Scientific Investigations Unit
Sergeant Keefe Snyder and Detectives Chad Culpert, Terry Cousino, Scott Smith, Bill Goetz and Jerry Schriefer make up the Toledo Police Department's Scientific Investigations Unit. It is this unit's responsibility to respond to crime scenes in order to locate, preserve, document and collect physical evidence. Each of these steps is an integral part in the successful prosecution of criminals. Each person in this unit has been specially trained in all areas of evidence collection including developing and identifying latent fingerprints, photography and videography, trace evidence collection and crime scene reconstruction
S.I.U. also prepares diagrams such as crime scene sketches, maps and fingerprint comparison charts for courtroom presentation. All technicians are trained in the use of AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System). Latent fingerprints developed at crime scenes are submitted into the system from a flatbed scanner. They are then searched against a database of more than two million known fingerprints. Specialists in the unit conduct polygraph examinations and forensic art.
In addition to these duties, each member of the Scientific Investigations Unit provides training to groups such as our own detectives, patrol officers, academy cadets, area police and fire departments and The Citizen Police Academy. S.I.U. also hosts a variety of students from colleges and high schools during internships and job shadowing programs as well as working in coordination with many scouting organizations.