A career as a crime scene technician can start very simply, with just a certificate or associate’s degree program. But what kind of program fits your life best – online, or on-campus? Criminal Justice Degree Hub has some answers, but first, the Top 5 Crime Scene Technician Programs are:
- Purdue University Global
- University of Central Florida
- University of Baltimore
- Southeastern Community College
- Sheridan College
Keep reading for the Top 25!
Featured Schools
Should I Choose an In-Person or Online Crime Scene Tech Program?
When it comes to choosing an in-person or online crime scene tech certification, you will have to decide what type of class best suits your goals. Sitting in a classroom gives you an opportunity to learn in a hands-on environment. Sitting in a classroom also allows you to have unrestricted access to your instructor. It can be much easier to get the answers to your questions while they are fresh in your mind. Learning crime scene technical skills in person is beneficial if you are a hands-on learner and rely on being able to take part in laboratory-style exercises.
Online crime scene technician programs are designed to provide the same skills and abilities that in-person classes offer. The primary difference is that you are able to stay at home or study in an environment that works best for you. Online programs enable individuals who are already employed in a position they like to return to school and still maintain their regular work schedule. They can continue to care for their families and fulfill their other financial obligations while they are working to further their education.
How We Ranked the Best Crime Scene Technician Certificate and Associate’s Programs
The editors at Criminal Justice Degree Hub want to see your educational choices pay off. That’s why we only feature reputable, accredited colleges and universities in our ranking. We ranked programs according to practical factors including cost, potential salary, and student satisfaction, using reliable data from IPEDS and Niche.
1. Purdue University Global
Purdue University Global offers a Crime Scene Technician Certificate that can be completed 100% online. Purdue University Global’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program requires the completion of 41 credit units across ten-week terms. Classes for this Crime Scene Technician Certification program include criminal investigation, homeland security, forensic fingerprint analysis, managing criminal justice organizations, supervisory practices for criminal justice majors, and forensic chemistry and trace evidence analysis, to name a few.
Purdue University Global is an online institution of higher education that was established in 2018. PG was formed when Purdue purchase and rebranded what was once Kaplan University, a for-profit higher learning institution. While most students study online, Purdue University Global maintains a main campus in Indianapolis, Indiana, and academic extension sites in Nebraska, Iowa, Maine, and Maryland.Purdue University Global is maintained as an independently accredited school and a public benefit corporation.
Program: Crime Scene Technician Certificate
Format: Online
2. University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida’s Community Innovation & Education College (UCF) offers an undergraduate Crime Scene Technician Certificate from its central location in the Sunshine State. Students enrolled in the University of Central Florida’s Crime Scene Technician Certification program must complete 15 semester credits to meet program requirements. Coursework for UCF’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program includes criminal profiling in criminal justice, forensic anthropology, archaeological sciences, interviews & interrogations in criminal justice, and sociology of murder, to name a few.
UCF is a space-grant school with one of the largest student enrollments across the country, with more than 71,500 students. UCF is a member of Florida’s state university system, with its campus located nearby the Cape Canaveral Space State and the Kennedy Space Center. The University of Central Florida is ranked by US News as one of the nation’s most innovative schools.
Program: Undergraduate Certificate
Format: Campus
3. University of Baltimore
The University of Baltimore has a traditional investigative Crime Scene Technician Certificate that can be complete in less than one year. The University of Baltimore’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program is open to applicants who have already completed a minimum of sixty credits that are transferable. The University of Baltimore’s Crime Scene Technician Certification program requires certificate candidates to complete at least twelve credits to complete the certificate program. Classes for this degree include forensic photography, criminal investigation, and moot court & trial advocacy for forensics.
The University of Baltimore is a member school of the state’s university system that was established in 1925. The University of Baltimore is organized into four colleges/schools offering degrees in business, law, public affairs, and arts/sciences to its approximately 5,000 students. The University of Baltimore was established by a group of business professionals in the greater Baltimore area.
Program: Certificate in Crime Scene Investigation
Format: Traditional
4. Southeastern Community College
Southeastern Community College offers two types of criminal justice technology programs with its Crime Scene Technician Certification program or its Associate degree in Criminal Justice – both campus-based programs. The coursework required for Southeastern Community College’s associate degree or Crime Scene Technician Certificate program includes juvenile justice, crime scene processing, criminology, and constitution law, to name a few. Additionally, Southeastern Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate requires the completion of sixteen undergraduate semester credits to finish.
Southeastern Community College (SCC) is a public institution of higher education that was established in the id-1960s. SCC serves the Columbus County area, with an approximate student enrollment of 10,950 students enrolled in degree programs or continuing education classes. Southeastern Community College offers high school students the option to complete high school on the Fair Bluff campus as this allows them to focus on a technical or college-based program.
Program: Degree in Criminal Justice Technology – Forensic Science
Format: Campus
5. Sheridan College
Sheridan College offers two of North Carolina’s best Crime Scene Technician Certificate options with its Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree in Criminal Justice, which are available on one of the college’s campuses. Classes for this Crime Scene Technician Certification degree program include law enforcement operations, juvenile justice, constitutional law, introduction to corrections, and judicial functions, to name a few. Both Crime Scene Technician Certificate programs require students to complete a minimum of 61 semester credits to meet the requirements.
Sheridan College is a member school of the state’s northern Wyoming Community College District. Established in 1948, Sheridan College now serves more than 2,000 students annually. Sheridan College offers associate degree, certificate, and diploma programs, which include a 2+2 associate degree transition program. Sheridan College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, headquartered in Chicago.
Program: AA or AS
Format: Campus
6. Fullerton College
Fullerton College’s Technology & Engineering Division (FC) offers a Crime Scene Technician Certificate with an academic focus on crime scene investigation. Fullerton College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate Skills program includes classes in rules of evidence, police report writing, DNA genetic fingerprinting, crime scene techniques, criminal investigation, and introduction to photography – from analog to digital, to name a few. Students enrolled in this Crime Scene Technician Certification program are required to complete a minimum of 16.5 semester credits.
Established in 1913 as a junior college, Fullerton College (Fullerton) is one of more than 100 community colleges in the state’s CC system. The school’s Southern California campus and online platform serves approximately 20,950 students. Fullerton College also hosts an artist in residence each year.Fullerton College holds the distinction of being the oldest community college that has been operating without interruption.
Program: Crime Scene Investigation Skills Certificate
Format: Campus
7. Glendale Community College
Glendale Community College offers a Crime Scene Technician Certificate program that is campus-based and requires the completion of a minimum of sixteen semester credits. Graduates of this Crime Scene Tech Certificate from Glendale community College find rewarding careers as compliance officers, forensic science technicians, or criminal investigators, to name a few. Coursework for Glendale Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certification program includes crime scene reconstruction, crime scene technology, seminar in courtroom testimony, biological evidence, evidence photography, and criminal investigation, to name a few.
Glendale Community College (GCC) was founded in the mid-1960s and is a member school of the Maricopa Community College District. Glendale Community College operates many academic facilities through the greater Phoenix vicinity. This space-grant higher learning institution serves nearly 20,000 students each year. The main campus of Glendale Community College is in Glendale, with a second campus in Phoenix.
Program: Crime Scene Investigation (CER)
Format: Campus
8. Mesa Community College
Mesa Community College offers a campus-based Certificate of Completion in Crime Scene Investigation that is ranked among the best Crime Scene Technician Certificate programs in Arizona. Students enrolled in Mesa Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program must complete sixteen to eighteen semester credits. Classes for this Crime Scene Technician Certification program include fingerprint evidence technology, photography evidence technology, biological evidence, criminalistics, criminal testimony, and criminal investigation, to name a few.
Established in 1963 as an extension facility of Phoenix College, Mesa Community College (MSS) is a member of the county’s CC district. Mesa Community College’s urban campus and online distance learning platform are home to nearly 26,000 students each year. Mesa Community College is recognized to be the largest of all community colleges in the Maricopa Community College District.
Program: Certificate of Completion in Crime Scene Investigation
Format: Campus
9. Wake Tech Community College
Wake Tech Community College offers a hybrid Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Crime Scene Tech program that requires students to complete fifteen semester units. Wake Tech Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program includes classes in trace evidence, forensic biology, crime scene processing, and crime scene photography, to name a few. Wake Tech Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certification program prepares students for careers that help to support law enforcement decisions. On-campus classes are only offered during the day on the Public Safety Education Campus.
Wake Tech Community College (WTCC) is a multi-campus higher learning institution that was founded in 1958. More than 69,550 students attend classes on Wake Tech Community College’s various campuses throughout North Carolina. Wake Tech Community College holds the distinction of being the largest of all community colleges in the state.
Program: AAS – Associate in Applied Science
Format: Hybrid
10. Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Chandler-Gilbert Community College offers a Certificate of Completion (CCL) in Forensic Science that is available on-campus. Students enrolled in Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program must complete eighteen credit units to finish. Coursework for CGCC’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program includes rules of evidence, criminal investigation, police photography, evidence technology of fingerprints, and criminalistics (biological and physical evidence), among others. Students must earn maintain a minimum ‘C; grade for all coursework in this Crime Scene Technician Certification program.
Chandler-Gilbert Community College was established in the early 1990s and now operates four campuses across Maricopa County in Arizona in Pecos, Williams, Sun Lakes, and Queen Creek. Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s campuses and online platform serve nearly 14,800 students annually.Chandler-Gilbert Community College is organized into several divisions that include aviation, business, communications, humanities, behavioral sciences, nursing, and engineering, among others.
Program: Certificate of Completion (CCL) in Forensic Science
Format: Campus
11. Johnston Community College
Johnston Community College’s Criminal Justice Technology (JCC) offers a Criminal Justice Technology – Forensic Science associate degree program that is available on-campus. Johnston Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program includes classes in introduction to criminal justice, criminal law, forensic chemistry, trace evidence, juvenile justice, and investigative principles, to name a few. Additionally, this Crime Scene Technician Certificate program is required to complete 66 to 68 semester credits to complete the program. Graduates of Johnston Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certification program are prepared to enter the workforce in correctional agencies or in local/state/federal law enforcement agencies.
Established in the late 1960s, Johnston Community College (JCC) is a public postsecondary school that serves about 5,900 students annually. Johnston Community College’s suburban campus covers more than 150 acres and is home to a sixteen-acre arboretum. Johnston Community College is home to the oldest truck-driving school in the nation.
Program: Criminal Justice Technology – Forensic Science AS
Format: Campus
12. Paradise Valley Community College
Paradise Valley Community College offers an Associate of Applied Science in Forensic Science that requires students to complete 60 to 65 semester credits to graduate. Paradise Valley Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program includes classes in criminal justice, crime scene technology, ethics and the administration of justice, and courtroom testimony, among others. Additionally, Paradise Valley Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program is only available as a campus-based program. Graduates from PVCC’s Crime Scene Technician Certification program enter the workforce as forensic science technicians, compliance officers, or detectives, among others.
Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC) is a two-year higher learning institution that was established in 1985. The college operates several campuses in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area with a student enrollment that exceeds 13,850 students. Paradise Valley Community College athletes play as Pumas and have won a variety of national championships in soccer and cross country for men and women.
Program: Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Forensic Science
Format: Campus
13. SUNY Erie
The State University of New York at Erie offers a Crime Scene Tech Certificate program with a technology emphasis that is available on the school’s northern campus. SUNY Erie’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program from SUNY Erie requires certificate candidates to complete thirty semester credits. Classes for this Crime Scene Technician Certification program include crime scene technology, criminal law, fingerprint technology, courtroom presentation of evidence, criminal justice, forensic science, and criminal courts & procedures, to name a few.
SUNY Erie is a community college member (one of 64 schools) of New York State’s university system. Additionally, SUNY Erie maintains three campuses in Orchard Park, Buffalo, and Williamsville, the main campus. SUNY Erie offers students more than 74 academic and certificate programs online and from the school’s three western NY campuses.
Program: Crime Scene Technology Certificate Program
Format: Campus
14. Prince George’s Community College
Prince George’s Community College offers a transfer program Associate of Science degree in Forensic Science that explores the rules of evidence criminal justice system and criminal laws in the country. Prince George’s Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certification program requires degree candidates to complete sixty semester units. Additionally, Prince George’s Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program is campus-based. Classes for this Crime Scene Tech Certificate program include forensic science, criminal justice, forensic aspects of death investigation, fire & arson investigation, forensic photography, and criminal law, to name a few.
Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) is a comprehensive community college that serves more than 39,000 students each year. Established in the late 1950s, Prince George’s Community College offers students and residents more than 100 study programs that includes degree programs certificate, workforce training, and continuing ed. PGCC operates several extension centers across the vicinity.
Program: Forensic Science AS
Format: Campus
15. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College offers one of North Carolina’s best Crime Scene Technician Certification programs that is designed for students wishing for a career in public service. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program is available on the Salisbury campus only. Students enrolled in Rowan-Cabarrus Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program are required to complete 24 semester units in classes that include sketching and the measurement of biological evidence collection, appropriate packaging of evidence, scene management, trace evidence, and latent fingerprint development techniques, to name a few.
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC) is a member of the state’s community college system that was founded in 1963. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College operates several campuses that serve more than 21,950 students. Campuses for Rowan-Cabarrus Community College are located in Salisbury, Concord, or Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Program: Forensic/Crime Scene Investigation Certificate
Format: Campus
16. Catawba Valley Community College
Catawba Valley Community College offers either an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Criminal Justice – Forensic Science or a Crime Scene Technician Certification program – available on the Salisbury campus. Students enrolled in Catawba Valley Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program graduate and enter the workforce as a security guard, fire/police dispatcher, emergency management specialist, compliance manager, or loss prevention manager, to name a few. Coursework for Catawba Valley Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program includes human testimony and criminal suspects, and the evaluation of physical evidence, among others.
Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) is a nonprofit institution of higher education that was established in 1851 by the United Church of Christ. The college’s campus is about forty miles from Charlotte and home to approximately 1,250 students. Catawba College was the winning football team for the first Tangerine Bowl which eventually morphed to its current name, the Citrus Bowl.
Program: AAS or Criminal Justice – Forensic Science or a Crime Scene Technician Certification
Format: Campus
17. Surry Community College
Surry Community College offers a campus-based Crime Scene Technician Certification program that is an emphasis of the Criminal Justice Technology division. Classes for this Crime Scene Tech Certificate program from Surry Community College include trace evidence, crime scene photography, friction ridge analysis, crime scene processing, and criminalistics, to name a few. Students graduate from Surry Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program to find rewarding careers as forensic science technicians, fire investigators, records officers, or criminal investigators, to name a few.
Surry Community College (SCC) is a member school of the North Carolina CC system with a student enrollment that nears 3,275 students. Additionally, Surry Community College serves more than 17,500 students in its corporate training and continuing education division. Surry Community College maintains multiple campuses in Mount Airy, Elkin, Pilot Mountain, Dobson, and Yadkinville.
Program: CGT – Forensic Science (cert)
Format: Campus
18. Manchester Community College
Manchester Community College offers one of Connecticut’s best Forensic Science Crime Scene Technician Certificate programs that is available on the school’s Manchester campus. Classes for Manchester Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program include forensic science, human biology, evidence & courtroom procedure, criminal investigation, forensic photography, concepts of chemistry, psychology of criminal behavior, and criminology, to name a few. Additionally, Manchester Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certification program requires students to complete a minimum of 28 credit units.
Established in the early 1960s as a technical college, Manchester Community College is a secondary higher learning institution that serves about 15,000 students yearly throughout the area surrounding Manchester, CT. Manchester Community College has more than 460 teaching faculty members, of which more than three dozen are graduates of Manchester Community College.
Program: Criminal Justice – Forensic Science CERT
Format: Campus
19. SUNY Genesee Community College
The State University of New York’s (SUNY) Genesee Community College offers a hybrid Crime Scene Technician Certificate program, with more than 50% of the program available through the school’s distance learning platform. Students enrolled in GCC’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program will complete coursework in fingerprinting, serology, death investigations, toxicology, and impression evidence, among others. GCC offers various transfer opportunities for those students graduating from the Crime Scene Technician Certification program to Wesleyan SUNY Canton, Canisius, or Hilbert College, among others.https://www.genesee.edu/academics/programs/criminal-justice/
SUNY Genesee Community College is a multiple campus community college that was established in the mid-1960s. GCC’s campuses cover the NY counties of Orleans, Livingston, Wyoming, and Genesee. More than 5,450 students attend classes offered online and on-campus. SUNY Genesee Community College offers more than 15 distance learning programs that can be completed entirely online.
Program: Crime Scene Technician Certificate
Format: Hybrid
20. St. Petersburg College
St. Petersburg College’s Public Safety, Public Policy and Legal Studies Division (SPC) offers one of the Sunshine State’s Crime Scene Technician Certification Associate of Science programs that can be completed entirely online. St. Petersburg College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate program includes classes in introduction to criminal justice, crime scene technology, biological evidence, courtroom presentation of scientific evidence, crime scene safety, latent fingerprint development, and crime scene photography, to name a few. Students enrolled in SPC’s Science Crime Scene Technician Certificate program are required to complete at least sixty semester units to graduate.
St. Petersburg College (St. Petersburg) is a member of the state’s college system and is located on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Founded as a junior college in the late 1920s, St. Petersburg College’s 400+ acres (spread over eleven campuses) and the online platform now serve nearly 30,000 students each year. St. Petersburg College maintains several extensive libraries, include a comprehensive library that is available online.
Program: Crime Scene Technician AS
Format: Online
21. Fayetteville Technical Community College
Fayetteville Technical Community College offers a Crime Scene Technician Certification in Forensic Science that can be finished in only two semesters and prepares students for an entry-level opportunity in the field of crime scene investigation. This campus-based Crime Scene Tech Certificate program from Fayetteville Technical Community College requires students to complete eighteen credit units. Classes for Fayetteville Technical Community College’s Crime Scene Technician Certificate program include friction ridge analysis, crime scene processing, footwear, and tire imprints, trace evidence, and crime scene photography, among others.
Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC) is a member of NC’s community college system that was established in the early 1960s. Fayetteville Technical Community College offers nearly 200 programs to its more than 32,100 students annually. Fayetteville Technical Community College is recognized as the largest higher learning institution in the eastern portion of North Carolina.
Program: Criminal Justice Technology — FS
Format: Campus
22. University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton
The University of Arkansas’s Criminal Justice Institute at the Community College at Morrilton offers an Associate of Science degree or Crime Scene Technician Certificate program that can be completed in as little as nine months, for the certificate or two years for the AS degree. The University of Arkansas’s campus-based based Crime Scene Tech Certificate or associate degree program requires applicants to be employed in the field of law enforcement to declare a crime scene major. Students graduate from UA’s Crime Scene Technician Certification with the skills required to better serve the communities in which they are employed.
UA Community College at Morrilton was established in the early 1960s as a vocational-technical postsecondary school known as Petit Jean Vocational School. At present, UA Morrilton serves nearly 2,500 students each year. The university’s campus is about an hour to the west of Little Rock, Arkansas. Petit Jean Vocational School merged with the state’s university in 2001.
Program: Certificate or AS
Format: Campus
23. Eastern Florida State College
Eastern Florida State College offers a campus-based Associate in Science in Crime Scene Technology that also includes the provision of a Crime Scene Technician Certificate. Both the AS degree and the Crime Scene Tech Certificate are available through the college’s open-admission policy. Students can opt for just the Crime Scene Technician Certification program, which requires the completion of 28 semester credits in coursework that includes crime scene safety, photography, American criminal justice, forensic science, and crime scene technology, to name a few.
Eastern Florida State College (EFSC) is a multiple campus college with campuses in Titusville, Melbourne, Cocoa, and Palm Bay, Florida, plus its online platform. The college’s suburban locations serve more than 24,850 students., with more than 1,000 academic and support staff members. Eastern Florida State College began with several hundred students in what was once a local High School building.
Program: Crime Scene Technology Associate in Science
Format: Campus
24. Nashville State Community College
Nashville State Community College offers an Associate of Applied Science in Law Enforcement with a Crime Scene Technician Certificate concentration that prepares students for a career in the field of police administration. Nashville State Community College’s campus-based Crime Scene Technician Certification program includes basic fingerprint and ID, evidence photography, traffic accident investigation, bloodstain evidence, introduction to legal process, and investigative photography, to name a few. The total semester credits required to complete Nashville State Community College’s Crime Scene Tech Certificate and associate degree program is 61.
Nashville State Community College (NSCC) was founded in 1970 and is administered by the state’s Board of Regents. NSCC serves seven counties in the middle of the state that includes Stewart, Davidson, Cheatham, Montgomery, Dickson, Humphreys, and Houston. Neary 10,000 students attend classes online and the school’s campuses. The main campus was once a hospital that was run by the United States VA.
Program: Law Enforcement – Crime Scene Investigation Concentration, A.A.S.
Format: Campus
25. Durham Technical Community College
Durham Technical Community College offers an Associate of Applied Science in Law Enforcement with a Crime Scene Technician Certificate concentration that can be completed 100% online. Students enrolled in DTCC’s Crime Scene Technician Certification AAS program require the completion of 67 to 68 semester credits, depending on the exact study path. Additionally, Durham Technical Community College offers a stand-along Crime Scene Tech Certificate that is campus-based and requires fifteen semester units to complete. Classes for these crime scene program options may include an introduction to criminal justice, criminal law, corrections, incident management, law enforcement operations, and ethics & community relations, among others.
Durham Technical Community College (DTCC) was established as an industrial education facility in the early 1960s. This community college serves approximately 5,550 undergraduate students studying for degrees, certificates, or continuing education credits. Durham Technical Community College offers students an impressive 11 to 1 student-to-faculty ratio, on average.
Program: Associate in Applied Science (AAS)
Format: Online
What Kind of Job Can I Get With a Crime Scene Tech Certificate?
With a crime scene tech certificate, you can explore many new opportunities. You can work with law enforcement officers in the field or you can work in a laboratory processing evidence that is found at crime scenes. Crime scene techs can also find work with private investigators. Knowing how to carefully collect and process evidence without contaminating it in any way is an essential skill. Being able to categorize and store evidence are also essential skills.
A crime scene tech certificate is a great way for a member of law enforcement to pad their resume. By earning a crime scene tech certificate, they deepen their skill set they are better able to identify potential evidence and preserve it until it can be processed in the lab. Individuals who work in other areas of law enforcement can also increase their potential for advancement and higher pay by building on the skills they will need to move forward. In most cases, an online crime scene tech certificate will give them everything they need to move up through the ranks.
Is a Crime Scene Tech the Same as a Crime Scene Investigator?
Crime scene investigators find and collect various types of evidence from potential crime scenes and secure them to protect them from contamination. Crime scene investigators are often the first ones on the scene. They have the ability to identify, collect, and secure all types of evidence that may be important in solving a crime or identifying a potential suspect. Crime scene investigators also create possible scenarios based on the evidence they find at a crime scene.
A crime scene tech takes the evidence that is found at a crime scene and processes it to find out how it relates to the rest of what was collected. They often work in laboratories and use various scientific methods to analyze blood, hair, and other types of materials found at the scene of a crime. Crime scene techs are often responsible for uncovering trace evidence that may not have been seen by the naked eye. It is often up to the crime scene tech to put the finishing touches on the evidence that is collected so detectives can piece together a case.
How Much Can I Make with a Crime Scene Tech Certificate?
A crime scene investigator who finds and collects the evidence at a crime scene can make anywhere from $27,000 to $58,000 per year. At the low end will be individuals who are just starting their careers, many straight out of college with little to no actual experience. At the high end, you will be able to find individuals who have worked as an investigator for many years, many of which probably have a history working in law enforcement. The more experience and education an investigator has the more they will make per year.
A crime scene tech can expect to make anywhere from $37,000 to $84,000 per year. A crime scene tech who has earned a certificate may be able to make more than you would expect at the low end. In most cases, when a certificate is earned, it is also backed up with years of experience. Technicians who have worked in this field for several years will often enroll in a certification program to provide validation for their many years of experience. Having hands-on experience is the best way to get ahead as a crime scene investigator. It increases your earning potential and allows you to pursue new opportunities. Add a certificate to the mix and you have the ability to pursue any goal you choose.
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