What does an evidence technician do?
Evidence technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real evidence technician resumes:
- Monitor the CCTV cameras, parking lot, and front entrance.
- Use of LIMS to assign unique tracking case numbers to submit specimens.
- Liaisoned and coordinate efforts with DIA, FBI, SAIC Intel, and military personnel.
- Act as main liaison with the software development team for new LIMS features, as well as a mobile mass-disaster LIMS.
- Increase customer satisfaction by validating a more sensitive extraction method which produce more informative results.
- Perform liquid/liquid and liquid solid chemical extractions, following standard operating procedures.
- Coordinate evidence preservation and retrieval at CONUS/OCONUS labs.
- Serve statements of claims, subpoenas, summonses, jury summonses, orders to pay alimony, and other court orders.
Evidence technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Evidence Technicians are proficient in Law Enforcement Agencies, Criminal Justice, and Data Entry. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Math and science skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Evidence Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Law Enforcement Agencies, 15%
Provided information to public Law Enforcement agencies and other authorized individuals.
- Criminal Justice, 15%
Communicated with the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) for the purpose of verifying information entered in the system.
- Data Entry, 10%
Managed inventory through timely data entry and barcoding.
- Crime Lab, 8%
Maintained a working knowledge of all areas of a crime laboratory and the types of tests conducted by each area.
- NCIC, 6%
Run criminal history checks through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) on received and released evidence or property.
- Evidence Collection, 4%
Facilitated evidence collection and documentation in the field.
Most evidence technicians use their skills in "law enforcement agencies," "criminal justice," and "data entry" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential evidence technician responsibilities here:
Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an evidence technician to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "forensic science technicians must be able to notice small changes in mundane objects to be good at collecting and analyzing evidence." Evidence technicians often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide court testimony, prepare detailed reports, operate and maintain equipment, and perform general office support duties. "
Math and science skills. Many evidence technician duties rely on math and science skills. "forensic science technicians need a solid understanding of statistics and natural sciences to be able to analyze evidence.," so an evidence technician will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways evidence technician responsibilities rely on math and science skills: "assisted police, dea, and the atf in verifying status and/or information about property and/or evidence. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for evidence technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how evidence technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "forensic science technicians use scientific tests and methods to help law enforcement officials solve crimes." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an evidence technician: "recovered any materials pertinent to the resolution of open criminal cases. ".
Communication skills. For certain evidence technician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of an evidence technician rely on this skill, as "forensic science technicians write reports and testify in court." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what evidence technicians do: "answer emergency & non-emergency telephone calls in the police communication center; record data & critical information on incidents. "
The three companies that hire the most evidence technicians are:
- City of Reno2 evidence technicians jobs
- University of Tennessee1 evidence technicians jobs
- Arapahoe County1 evidence technicians jobs
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Compare different evidence technicians
Evidence technician vs. Dna analyst
A criminalist works in the forensic science or law enforcement field. Their duties depend upon the agency or place they work for, but they are often responsible for conducting crime investigations, studying crime scenes, gathering and examining evidence, processing evidence, and coordinating with investigators. They must also prepare and process documents, present detailed results and reports to investigators, and sometimes testify in court.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an evidence technician are more likely to require skills like "criminal justice," "data entry," "crime lab," and "ncic." On the other hand, a job as a dna analyst requires skills like "extraction," "dna analysis," "lab equipment," and "proficiency testing." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Dna analysts really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $58,853. Comparatively, evidence technicians tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $46,518.The education levels that dna analysts earn slightly differ from evidence technicians. In particular, dna analysts are 20.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an evidence technician. Additionally, they're 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Evidence technician vs. Criminalist
Each career also uses different skills, according to real evidence technician resumes. While evidence technician responsibilities can utilize skills like "data entry," "crime lab," "ncic," and "hazardous materials," criminalists use skills like "physical evidence," "laboratory reports," "body fluids," and "quantitative analysis."
Criminalists earn higher levels of education than evidence technicians in general. They're 11.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Evidence technician vs. Latent fingerprint examiner
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from evidence technician resumes include skills like "data entry," "crime lab," "evidence collection," and "hazardous materials," whereas a latent fingerprint examiner is more likely to list skills in "identification system," "fingerprint cards," "physical evidence," and "iai. "
Latent fingerprint examiners typically earn similar educational levels compared to evidence technicians. Specifically, they're 2.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Evidence technician vs. Forensic ballistics expert
Even though a few skill sets overlap between evidence technicians and forensic ballistics experts, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an evidence technician might have more use for skills like "law enforcement agencies," "criminal justice," "data entry," and "crime lab." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of forensic ballistics experts require skills like "litigation," "cyber security," "encase," and "law enforcement. "
Forensic ballistics experts reach higher levels of education compared to evidence technicians, in general. The difference is that they're 20.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 23.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of evidence technician
Updated January 8, 2025
