Scenes of crime officers (SOCOs) find, record and recover evidence from crime scenes.
£16,000 Starter
to£35,000 Experienced
41 to 43 a week
on call on shifts
You can get into this job through:
You can do a degree in forensic science, or in a scientific subject like biological science or chemistry.
Some courses are accredited by The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences.
You'll usually need:
Police services and law enforcement agencies set their own entry requirements for this type of work. In general, you'll need at least 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) or equivalent, including English, maths and a science subject.
Some employers may prefer A levels or equivalent, including a science like chemistry or biology.
Many employers ask for a degree and will expect you to have experience in police work or a related field, for example intelligence gathering and analysis.
Experience of dealing with the public and working in sensitive situations will be helpful.
Qualifications or experience in photography can also be useful and may be essential for some jobs.
You can find out more about working in forensics from The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences.
Check with your local police service for details of vacancies and entry requirements.
You'll need:
You'll need to:
You'll usually need a driving licence.In this role you could:
You could work on the streets, in a court, at a mortuary or at a police station.
Your working environment may be at height, physically and emotionally demanding, outdoors some of the time, dirty and cramped.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
With experience, you could become a senior or principal officer, with responsibility for managing a crime scene investigation (CSI) team.
You could also complete further training to manage investigations at major incidents.
We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a scenes of crime officer right now.
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