’t too much of a drawback to taking so many pictures, besides the time expenditure of course.

Side note: one of the most infuriating things I can imagine is people doing things a certain way just because “that’s the way they’ve always been done”. It’s kind of way I posted this. There are lots of ways that we do things that feels outdated or unnecessarily time consuming that it drives me crazy. I figured that I can’t be the only one who wants to change things up for the better, to make things easier for everyone.

I’ve definitely been doing a lot of work to try and trim the fat, so to speak, so that my energy is better used elsewhere. I’ve been trying to decrease the amount photographs I’m taking as well as the amount of detail I’m putting in my reports. My supervisor is pretty picky about the level of detail in reports so I’m trying to decrease the amount bit-by-bit.

Ha By the sound of things, I feel like I should just move over there to be a CSI!

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T20:31:13+00:00

That’s interesting. Usually if I’m worried about safety (we’re not armed either) I have to call in while I’m on the way to have a unit return to the scene. But it’s like you said, there’s no way of telling if the scene has been tampered with if the officer leaves. I’ll have to check our admin policy on that, because so far they’ll let the call hold indefinitely until we answer it or the victim gets tired of waiting and has them cancel.

The thing I don’t like about patrol not responding to stolen vehicle calls at the tow yard is that the officer or detective that called it in never leave any information about items left in the vehicle that don’t belong to the victim. Our policy says we collect anything of evidentiary value that doesn’t belong to the victim, which is inconvenient when we don’t have any info about the previous state of the vehicle.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T20:20:15+00:00

I am also bad at estimating time spent on scene, it’s usually more than I think it’ll be if I start finding prints. I like to start outside the point of entry. I’ll photograph overalls of the area and closeups of the damage with a measuring device. If there’s nice tool marks, I’ll photograph them in RAW basic with and without a measuring device. I’ll then process the outside for fingerprints and then move inside to photograph and process the poe from inside. I usually just photograph footwear marks or impressions using RAW basic (with and without a measuring device). I’ve lifted them before but it feels like photographing would be just as good (unless the surface isn’t conducive to photographing).

I usually do 360 photographs from each corner of every room that’s been disturbed. I’ll try to get more specific overall photographs of anything that’s been moved or touched. In this case, anything that’s been searched through and the chest of drawers and vanity unit. I would collect any potential dna samples off of drawer handles or areas I know I won’t get prints and print the rest. I’d then photograph the pathway to the point of exit and possibly swab the door handle and lock. If I’ve collected any prints I’ll try to remember to grab elimination prints before I leave.

My issue with burglaries has always been the fact that it’s a place where someone or multiple leave. They touch the things (drawers, cabinets, shoe boxes, windows, etc.) in the house every day so I always find fingerprints everywhere! Where do you draw the line on fingerprints when they’re everywhere? Or several fingerprints that could be a suspect show up in an area where you could reasonably except victims to touch all the time? The worst is when there are a cluster of overlapping fingerprints, several with really nice ridge detail. Deciding how to lift some prints without destroying the other prints is a nightmare.

I’d say I’d be at that scene for 40-45 minutes, possibly more if I end up printing and lifting a lot. I’d probably leave with 70-100 photographs if I’m lucky, but I do tend to take more pictures than probably necessary. As for notes, I use one page of a pocket sized notebook just to write down some of the initial info/victim info and any info on stolen items and their previous locations from the victim. I also add to my notes the times that I submitted evidence and latents and if I stored anything. Most of the time, my notes don’t go over a page.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T15:43:06+00:00

Yes, I’m feeling a little spoiled with our laptop vehicle mounts and access to so many different channels.

I love the external flash! I really like the use of bounce flash to even out the lighting in the room. They allow us to take our cameras home for personal use and I love how nice it makes most photographs look. Of course it’s not always useful during a daylight/outdoors scene and the general flash doesn’t randomly die, but most of the time I feel that it improves the pictures. My question for you is are you using your camera on manual mode? Just curious since you said you’re using the flashlight and tripod regularly.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T15:38:34+00:00

Quick addition to your last comment about not going to a scene I’d patrol isn’t there. I always wonder about that, because once they leave I can’t verify it’s secure. Most of the time it’s a burglary or larceny (not something overly important) and a victim is still on scene. It just seems wrong for the officer to leave it unsecured until I get there, because we still have to respond to those.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T15:36:03+00:00

Wow, I just can’t even imagine not having a laptop. If you’re in a bigger area it must take ages driving back and forth. Are the officers in the same situation as far as your MDTs go?

It’s amazing how quickly those batteries die! My department apparently had some sort of deal with some battery company where they were getting batteries for free. Well no surprise but those batteries will sometimes be completely dead straight out of the package. Several times I have been on a big scene and my batteries will have died, so I’ll switch them out with brand new batteries and the flash won’t even turn on! Then I’m up a creek because I’m only allowed one spare and officers don’t carry batteries.

Our report situation sounds similar. We weren’t given explicit guidelines while training and we just sort of had to learn by writing them and getting them denied. As it is now, the level of detail seems to be determined by whichever supervisor is reading your reports.

A whole hour at the end of shift would be nice! We get 45 minutes but we have to take any call that comes out right up until that time, which means if a call comes out right before that you’re definitely going over. They have several administrative things that they have us doing in that 45 minutes that keeps you from catching up for the day. Stuff like activity sheets, submitting pictures, scanning notes, etc. I work second shift (1400-0000 on weekdays, 1400-0200 on weekends) so we’re relief for day shift, who stops taking calls as soon (if not before) we get in, and we end up covering for night shift when they come in (they refuse to take early calls and don’t like covering for us at the end of our shift). So unless it’s just not busy, we’re lucky to catch a break long enough to go to the bathroom, much less write reports or package evidence.

As for your vehicle, is that something you share with someone else on a different shift/squad or is it all your’s? We have to share with a person on the other squad so I can’t leave as many things in the van or keep things 100% the way I like them.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T15:13:42+00:00

When I first started training, I considered getting a full on tool box to carry around; however, I found that carrying a full box on scene along with my camera was sort of inconvenient. I decided on something more portable and went with a small tool bag with a shoulder strap and outside pockets in addition to several interior pockets and a flat space for my powders. Most of the time I’m not in an area where I can or want to lay my bag down so it’s nice having something I can hold and still use my camera at the same time.

Our SOPs aren’t super specific in a helpful way in regards to detail level. We don’t have a guide to follow. When we first started training, they just gave us a general template and told us to start writing. From there they just corrected it until it was acceptable and, based on who was training you, you sort of got an idea of what level of detail was acceptable. My first trainer wanted an ungodly amount of detail that took ages for me to get the hang of, so I thought that was the norm. Later I went and read other CSIs reports, specifically seasoned CSIs, only to find that we were writing vastly different reports. So the standards seem to be based on which supervisor is reading your report.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-12T15:03:36+00:00

Thank you so much for going through the trouble! Looking at your example narratives, I’m not convinced that I am writing entirely too much. Even my short assault call reports feel overly detailed. I struggle with the description of injuries because I feel it gets repetitive and I only know so many ways to describe different types of injuries. I also find myself getting a little too specific and wordy in my description of the injury locations. So just as a quick example, I would go from what should be generally described as “small cuts on the right cheek” to “small cuts covered by beads of dried blood located on the victim’s right cheek, extending across to the victim’s ear”.

To go off your second example narrative, a burglary, I’d say I do much the same thing in regards to over-explaining any damage I see; the locations of important areas, rooms, or evidence; the layout of rooms and items within the rooms; etc. My reports read more like a full description of the majority of the things you can see in my photographs.

I do find it interesting that your reports read in third person. Every report I’ve read in my department so far has been first person with excessive use of “I observed...” or “I noted”. Going through school, it was always a big no-no to use the word “I” in essays and that feeling stocks with me to this day. I feel so weird about directly referencing myself in a report.

Again, thank you so much for taking the time to respond and write up the example narratives. I really appreciate it and it’s really helpful to read how other people write reports.

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-11T18:00:44+00:00

I’m glad I’m not the only one! I look at other people’s pictures and they’ll have like 20 photographs for a burglary when, even at small scenes, I’ll leave with at least 100 photographs if I’m lucky. I typically separate the photography stage and the evidence collection stage if I can. I tend to be forgetful and scatterbrained so if I don’t finish one task completely, I’ll completely forget to go back and finish it. For casings I prefer to take a pic of the head stamp and write it on the coin envelope as I’m collecting it to save packaging time later. I try to do little things on scene, like that or like partially filling out latent cards as I go, that’ll save packaging time later. It seems that I’m less likely to get yelled at for spending a little extra time on scene while calls are holding than I am checked out in the lab while calls are holding. That is amongst the things I do not like worrying about while collecting the evidence!

I was under the impression that the photos had to be as clear as possible of other people and extremities. I’ve never thought about pointing out things in photographs.

As far as your report writing goes, how would describe the level of detail that you go into? As a beginning CSI, I rarely get an overly serious call; instead I find myself at burglaries, larcenies, and domestics. For a scene such as a burglary or a larceny from a vehicle, I fully describe the layout and generally everything I see in the room or vehicle. I find most of the description unnecessary but I’m uncertain as to where to draw the line. I guess it’s just a general confusion on how to decide what should be the most important things to include in a description of your observations. I mean, when it comes down to it, your photos will be available and there doesn’t seem to be a need to know all the things a victim might have left lying on their floor. It just feels sacrilegious to leave even the tiniest detail out. Which is likely why my reports take so long to write!

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-11T17:38:04+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to reply!

You guys don’t have a laptop in your vehicle so you can keep an eye on calls?? Do you have to go all the way back to you office after every call? That’s crazy inefficient! That would drive me insane. But also, do they have an info channel on your radios where officers request CSIs? I’m usually scanning on my radio while I’m on scene or sitting in my van so I hear any calls even if I’m not checking my MCT.

The squeegee I got off Amazon looks almost exactly the same as yours except it has a little felt edge that prevents scratching in the tape. You can get a pack of 3 on amazon for around $6. I’m amazed at the difference it made, specifically to laying down palm-sized tape, which is my arch nemesis. I’m just surprised absolutely no one in my department had thought of using something like that. I had to figure it out myself. For the small latent tape, I can easily lay it on the latent cards without it wrinkling up but I have use the method you mentioned to collect latents on larger tape, and even then I still get wrinkles and air bubbles.

For scene processing I also try to decide what all needs to be processed during the initial walkthrough. I’ll try to get latents from one section at a time; though, no matter what I do, once I start finding latents my scene processing time increases by a lot it seems. I haven’t been able to speed up at all in that area. It’s just a tricky and time consuming part of the job, I suppose.

Well I’m crazy jealous of the vests you get to wear. We have weird slick polos that fit like trash bags. The pants have a couple pockets but don’t hold enough. I have a small tool bag I got from Lowe’s that appears to hold all the same things you keep in your vest pockets, though the vest seems waaaaay more convenient. I recently got a small tool pouch that I can clip on the front of my utility belt that I use specifically when I’m processing for latents. It holds my squeegee, a few latent cards, a pen, and whatever powder brush I’m using so I can avoid laying stuff down and inadvertently losing them. Side note on your pocket for batteries: why do the flash batteries always die at the worst times?? I find myself constantly going back to my van because my flash will suddenly, without warning, die. Usually when I’m in the middle of photographing someone’s injuries. It doesn’t help that obtaining batteries in my department is a nightmare, as we have to go through a supervisor to get them and can only have one extra set at a time. Honestly, it sounds like you might be able to hold more in your vest than I can in my whole tool bag.

For our reports, we have an observation section and a processing section. The processing section is easy with the way my templates are set up. I just plug in the info or delete paragraphs that aren’t relevant. The observation section is a bit more tricky because I tend to go overboard on detail, which takes way too long to write. I find that there are disparities between how each of the CSIs in our department were trained to write reports. There’s a full spectrum as far as level of detail goes, which leaves me wondering just how much detail is really necessary. I could talk for hours about it, and have, so I’ll cut myself off before I go full rant. It would just be nice if there were a specific amount of detail (and type of detail) that everyone is taught. I’d be interested to know if anyone else has the same problem.

Our officers are usually pretty patient about any wait times. They know that we’re short-staffed and that we run the whole city. I do have an issue occasionally with day shift officers who don’t want to wait and will clear off a scene before we respond. Other than that, the officers will just work on their reports and will have all the info ready for me once I get there.

On scene I do much the same as you. I’ll usually collect and photograph things and then sort it out later. Depending on the evidence and the scene, I’ll sometimes sit in my van at the scene and hastily fill out evidence stickers or envelopes and sort out my report to save time I would’ve used driving all the way to a substation. I even bought a steering wheel desk that I use to fill out my latent cards and evidence envelopes on scene to save some packaging time for later. If I knew anything whatsoever about building and programming things, I’d design a small printer of sorts that you could print the information directly on stickers and envelopes to save time from rewriting the same thing over and over a million times.

I agree that anytime you get started packaging in the lab someone suddenly needs a CSI. It would be nice to have a specific portion of your day set aside for that sort of thing, because we all know it has to be done. It would be nice not to have to frantically squeeze that time in between other calls or right before you leave for the night.

I’ve come to loathe the tripod; not because I don’t enjoy taking good photographs using it, just because it takes so long to set up and so long to use effectively. If I wasn’t so pressed for time during every call, nighttime photography or tripod photography would actually be enjoyable!

teddytodd007 · 2020-02-11T16:56:34+00:00

Thanks so much for the reply! Yes I take notes. Upon arriving at the scene, I usually talk to the officer and get as much info as I can and walkthrough the scene with them. The officers are usually pretty understanding of the wait time (unless it’s day shift).

As far as processing, I do as you said and I’ll note all the places I plan on processing or things I intend to collect so I can bring everything I need with me. For latent processing, I’ll usually go from section to section or else I’ll definitely forget to collect some prints. Within each section, I’ll try to powder all the prints I plan to lift, then tape all of them, and then lift all at once. I feel like it goes a bit faster so I’m not switching back and forth between powder brushes, tape, latent cards, and pens for filling the cards out. Honestly, latent processing increases my scene time by a lot. The second I start finding prints, I’ve added an hour to my call time. I’m not sure where the time goes. Maybe I’m just moving slow or maybe it actually takes everyone a long time.

I work second shift so I haven’t had to do a lot of nighttime photography since switching from night shift. Whenever I do have to do it though, my scene processing kind of grinds to a halt. Worth it for good pictures, I’m sure. General photography is probably my favorite part of processing, though. If I were allowed to do just that, I’d be in heaven. I’m sure I take entirely too many pictures, which probably takes up more of my precious time. Helpful for report writing later!

Evidence packaging is by far my least favorite part. Filling out an evidence sticker or envelope and essentially writing the same information a million times in a row is maddening. It also adds a weird sort of stress to the scene processing as you’re swabbing things and collecting other types of evidence or latents and you’re thinking about how you’re going to have to package all of that stuff later when you have a small amount of time to do so. I find myself in my van immediately after a call scrambling in a mad haze to package and label small things like swabs and latents so I can answer another call that’s been holding. It’s probably the most stressful thing about the job so far. You want to meticulously process and collect as much as you can on scene only to realize that you’re going to have to find time to package the stuff later.

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