For many of us, our knowledge of police photography extends as far as what we see on TV. Shows like CSI, and gritty courtroom dramas, where photographic evidence turns a case on a dime, have given us a view of the profession that suggests this work is as simple as turning up to a location and photographing the aftermath of crime.
And while this is a part of the job, the reality for the forensic photographers from the AFP’s Forensic Search and Imagery team is that no two days are ever the same.
The role can cover anything from assisting police in foreign countries with identifying the dead, to scanning plane wreckage, and photographing people for biometric comparisons.
Simone Reynolds, Team Leader at the AFP’s Canberra HQ describes her team as small and specialised, and ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice around Australia and the world. The team takes thousands of photographs each year.
Ultimately, she says, the role of the forensic photographer is to record objectively a scene, evidence, or a person.
“In the first instance, it is to create a visual record, captured at a specific moment in time, after the incident has occurred and before a detailed examination takes place. Then the examination and location of evidence is recorded in a systematic and methodical manner.”
