A hog-tied, beaten, strangled, teenage boy covered in mud; a family who got there car stolen; a business was burglarized or an innocent person on the verge of being extradited... I can go on and on but if you're in law enforcement and or in the CSI field you understand those cases you encounter can burn into your sole and are tattooed for life. We all have our stories.
Keep in mind, the service we chose is a hard one. You see what humans do to each other and the impact a criminal action has on victim(s), families, witnesses and the community. As we work case after case we can lose track of why we were drawn to this field and what our responsibilities are to the community and ourselves.
We forget to check our attitude while working cases and our perspective can easily get lost. "What's the point, the DA's office isn't going to file anyways". "It's raining, it's too hot, it's too dirty, it's too wet, it's too messy, I'm too tired, and it's not my job" are some of the excuses I here when do Department training.
Please remember, you represent your agency when you are out there working in the public's eye and you represent your family name.
The attitude of "it's always been done that way" and "do I really need to collect everything" should be removed from your thought process. With new advancements on forensic products and forensic standards, the attitude should be how can I work smarter not harder in processing crime scenes, evidence collection, packaging and more.
Every case starts from the ground up! Patrol and or CSI responders are documenting the scene, and collecting and packaging the evidence for future forensic testing. If that critical beginning is tainted with an "I don't care" attitude- the case is compromised from the beginning. Again, representing the department and your name.
We chose this job in law enforcement. Follow through on all cases despite what the DA's office decides to do with the case, represent your department and yourself within the community. Think about your tattooed case and be proactive for the victim(s), your career, your department and yourself.