Dear Yahoo!:
What kind of salary does a crime scene investigator usually
earn?
Eleea
Crooksville, Ohio
Dear Eleea:
That depends. If you're an actor who plays one on television, you
can make a lot of money. "CSI" actor William Peterson reportedly
makes US$250,000 per episode.
Sadly, real crime scene investigators make much less than the fake
ones. This 2004 want ad from the city of Philadelphia offers a
starting salary of between US$38,733 and US$42,720 a year. The job
description entails "locating, gathering, documenting,
transporting, preserving and analyzing physical evidence from crime
scenes."
A quick scan of the job postings on Crime-Scene-Investigator.net
reveals a similar range of salaries. Starting CSIs in West Palm
Beach, Florida, make just over US$15 per hour. CSIs in Orange
County make between US$3,000 and US$4,000 a month.
What's required to become a crime scene investigator? If you want
to do lab work, you'll probably need a bachelor's degree in
science. Some crime scene technician positions accept only police
officers. Other jobs require only a GED certificate and some
vocational course work.
Lesson learned? If you want to be a CSI, do it for the challenge,
camaraderie, and satisfaction earned from fighting crime. But don't
do it for the money.
