RFP Staff
♦ The migration of officers out of the Salisbury Police Department continues at a high rate to other law enforcement agencies and leaves large gaps in staffing. An especially damaging hit is the loss of the Salisbury Police’s only certified Crime Scene Investigator Det. Sherri Curry to the Norfolk Southern Railway. Det. Curry, a highly regarded certified CSI investigator, can not be replaced by anyone who is not certified and specifically for this position. More officers are expected to depart in the coming months due to poor pay, low morale, and undermanned staffing in a city beset by rising violent crime, gang networks, and drugs.
Skills, training, and years of experience are an absolute necessity for being a certified Crime Scene Investigator:
• Chemical detection of blood evidence such as Bluestar or Luminol. The investigator needs to understand both how to use the reagent and what can cause a false positive reading. An experienced investigator will understand what causes a false positive and how to identify it.
• A complete understanding of various firearms and some familiarity with explosives. Discovery of items such as actual military or industrial use explosives as well as improvised explosives is always a possibility. Salisbury had a number of such incidents involving homemade explosives used in everything from mailboxes being vandalized to the Lowe’s bombing. SBI Agent Albert Stout was injured from a car bombing in Salisbury some years back.
• Shooting reconstruction/ballistics training. The number of shootings in Salisbury make this requirement imperative.
• Blood splatter interpretation. Again, with Salisbury’s violent crime this is a necessity.
• Latent print development and comparison. The investigator must be able to raise latent prints from multiple surface types and be able to determine which lifts have evidence value.
• Ability to use multiple tools specific to the assignment such as alternate light imaging and photography and computerized fingerprint comparison.
• An understanding of digital evidence and the knowledge of how to gather such evidence for court presentation. This covers everything from cameras and recorders to computer files.
• In depth photography skill in various lighting conditions, both inside and outside in unpredictable conditions. Photographing blood reagents requires very specific methods that require hands-on training.
• Gathering of trace evidence. The investigator will need to know how to gather hairs, fibers, chemicals, and other trace evidence in a way that preserves it for testing and presentation in court.
• Footwear/tire track and tool mark evidence. The investigator will need to know how to gather this evidence and preserve it for court. Proper documentation is essential.
Questions are being raised by former law enforcement officers about the loss of the Salisbury Police Department’s only certified Crime Scene Investigator Det. Sherri Curry.
Are we training multiple investigators? Why would only one crime scene investigator be provided for a city with Salisbury’s record of violent crime? How does this allow adequate coverage? The investigator is on-call 24/7 with no off time. Why are we in this situation with Det.Curry leaving? Chief Collins was repeatedly cautioned about the possibility of this exact scenario and did nothing to provide basic coverage in the event the CSI is unavailable.
The CSI will need to know criminal law and rules of evidence. In the past, officers have been instructed to enter crime scenes without consent or a search warrant being served. Will the new CSI understand the rules of evidence and proper procedure? Chief Collins is alleged to be debating making the position a civilian position. This will likely provide an inexperienced investigator with limited understanding of rules of evidence; quite a combination for crime plagued Salisbury. How content would you be with this level of service should you or your family member be a victim?
Bio from City of Salisbury Website:
“Crime Scene Investigator, Sherri Curry, is a 19 year veteran with the Salisbury Police Department. During her tenure she has served as a Housing Officer, K-9 Handler, Criminal Investigator, and most recently- Identification Specialist. Detective Curry spent 10 years as an Investigator with primary focus on Child Abuse, Sexual Assaults, and Juvenile Crimes. She holds certifications from the North Carolina Justice Academy in Forensic Child Interviews, Child Death Investigation, Internet Undercover Chat Investigation, Sexual Assault Investigations, and she has trained with Project Safe Childhood/North Carolina Internet Crimes. Detective Curry is enrolled in the Criminal Investigators Academy at the North Carolina Justice Academy. Detective Curry has been a Criminal Justice Training Instructor since 2000.
In 2012, Detective Curry obtained Certification in Crime Scene Technology and Evidence Collection at the Sirchie Criminal Investigation Training Center in Youngsville, North Carolina. She also obtained Certification in the Basic Skills Course in employing the NARK II Progressive System of Drug Identification. Detective Curry most recently obtained Certification in Crime Scene Photography at the Sirchie Criminal Investigation Training Center. Detective Curry has specified training in DNA Arrestee Collection from the North Carolina Justice Academy as well as specified training in Fingerprint Development and Identification, Footwear Identification, Serial Number Restoration and Narcotics Identification.”
