Homicide, assault, break-in
Crime scene cleanup in Fort Collins
When the officers and detectives have gone, the room is still the way the crime left it. Cleaning it is not police work, and it is not something a victim's family should have to do. A trauma cleanup company takes it on.
Answered around the clock, every day
After the investigation
What is left when the police are done
Investigators take what they need as evidence and nothing more. Blood stays where it fell. So does fingerprint powder, which is fine, dark and spreads when wiped. Anything broken in the incident, or when officers forced their way in, stays broken.
Inside the city, Fort Collins Police Services handles the scene. Outside city limits it is the Larimer County Sheriff's Office. Either one will tell you when you may go back in. Write down the case number while the officer is still there. An insurer or the compensation program will ask for it.
What to do
From release to a clean room
Confirm the release
Ask the officer or detective plainly whether the address is released. If you are unsure later, Fort Collins Police Services answers non-emergency calls at (970) 419-3273.
Keep everyone out
Close the room. Do not let relatives, tenants or a regular cleaner start on it out of kindness.
Call and describe it
Say which rooms are affected and what the surfaces are: carpet, hardwood, tile, upholstery. The company on (970) 372-1484 uses that to plan the job.
Ask for the price in writing
It should state what will be removed, what will be cleaned in place and how the waste leaves the property.
Scope
What the job usually covers
Normally part of it
- Removing blood and bodily fluids from floors, walls and furniture
- Taking out carpet, pad or soft furnishings that cannot be cleaned
- Cleaning and disinfecting the hard surfaces that remain
- Fingerprint powder and tear gas residue, if the company takes that work
- Packing the waste and hauling it away
Ask, because it varies
- Putting in new flooring, drywall or paint afterwards
- Replacing a forced door, a broken window or locks
- Sorting and packing the belongings of someone who has died
- Odor treatment for the rest of the house
Compensation
Crime victim compensation in the 8th Judicial District
Colorado has no single state fund. Each judicial district runs its own Crime Victim Compensation program, and you apply in the district where the crime took place. For a crime in Fort Collins that is the 8th, which covers Larimer and Jackson counties.
To qualify, the crime has to have been reported to law enforcement and the victim has to have cooperated reasonably with the investigation. By law the fund is the payer of last resort, so insurance and other sources are used first.
The 8th District program lists medical and counseling costs, lost wages, funeral expenses, and the repair of exterior doors, locks and windows damaged in the crime. Scene cleanup is not on that list. Call the administrator at (970) 498-7290 and ask whether your bill can be considered before you rely on it.
The Victim Services Unit at Fort Collins Police Services, (970) 224-6089, can walk you through the application.
Questions about crime scene cleanup
Do I have to wait for the trial before cleaning?
No. What matters is the release of the scene, which usually comes long before any court date. If a detective asks you to hold off, do so, and ask when you can go ahead.
Will the neighbors know?
You can ask the company how its workers and vehicles will look when they arrive and how waste is carried out. Raise it on the phone if privacy matters to you.
It happened at my business. Is that different?
The cleaning is much the same. What differs is who is responsible: an employer should not assign it to staff. See blood and bodily fluids for what OSHA expects.