Have you heard of CSI:EP? Unlike the popular TV crime series, Eden Prairie’s Crime Scene Unit (CSU) is real and deals with crimes that occur right here in Eden Prairie. Since its inception in 2005, the CSU has processed evidence in over 500 cases.
Prior to the establishment of the CSU, the EPPD relied upon the Hennepin County Crime Lab to collect evidence from crime scenes in Eden Prairie. Because Hennepin County was often busy processing evidence from other law enforcement agencies, we would typically have to wait for a long period of time until the Crime Lab could arrive on the scene. While waiting, our officers need to guard the scene, preventing them from answering other calls for service. Starting our own CSU using existing officers and detectives has allowed evidence to get collected more quickly and officers to get back on the street faster.
The CSU consists of 11 officers and investigators and two supervisors who have been specially trained to detect and collect forensic evidence including fingerprints, footprints, blood and DNA. In one recent case, a vehicle was recovered that was suspected in a burglary from an Eden Prairie business. The CSU used a special black powder to dust for fingerprints, found some full and partial prints, lifted the prints off of the vehicle with tape and then transferred them to a slide that was sent to the Hennepin County Crime Lab.
The Lab then uses a microscope to examine the prints and searches for matches in its database. There are currently several pending cases where evidence collected by the CSU will be presented in court in an effort to gain a conviction.
