Lake Charles --
The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office Dive Team will complete an Underwater Criminal Investigators course today. The CPSO Dive Team will be the first dive team in the state of Louisiana to be certified as Underwater Criminal Investigators. CPSO Sgt. Ryan Mareno is one of only three instructors in the United States who can certify divers as UCI Divers.
The Underwater Criminal Investigators Course is UCI's foundation course designed to give divers the knowledge, skills, and abilities to succeed and survive as a true professional Underwater Criminal Investigator. It is a four day hands-on training program that involves one day of classroom and three days of intensive open-water training. This course prepares divers by building their search skills, molding them into a true recovery diver. The focus is on developing their underwater recovery skills which in turn increases their comfort level and their contribution to the search. UCI divers become a part of the investigation; a contributor to the case; and a part of the investigative team.
Topics included in the four day course are 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, Nonmetal Evidence Preservation, Fingerprints, Body movement in Water, Body Recovery in Water, Chemical and Polluted Water Diving, Light and Heavy Salvage, Vehicle Recovery, Case Preparation, and Courtroom Testimony.