Expert: Jack Toomey - 4/3/2004

Question
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Followup To
Question -
I am in the process of writing a mystery and I want to make sure to get my details correct.  This may seem insignificant but are officers responsible for the care of their own uniforms or does the department take care of it?  Thanks.  Jennifer
Answer -
Hello Jennifer,

     Most police departments supply their officers with uniforms.  Rarely you will hear about a small town department where the officers are required to buy their own.  However the cleaning and maintanence on the uniforms depends on the department.  In my experience I have seen that if a department has a strong union that the county or city will pay for the dry cleaning and tailoring of uniforms.  Departments that are not represented by unions or have a weak union sometimes require the officers to pay for their own dry cleaning.

   My department pays for everything.  Dry cleaning, tailoring, repairs, etc.  So...to answer your question...it depends on the police department.

   Let me know if there are any other scenarios or situations I can help you with.

FOLLOW UP:  In my story, a murder takes place in a bakery during an ice storm.  I actually lived through an ice storm in Northern New York, which is where I came up with the idea.  With the resources of a small department stretched because of the storm which has knocked out power, how long would it take to process the crime scene and release it?  Would it take less then 24 hours?  Would a guard be left at the scene or would patrols be increased at all?

Answer
   Small towns normally do not handle their own murder cases.  The state police or state bureau of investigation (in a few states) have working agreements with the small towns that they step in and handle a murder case because small towns have neither the manpower or the expertise to handle such a case.  I don't know how big your department is but if its a typical small town department than can put only 1 -3 officers on the street at any given time then the state police would handle the murder.  

  But you asked me how long it would take to process a murder scene?  It depends on the complexity of the scene, what evidence has to be seized, what tests must be run at the scene, how big the scene is.  It could be 24-48 hours or more to completely process a place like a bakery.  Can't tell you if "patrols would be increased" because I don't know if there is a threat to the people or what you are talking about.