Crime Scene Cleaner

If the crime happened to someone you love, we’re sorry you’re reading this at all. You’re likely juggling detectives, a funeral home, relatives who want updates, and maybe reporters, all while the worst room in your life sits behind police tape. Let us take that one thing completely off the list. When you’re the property owner rather than the family — a landlord, a store owner, a motel operator — the weight is different but real, and everything on this page applies to you too.

Do police clean up crime scenes?

No, they don’t, and nobody warns families about that. Detectives collect evidence, photograph everything, and clear out. What they leave behind is the aftermath itself — blood, print powder on every surface, sometimes tear gas residue or a door the entry team took apart — and every bit of it becomes the property owner’s responsibility the moment the tape comes down. The county doesn’t send anyone. Neither does the DA’s office. That’s the gap this company exists to fill.

And it’s a bigger gap than the obvious one. Fingerprint powder migrates into carpet and HVAC returns and does not vacuum out. Chemical agents used during an arrest keep burning eyes and throats weeks later if they’re not neutralized correctly. Broken glass and splintered door frames turn a secured scene into an unsecured building. Our crews handle the biological hazards first, then the investigation residue, then the practical damage. The place gets to be a home again, not a case number.

Who pays for crime scene cleanup?

Usually one of three sources, and often not you personally. First: property insurance. Most homeowners and commercial policies respond to crime damage the way they respond to any sudden loss, deductible applies, cleanup covered. Second: your state’s victim compensation fund. Every state operates one, funded largely by criminal fines, and crime scene cleanup is a listed reimbursable expense in most of them; families of homicide victims frequently qualify. Third, for rentals: the owner’s policy, with cost recovery questions settled later between insurers and courts, not by you tonight.

We work all three routes daily. We’ll tell you which fits, file the documentation each one demands, and bill the payer directly whenever the rules allow. Bring us nothing but a phone number and a case number. Paper is our department.

If insurance doesn’t cover everything, financing plans can help with unexpected costs. Whether your state’s fund helps pay is answered in the 50-state victim compensation guide.

How soon after police release the scene can cleanup start?

Within hours, if you want it that fast. The smart move is calling us before the release happens. We’ll gather the details, prep the crew, and coordinate with the detective or the property manager on timing, so the moment investigators sign off, work begins. Families who wait until after release typically lose one to three extra days just finding and vetting a company while the scene sits.

One caution from long experience: never let anyone start cleaning before the official release, no matter how eager they are to help. Disturbing an active scene can compromise the prosecution of the person who did this. Ask the lead detective for a clear go-ahead, get their card, and hand the rest to us. We know how to work alongside law enforcement because we do it constantly — including cleaning their own facilities and vehicles.

What the Crew Handles

• You speak to a person immediately — no phone tree, day or night.
• Blood and body fluids, removed fully rather than surface-cleaned. (Our full blood cleanup page explains what complete removal actually involves.)
• Fingerprint powder, luminol, and other investigation residues.
• Tear gas and pepper spray neutralization after tactical entries.
• Mattresses, carpet, drywall — anything contamination reached, removed as regulated medical waste.
• We document everything for your insurance claim and can bill your carrier directly.
• The scene is returned to a safe, livable condition — meeting OSHA and EPA standards.

No Spectacle. Ever.

A crime scene draws eyes like nothing else on a street, and the last thing your family needs is a second show. So we don’t provide one. Vans with no markings. Crew gear that goes on inside the building. Removal handled in plain sealed containers that could be holding anything. The onlookers who watched the police cars will watch us learn nothing. And if media attention is part of your situation, say so on the call; we’ve worked scenes with cameras across the street and we know how to be boring to watch.

We take these calls from everywhere in the US except California — small towns, big cities, and every county road between, at 844-326-6800. In the Puget Sound area, our crime scene cleaners in Seattle cover King County’s scene-release process in detail, and our Chicago crime scene cleanup page does the same for Cook County.

The First 24 Hours, and What Not to Do

If the scene is still active or unreleased, your job right now is smaller than it feels. Don’t enter beyond where police allow. Don’t clean anything, don’t move anything, don’t “tidy up” out of a need to do something with your hands — that need is real, but disturbing an unreleased scene can genuinely damage the case against whoever did this. Get the lead detective’s name and number. Ask them directly when the scene will be released and who to call for that confirmation. Then step back. That’s the whole assignment for now, and it’s enough.

Two more things worth doing early, when you have a spare minute and a steady enough hand. Locate your insurance information, or the property’s if you’re an owner, so we can start the claim the moment work is cleared. And write down the case number the moment anyone gives it to you — put it in your phone, because you’ll be asked for it repeatedly and grief does terrible things to memory. Everything else can wait until you’ve called us and let a calm voice organize the next steps with you.

What Sets Crime Scene Work Apart

A crime scene isn’t just a biohazard scene with police tape around it. The remediation core is the same as any biohazard cleanup service; what changes is everything around it. The contamination is layered in a way ordinary accidents aren’t. There’s the biological material, which is the part people expect. Then there’s the investigation residue: fingerprint powder that works into every porous surface, chemical developers, and sometimes the remnants of evidence collection where flooring or fixtures were cut away and taken. And there’s the entry damage — doors breached, windows broken, locks destroyed — that leaves a supposedly secured property standing open to the weather and to anyone who wanders by.

Each of those layers needs a different response, and doing them in the wrong order wastes work. We sequence it deliberately: biological hazards neutralized first so the space is safe to work in, then investigation residues cleaned from every surface they reached, then the practical repairs that make the building secure and livable again. By the end, there’s no biological trace, no gray powder haze on the baseboards, and no gap where a door used to hang. The property stops being a place something happened and goes back to being yours. Reaching that point is what the number at the top of this page is for: 844-326-6800.

What Families and Owners Ask

What does this kind of job cost?

It tracks the size of the scene and what the contamination touched, which is why our price comes after an assessment and in writing, never off a phone script. Between insurance and victim compensation funds, a large share of families pay little or nothing out of pocket. The same funding paths often apply to cleanup following an unattended death. We’ll give you a realistic picture before you commit to anything.

Can you work with our detective or property manager directly?

Yes, and we prefer it when you’re grieving. Give us the right names and numbers and we’ll coordinate scene release, building access, and scheduling without pulling you back into it.

Do we need to be there while you work?

No. Most families choose to stay away, and we encourage it. We’ll secure the property, send progress updates however you like them, and do a walkthrough with you at the end only if you want one.

What happens to personal items in the room?

Anything that can be safely cleaned and saved, we clean and save. Items released by investigators get inventoried; keepsakes get particular care. Nothing of your loved one’s is discarded without your decision.

Is there a deadline to file with a victim compensation fund?

Yes, and it varies by state — some funds require the crime be reported to police within a few days and the claim filed within a set window afterward. Because we work these funds constantly, we’ll flag your state’s deadlines early so a missed date doesn’t cost you reimbursement you were entitled to. Bring us the case number and we’ll help you move quickly.

What You Can Count On

• Every call reaches a live person, 24 hours a day — no menus, no waiting.
• Crews follow OSHA bloodborne pathogen rules and EPA cleanup standards on every scene.
• All biohazard waste leaves as regulated medical waste through fully licensed transport.
• We document the whole job for insurance and, where allowed, bill your carrier for you.
• No markings, no signage, no talk — total discretion is the default, not an upsell.
• Every job ends with verification testing, so ‘clean’ is a measurement, not an opinion.

What Families Say

Jamie was compassionate, professional, caring and easy to work with, yet clear with what he needed to do and conscious of safety. His crew were equally caring and professional.

Peggy H.

On Call Bio Team made a very hard event much easier. Without them, I do not know how I would have made it through this…

Christopher R.

Let Tonight Be the Handoff

You’ve already carried this further than anyone should have to. One call moves the entire cleanup — the scene, the paperwork, the coordination — onto our shoulders instead. 844-326-6800. A person will answer, and they will know exactly what to do.