# Cleaning up Crime scenes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731 "2003-03-12T03:38:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mr.splitfoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@mr.splitfoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.splitfoot)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/1 "2003-03-12T03:38:06Z")
How would one go about getting a job cleaning up crime scenes? Do you have to take classes, or can any Joe pick up a sponge and go brain scraping? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/2 "2003-03-12T07:07:29Z")
[A professional crime scene cleaner company.](http://www.cs.gs/about.php) (With a phone number on the page if you want to find out how to join the company.) Details of some of the hazards and requirements on the job [here.](http://www.aegis.com/news/ct/1996/CT960801.html) (via _Chicago Tribune_.) > [@](#): > > The crews arrive after the police have gone and the body has been removed to carry out a job that involves a high-tech service from workers willing to get into impermeable body suits, elbow-length gloves, boots with plastic coverings and large masks with respirators. > > Dr. Robert E. Hirschtick, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said proper treatment of crime scenes is more important than ever, especially when the death involves people who have led risky lives. Interesting reading. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/3 "2003-03-12T07:08:37Z")
Oh and yes, I do think training would be mandatory. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/4 "2003-03-13T06:56:34Z")
It sounds to me as though they are just a cleaning agency who has no qualms about dealing with potentially “icky” stuff. Doesn’t say that they have any special equipment/training. They “are dedicated to assisting law enforcement, public service agencies, and property owners/managers in restoring property that has been contaminated as a result of crime, disaster or misuse.” But I think the emphasis is on the last, since in my (very limited) experience, the police didn’t particularly care about cleaning up the scene, they just took the body, closed the place up and left. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/5 "2003-03-13T08:55:36Z")
[Duplicate thread,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=168951)\*\* Ender\_Will\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/6 "2003-03-14T17:00:58Z")
bump ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/7 "2003-03-14T17:09:21Z")
Well check out the movie [Curdled](http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/content/atom_293) , one of Quentin Tarantino’s nutty films… It’s all about the OP ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/8 "2003-03-14T17:30:50Z")
[=This American Life](http://www.thislife.org) the National public radio show had a story on crime scene cleaners. It’s worth a listen (The whole archive is worth a listen, but this one is an especially interesting one. Requires Real player. July 7, 2000 Episode 164 ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-up-crime-scenes/160731/9 "2003-03-15T19:30:36Z")
And yet another NPR recommendation, the Todd Mundt show will be broadcasting an interview with a crime scene cleaner on Monday the 17th. [http://www.toddshow.org/](http://www.toddshow.org/)?