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Underwater Criminal Investigator

The Underwater Criminal Investigators course is UCI's foundation course designed to give you the knowledge, skills and abilities to succeed and survive as a true, professional Underwater Criminal Investigator. It is a 4-day hands-on training program that involves 1 day of classroom and 3 days of intensive open-water training, including searching for real evidence underwater. This is the only training company that does it!

UCI courses are not easy—they challenge your diving skills, while teaching “real world” recovery techniques that were developed over 35 years and thousands of underwater crime-scene recovery operations. With this as our foundation, UCI integrates real missions, recovering real criminal evidence as part of the training!

After the completion of the course, the students are certified through UCI and PADI, the largest training agency in the world. This is so the training you receive will contribute to both your professional and recreational diver portfolio.

Topic's include:

  • Overview of Public Safety Diving/Underwater Criminal Investigations

  • Performance Base Training

  • Liability Issues for the Public Safety Diver

  • Diver Readiness

  • Equipment Readiness

  • Information Readiness

  • Establishing a Crime Scene

  • Interview Techniques

  • Crime-scene Photography and Sketching

  • Advanced Underwater Communications

  • Medical Aspects

  • Search Patterns

  • Location and Marking Evidence

  • Evidence Recovery and Preservation

  • The Oxidation Process

  • Metal Preservation

  • Non-metal Evidence Preservation

  • Fingerprints

  • Body movement in Water

  • Body Recovery in Water

  • Chemical and Polluted Water Diving

  • Light and Heavy Salvage

  • Vehicle Recovery

  • Case Preparation

  • Courtroom Testimony and more!

This course prepares you by building up your search skills, molding you into a true recovery diver. Our focus is on developing your underwater recovery skills, which in turn, increases your comfort level and your contribution to the search. This level of training can actually change an entire team's attitude, confidence and abilities to serve their communities.

There's a lot behind the making of a true ”Underwater Criminal Investigator.” We believe the stronger your foundation, the better prepared you will be for what awaits in this ever changing and demanding underwater field. Our goal at UCI is to make you a part of the investigation; a contributor to the case; and a part of the investigative team. Not just someone that's called because you have scuba gear.   

To attend the training, you must meet the following prerequisites:

  • You need to be an Advanced Open Water or equivalent diver with any nationally recognized diving agency or a military or commercial diver.

  • You need to be 18 years old or older

  • And a member of a law enforcement, fire, or rescue department or if you are in a position to assist your community, state or government in underwater criminal investigations or with other public safety diving assignments.

 

Students must supply their own scuba gear including full wet suit (or dry) with hood, gloves and two tanks. You can wear a full-face mask or half-mask. No electronic communication due to the rope pull and hand squeeze training. All search-and-recovery equipment will be provided.

Click here for the complete list of UCI courses.

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