The Photographic Unit is responsible for photographic services to the Department, and is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The staff of 46 employees includes 23 field photographers, 10 laboratory technicians, seven clerical employees, and six supervisors.
Field Unit The Field Unit is responsible for documenting crime scenes and their follow-up investigations. In 2001, the Field Unit responded to 5,700 field calls, 656 of which were homicides. With the exception of aerial photographs, all field photography is captured on film.
Color Unit The Color Unit is responsible for the development and printing of film exposed by the Field Unit and other Department personnel. In 2001, the Unit developed 34,000 rolls of film and printed 1,062,336 photographs. In addition to conventional film based photographs, the Color Unit processes digital image files. Currently, the Unit has state-of-the-art image processing hardware and is able to accept any form of digital media for printing and storage. This Unit is staffed on all watches, Monday through Friday.
Office Unit Located in Parker Center, the Office Unit is staffed on all watches, Monday through Friday. There are approximately eight million negatives on file and it is the responsibility of the Office Unit to manage these files. In 2001, the Unit received 26,455 requests for photographic services.
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