CSI: Fairbanks
Fairbanks Police Department is happy to finally have a designated Crime Scene Investigator position, and the perfect person to fill it!
Shasta Pomeroy started at FPD in February of 2016 as a Data Management Clerk and then took the position of Evidence Technician at the first opportunity. Now, as Crime Scene Investigator (CSI), Shasta is able to document crime scenes with photography and sketching. She also processes crime scenes by searching for and seizing physical evidence. She is trained in collection and preservation of evidence such as fingerprints, footwear impressions, entomology samples, tool mark impressions, and DNA. She also assists the State of Alaska Medical Examiner’s Office in processing suspicious death scenes and postmortem biological sample collection, which enables the bodies of victims to be released to family members in a shorter timeframe.
Shasta grew up in the North Pole and Fairbanks area and received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Justice at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She completed her crime scene investigation academy at the University of California Riverside in Southern California. At the academy, she was trained in multiple disciplines including crime scene photography, forensic entomology, death investigation, and bloodstain pattern recognition and analysis. She also took courses through the University of Florida in forensic medicine. She received forensic science trainings through the State of Alaska Medical Examiner’s Office, State of Alaska Crime Laboratory, and additional training in Nevada.
Shasta had the following to say about her position as a Crime Scene Investigator: “CSIs are expected to specialize and certify in various disciplines within forensic science. As I start my CSI career, I am currently working on certifications in death investigations and bloodstain pattern recognition and analysis. I am extremely passionate about both disciplines. Bloodstain pattern analysis is truly a “language” in which, with a proper certification process and on-the-job experience, an investigator can help to determine the sequence of events at a crime scene. Death investigation is also important to me as the victims of these incidents are unable to recount to us the sequence of events that occurred, unlike other incidents or crimes with living victims. So, it is up to us as law enforcement to search through physical evidence on-scene to determine those events. We must do our best to “speak for the dead” and give answers to the living. I love working at the Fairbanks Police Department and am so grateful to work with such hard-working and dedicated individuals here. While I am just starting out in my position as Crime Scene Investigator, I hope to help my agency as well as other law enforcement entities to find the answers to incidents and crimes through the use of physical evidence.”
About having CSI Pomeroy on staff, Acting Chief Dupee had the following to say: “The Fairbanks Police Department is privileged to have the only state qualified Crime Scene Investigator north of the Alaska Range. The duties to which CSI Pomeroy has the capability of performing greatly enhances the ability of the Fairbanks Police Department to provide the highest level of service to the community. CSI Pomeroy is extremely passionate about her new role and we are excited to allow her to use her skills to the fullest potential to enhance the quality of the cases we handle. The addition of the CSI position also reduces workload on Officers and Detectives and will provide back-up in the evidence room.”
There will be a badging ceremony for CSI Pomeroy at the Fairbanks City Council Meeting on March 8th, at 6:30pm.
