The Sul Ross Department of Homeland Security and Criminal Justice hosted a Certified Evidence Collection Specialist Train the Trainers program for the U.S. Border Patrol-Big Bend Sector in March.

Alongside trainers from the USBP Rio Grande Valley Regional Crime Laboratory in Edinburg, agents from the Big Bend Sector participated in classroom and mock crime scene hands-on training, covering various topics such as safety, evidence handling, documentation, proper packaging of physical evidence, chain of custody issues, fingerprinting, macrophotography, vehicle searches and stash house searches.

The training was aimed not only at creating a sustainable cadre for establishing an evidence collection team in the region, but also at certifying agents who can educate and train their colleagues at their respective stations.

Dr. Oguzhan Basibuyuk, chair of the Sul Ross Department of Homeland Security and Criminal Justice, and Mr. Hugo Flores, a graduate student and graduate assistant in the department, also participated in the training and were certified as Evidence Collection Specialist Trainers.

For more information, email oguzhan.basibuyuk@sulross.edu.

Photo: Dr. Oguzhan Basibuyuk, chair of the Sul Ross Department of Homeland Security and Criminal Justice, demonstrates fingerprint collection on a vehicle.