The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department Criminal Identification Division (Crime Scene Unit) consist of five Identification Officers, one Firearms Officer, one Automated Fingerprint Identification System (A.F.I.S.) Officer, and one Identification Clerk.  Case assignments are handled by the three Identification Officers.

Among the duties handled by the Identification Division are:

Responding to all crime scenes when an ID officer is requested.

Assisting outside agencies at crime scenes when requested.

Receiving and processing all evidence submitted by both Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department Personnel and other agencies.

Storing all evidence/property submitted to be entered as evidence in court cases including all photography evidence.         

Maintaining records pertaining to all evidence the comes through the ID Division.                                                           

Maintaining fingerprint and photographic records pertaining to scenes and prisoners. 

All entries and inquires into AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System)

All comparisons of known and latent fingerprints.                 

Testifying in courts involving Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department cases and all other Brazoria County Agency cases that involve fingerprint testimony.                   

Fingerprinting suspects, victims and all types of applicants.

 

The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department Identification Division has had three Identification Officers since the mid to late 70’s. Their schedules consist of one identification officer on callout for the county, the second one on backup and the third one off calls. They rotate so that each identification officer is on callout one week out of every three.

Bonny_hand.gif (6601 bytes)Some of the duties handled by the Identification Officers when responding to a crime scene include: photographing the scene, searching for and collecting evidence, obtaining identifiers from bodies, processing the scene for fingerprint evidence, obtaining measurements for crime scene sketches and documenting the scene.

Between the years of 1995 and 1998:

The Identification Division has averaged 1033 case assignments per year. These cases can average from working part of a day to several weeks on the major cases such as homicides.

Bonny_hand.gif (6601 bytes)The Identification Division handles an average of 7,438 pieces of evidence per year, all of which have to be documented, with some having to go through various types of processing. An average of 45 vehicles involved in major cases, such as homicides, are put through extensive processing procedures by the Identification Division Officers each year. Outside agencies bring an average of 93 cases yearly to the Identification Division for further work, which does not include the requests for a Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department Identification Officer to respond to their crime scenes. The Identification Officers testify in an average of 39 court cases yearly, with major cases such as homicides requiring several days of standby at court with evidence and actual testimony.

In the comparison work, the Identification Division Officers compare thousands of prints per year with an average of 1072 hits (identifications) made each year.

Bonny_hand.gif (6601 bytes)The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department Identification Division Officers are trained in specialized areas pertaining to crime scene work. Some of these areas including: Fingerprint and Palm print comparisons, Fingerprint Classification, AFIS, Ridgeology, Skeletal Remains, Techniques of Developing Prints, Crime Scene Search, , Crime Scene and Latent Photography, Death Investigation, Motor Vehicle Theft Investigation, Blood Spatter, Evidence collection and Preservation, and Courtroom Testimony. The Identification Division Officers also continuously seek and attend classes in new areas and involving new techniques that are developed in relation to all phases of crime scene work so as to maintain the professionalism of the Division.

In addition to our daily duties and callouts with the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department, the Identification Division Officers are always ready to respond to requests for assistance from all outside agencies; whether it’s at the Identification Division Office, responding to outside agency's crime scenes , testifying in court or just information over the phone.  The Brazoria County Sheriff's Department Identification Division readily accepts and appreciates assistance/information from other agencies when it comes to working together to solve cases.

 

To learn more about the Identification Division please click on one of the pictures on the left.