What You Didn’t Know About the Coroner’s Division… Although the Coroner’s Division is a place most people hope they will never have to visit, the reality for some is that they have made the long dreaded walk through a set of double doors to ask about loved ones who have passed. In January 2005 the Board of Supervisors merged the Sheriff’s Department and the Coroner’s Office, creating the title Sheriff-Coroner Department. The Coroner’s Division has five forensic pathologists, five supervisors, 17 coroner investigators, nine clerical staff, three deputy public administrators, eight autopsy assistants, and 30 volunteers, all of which make up a vital part of the division. The Coroner’s Division provides services for every law enforcement agency in the San Bernardino County, which include 15 stations that make up the Sheriff’s Department and 10 police departments. In 2013, the Coroner’s Division took 10,000 reports, and pathologists performed 1,705 autopsies. The Coroners Division also has a caseload involving nearly 700 unidentified persons, including an estimated 400 that date back as far as 1960. Cases are sometimes solved using DNA. The Coroner Division has even entered into an agreement with UCLA graduate students, who assist in the exhumation of long-buried bodies. DNA extracted from those decedents is sent to the state Department of Justice DNA lab for comparison. One might think the Coroner’s job is simply to determine cause of death. Not true, the Coroner is responsible for determining the cause of death, manner of death, verifying identity, notifying next of kin, and securing personal property. Many of these responsibilities are completed after the location of death has been investigated. More importantly, the Coroner’s Division has the responsibility of ensuring the deceased and their families are treated with the utmost dignity and respect. They must complete their investigations in a way that is sensitive to the nature of the crime while maintaining a level of professionalism and empathy. These are critical traits everyone working at the Coroner’s Division must possess. For more information about the Coroners Division you can visit their website at: cms.sbcounty.gov/sheriff/Divisions/Coroner.aspx
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:24:32 +0000
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