Having your home become the scene of any violent crime can be an absolute nightmare. Not only do you have to deal with the emotional trauma of having had a crime committed against someone on your property, but you are also left to clean up the mess. (Police and investigators don't typically handle this part for you.) While homeowners do occasionally attempt to handle the after-crime cleanup themselves, this is not the smartest approach. You will likely be far better off paying a professional crime scene cleanup team to do the work. Here's why.

Crime Scenes Are Often Biohazards

Crime scenes usually have blood and possibly other bodily fluids around. Even after these fluids have sat for a while, they could be harboring infectious organisms, such as those that cause hepatitis B and HIV. Why expose yourself to such dangerous substances? When you hire professionals, they take on this associated risk. They have the experience, training, and equipment to protect themselves from the hazards present, and they have insurance to cover any costs if they do end up requiring medical care after the cleanup project.

Crime Scene Cleanup Teams Have the Right Equipment

If you start making a list of the equipment you'll need to do a truly thorough job of cleaning up the scene, you'll realize that the list can be pretty long. Between carpet shampooers, scrub brushes, and steam cleaners, the cost can be really high, too. Hiring a crime scene cleanup team will be a lot less expensive than buying, or even renting, all of the equipment needed to do a thorough cleanup job. And you won't need to figure out what to do with a bunch of equipment you'll never use again, either.

Crime Scene Cleanup Teams May Sanitize Better

A lot of cleaning agents that are sold for general residential use do not necessarily sanitize, especially when used on porous materials like carpet. However, professional cleanup companies have access to stronger, more effective cleaning compounds that should do a better job of killing germs. This way, you can be confident that your home is safe and free from bacteria and viruses when you return to it later. 

Crime Scene Cleanup Teams Dispose of Hazardous Materials Properly

You can't simply place blood-soaked rags or carpeting in the trash and expect the garbage company to take it away. It's not safe for them to handle, and it's not safe to dispose of in the landfill without prior treatment. Crime scene cleanup teams have special ways to dispose of such materials. Most have ongoing contracts with biohazard disposal companies, so they can just drop the debris off after cleaning up your home. You may struggle to find a biohazard company that will accept the crime scene remnants since someone showing up to the door with a bag of bloody materials seems a bit suspicious. 

Crime Scene Companies Prevent Cross-Contamination

When cleaning up a crime scene, it's pretty tough to avoid accidentally contaminating other areas of your home. Just one contaminated rag accidentally set on the kitchen floor can lead to germs spread through the home as soon as someone walks through the kitchen. Crime scene cleanup teams use techniques like sealing off the contaminated area with plastic to ensure the rest of your home stays clean and safe throughout the cleanup process.

Cleaning up after your home has been the site of a crime is difficult on many levels, but thankfully, it is not something you need to handle yourself. If the police have not already given you the names of reliable crime scene cleanup teams in your area, ask them for some recommendations. They can tell you who does the best work locally.