Evidence Searches – Halifax Search and Resuce

One of the least publicized, but most important tasks, for ground search teams like Halifax Search and Rescue are evidence searches. These can only be requested by Policy Authority.

Unlike the usual and far more frequent searches for human subjects, which certainly are time sensitive, the request for evidence searches can come as soon as hours or even years after an “event”.

Almost always the searchers are looking for an object rather than a human subject. That object is almost always related to a known or suspected crime. In the case of humans, the evidence search could occur years after the event and usually happens after a tip or new evidence has been provided.

The search could be looking for an object or, less likely, human remains (often bones or bone fragments). So, while this important task is not the “bread and butter” type of activity for search teams, they happen on a regular basis.

Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR) can put a large number of trained members into the field to do this type of grid searching. This relieves the police of the very time-consuming job of painstakingly looking for certain evidence. It is a very valuable service GSAR offers to police and from a fiscal point of view, the monetary value of an evidence search, relieving scores of officers from having to do the work, can be very substantial!