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Criminalistics
The El Paso Police Department’s Criminalistics Division is comprised of 18 Officers, 3 Sergeants, a Lieutenant, and 7 Civilians. The section includes the Department’s Crime Scene Unit, Latent Print Section, Photo Lab, and oversees the outside contract of NMS Labs, which is responsible for the narcotic testing for the Department. The Division is responsible for the identification, interpretation, and collection of evidence at crime scenes, primarily crimes such as murders, robberies, burglaries, as well as assisting on all officer involved shootings. A major call out is required for all murders, officer involved shootings, or scenes in which the collection, documentation, and preservation of evidence is of such a large and complex task that it requires a full team of crime scene technicians.
Criminalistics Crime Scenes Processed
1,710 31,904 17,242 2,626 56
Criminal Packages Processed Latent Fingerprints Submitted Latent Fingerprint Identified Major Call-Outs Cases with Latent Evidence Submitted
Crime Scene unit – CSU consists of full time officers who respond to many different types of scenes to assist with the documentation, interpretation, and collection of evidence. In addition, CSU always has a Major Crime Response Team on call, which is tasked with investigating all homicides, officer-involved shootings, or any other type of serious incident that requires a substantial amount of documentation and evidence collection. CSU is comprised of 16 officers, three sergeants, and one lieutenant. CSU is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Latent Prints – Latent fingerprints are the most commonly found piece of evidence collected from crime scenes; therefore, the Department has always maintained a Latent Print Section within the Criminalistics Bureau. The Latent Print Section is capable of matching collected latent prints to individuals in our database. The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) was added in 1989, which was one of the first in the country. AFIS now holds the known prints and criminal histories on over 580,000 individuals, with the added ability to access databases belonging to the State of Texas, the State of New Mexico, and the FBI. During 2022 the A.F.I.System identified individuals in over 1,000 felony cases.
Photo Lab – The Department’s Photo Lab is in charge of storing, maintaining, and handling all legal matters with the Department’s photographic and video evidence. They are also tasked with photographing any Department public event, fallen officer funeral, promotion, and EPPD Academy graduation. Financial Crimes/Animal Cruelty Investigations – The Financial Crimes Unit (FCU) is a diverse team that encompasses White Collar Crimes, Digital Forensics, the Fugitive Section, and the Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit. White Collar Crimes investigates major thefts, fraud, and embezzlement. The Digital Forensic examiners support all investigative units by locating and preserving electronic evidence. Fugitive detectives track down and apprehend violent criminals. Animal Cruelty serves to protect those victims without a voice. The unit works in partnership with federal agencies as members of the US Secret Service Task Force, and the US Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force.
1,821 5,729 5,524
Latent Fingerprints Compared Fingerprints Submitted to AFIS
Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit
Cases Assigned Cases Cleared Call-Outs
131 115 11 369 13 0
ACIU Tip Line Calls Warrants Executed Warrants Outstanding
Financial Crimes Unit Cases Assigned Cases Cleared Call-Outs 669 713 3
2022 Annual Report
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