Homicide Cleanup
Once the investigation ends, contaminated materials, blood and tissue are cleared during homicide cleanup.
See homicide cleanupGet blood, body fluids, fingerprint powder and odor removed from a home, apartment, rental or business in North Druid Hills once police release the property. Most crime scene cleanups take one to three days.
Crime scene cleanup is the process of making a property safe to use following a violent crime. Tissue, body fluids, contaminated materials and blood are taken away, and the area is then disinfected and cleared of odor. Forensic cleaning and trauma scene cleanup are other names for this work.
It starts where the investigation ends. Police, detectives and the medical examiner or coroner collect evidence and remove the deceased, but they do not clean. The scene is released to the property owner, the family or the landlord, and the cleanup becomes their responsibility.
Every trace of blood is treated as infectious by a forensic clean up crew. These workers are also known as forensic or crime scene cleaners. They follow its path, take out materials that cannot be disinfected, treat and clean all surfaces, then transport hazardous material according to medical waste rules. This complete work is a type of biohazard remediation.

Before work begins, you learn the process and cost factors so your family can choose what is right.
You can call during the day or overnight, and unmarked vehicles help keep the situation private from neighbors.
Crews separate your keepsakes, documents and photos, and ask you before discarding any of them.
Photos, scope and waste records are ready for insurance companies and landlords, so you can move forward.
A violent event may create a need for crime scene cleaning services when body fluids or blood remain. These situations commonly include:
Blood and tissue spread across floors, walls and furniture, often into more than one room.
Broken glass with blood, damaged doors and fingerprint powder throughout the home.
A standoff may leave tear gas or pepper spray deposits across ductwork, textiles and wall surfaces.
Family members can avoid seeing the scene when cleanup is done privately.
The first hours matter for your health, your insurance claim and the final cost. Before the cleanup technicians arrive:
Call (888) 440-9227Published cost guides put most residential crime scene cleanups between $1,500 and $7,500. Most crime scene cleanup companies price by the job, not the hour. A small area of surface blood can cost less, and scenes where blood reached the subfloor or several rooms can pass $10,000. The final price is set after the on-site assessment.
These ranges come from published national cost guides, not from a site visit. The price for your property is set after the on-site assessment, and you hear it before work starts.
Ask about cost: (888) 440-9227Crime scene cleanup coverage is determined by the terms in your renters or homeowners policy. The loss may qualify as sudden and accidental, subject to your deductible.
Ask whether biohazard cleanup is covered, whether you can choose the cleanup company and what photos or records the adjuster needs.
Property owners typically pay for and organize crime scene cleanup in shared areas and rental homes.
After a violent crime, coverage is based on the terms in your renters or homeowners policy. Make the event report quickly, then write down your claim number.
Victims of violent crime can ask the Georgia Crime Victims Compensation Program, run by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, about crime scene cleanup. The program lists crime scene sanitization among eligible expenses. Insurance is usually checked first.
Every crime scene is different, but the crime scene cleanup process, often called the remediation process, follows the same safe order through the entire process, from the first walk-through to the final inspection.
You or your representative walks through the area with technicians, who document it in photos and settle the scope before cleaning begins.
Plastic barriers and negative air isolate the affected area while technicians use complete personal protective equipment.
Crews cut away soaked mattresses, furniture, carpet, pad and drywall, then bag and seal them as medical waste.
Technicians clean every surface before using hospital-grade disinfectant registered by the EPA for its required contact time.
Odors are addressed where they begin with air scrubbers, ozone or hydroxyl machines, while HVAC vents receive inspection.
Tracking documents accompany closed containers to a medical waste facility that is permitted to receive them.
Surfaces can be checked with ATP testing, and you get photos and records for your insurance claim.
After cleanup, replacement drywall and flooring may be installed by your contractor or the insurance company's vendor.
Call any hour. Your crime scene cleanup specialist answers the phone, describes what happens next and works with you on a start time.
Blood and bodily fluids can carry serious health risks, and the contamination you can see is rarely all of it.
Blood can contain HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B. According to the CDC, hepatitis B remains viable on surfaces for at least seven days, including when blood appears dry.
You may find it deeply difficult to clean where someone close to you was harmed. Many families choose professional crime scene cleaners for that reason alone.
Medical waste rules apply to soaked materials. Disposal in home trash or dumpsters is not allowed, so an approved treatment facility must receive them.
Can you clean it yourself? A few drops of fresh blood on a hard, non-porous surface can be cleaned with gloves and an EPA-registered disinfectant. Anything that reached fabric, carpet, wood or drywall, or any amount you cannot see the edges of, needs professional cleanup.
Blood-soaked material has to be removed, while material that allows complete disinfection can be cleaned.

Most crime scene cleanups take one to three days on site. A small, recent scene can be finished in a day, while heavy scenes with structural removal take two to five days.
| Scene | Typical time on site |
|---|---|
| Light scene, one area | Often one to two days |
| A common scene across one to two rooms | Often one to three days |
| Heavy scene, several rooms or subfloor removal | Often two to five days |
Odor removal starts with removing the source. Spraying fragrance over blood or tissue only hides the smell for a few days.
Once contaminated materials have been removed, HEPA air scrubbers can capture particles. The cleanup team may run hydroxyl generators safely with people present, or use ozone in empty rooms when odor persists. Thermal fogging can enter wall cavities and fabrics, while checks of HVAC ductwork help keep the smell from moving into other rooms.
The full crime scene cleanup guide covers what is cleaned or removed, odor and air quality work, and the rules that apply in DeKalb County and Georgia.
Read the full crime scene cleanup guide
Containment, entry and cleanup plans can be influenced by local housing, population and access details.
Rental housing accounts for 58.4% of homes here, making careful records useful when responsibility for damaged materials must be sorted out.
Homes with a median construction year of 1985 may contain layered renovations that hide affected materials beneath newer finishes.
The local count of seniors living alone is 898, so a cleanup plan may need input from someone managing the home remotely.
The local housing stock is 37.9% single-family, making discreet equipment routes important in buildings with shared entrances.
During your call, ask whether cleanup is available in surrounding communities and ZIP codes.
Once the investigation ends, contaminated materials, blood and tissue are cleared during homicide cleanup.
See homicide cleanup
Careful, private suicide cleanup keeps family members from having to confront the scene.
See suicide cleanup
Trauma scene cleanup after accidents, injuries and violent events.
See trauma scene cleanup
Blood cleanup on carpet, hard floors, walls and furniture with safe disposal.
See blood cleanup
When a death remains undiscovered for days, cleanup addresses decomposition and controls odors.
See unattended death cleanup
Death odor removal at the source with air scrubbers, hydroxyl and ozone treatment.
See death odor removal
Hoarding cleanup combines respectful sorting, removal and deep cleaning.
See hoarding cleanup
Sewage cleanup removes Category 3 black water from raw sewage, then disinfects and dries the area.
See raw sewage cleanupMost crime scenes require one to three days of on-site cleaning. One day may cover a light scene, and up to five days may be necessary for a heavy scene that includes removing subfloor.
Viruses including hepatitis B may remain viable for days in dry blood left on a surface. Approach dried blood just as you would fresh blood.
Whether coverage applies depends on your renters or homeowners policy, with a possible deductible. Call your insurer, report the event and ask about biohazard cleanup coverage.
Law enforcement and the medical examiner or coroner remove evidence and the deceased without cleaning the property. The family, landlord or property owner generally arranges crime scene cleanup through professional crime scene cleaners.
The cleaning process for cleaning crime scenes includes isolation, soaked material removal, surface cleaning and disinfection, odor control and medical waste disposal.
No. Law enforcement releases the scene once evidence is collected. Cleanup is the responsibility of the property owner or the person in charge of the property.
Respectful, discreet crime scene cleanup is available 24 hours a day, and crews arrive in unmarked vehicles.