No business owner likes to consider the idea of a crime being committed in their store. We have nightmares about robbers breaking in in the middle of the night, holding our employees at gunpoint, stealing what weve worked so hard to build. But what do you do when the worst happens and your store becomes a crime scene?
Crime scene cleanup professionals can help you get your business back up and running after the police leave. Read on to learn more about these services and how they can help you recover after a crime.
Potential Impact of a Crime Scene
Before we dive into what crime scene cleanup is, lets talk some about the potential impact a crime scene can have on your business. A violent crime can leave your business a terrifying mess, especially depending on the circumstances of the crime. Damage may range from a little blood on the walls to bodily fluids seeping into your floors.
If a body gets left alone in your business for a long period of time, it can begin to release noxious gases and putrid liquids into your business. The flooring, walls, and surrounding furniture and products could absorb these odors and liquids. And blood and other biological materials can be difficult to remove completely from various surfaces.
What Is Crime Scene Cleanup?
Crime scene cleanup is a specialized industry that is trained in removing biological matter and remediating any damage caused to your structures. They come in after the police have taken all the samples they need and remove any remaining evidence from the scene. This job is challenging and can include everything from finding and cleaning up spots of blood to removing brain matter from surfaces.
In business settings, crime scene cleanup is designed to help you save as many of your structures as possible and get your business ready to reopen. They handle odor concerns, repair damaged structures, and ensure that no customer is going to find a spot of blood hidden on one of your shelves. In some cases, a crime scene cleaner may need to replace sections of carpet or walls.
Why You Should Hire Professionals
Some thrifty business owners may look at a crime scene and be tempted to tackle the cleanup themselves. But if youve ever watched a true crime show, youll know its almost impossible to remove every speck of evidence from a scene. There will always be one leftover spot of blood or a bit of brain matter that can traumatize your customers.
Crime scene cleanup crews are trained in how to find all of these spots of evidence and remove them. They have specialized chemicals designed to tackle biological materials, and they wear heavy-duty PPE to protect them from biohazards. These crews work quickly so you can reopen as soon as possible and move on with your life.
Remove Biologic Matter
One of the primary things crime scene cleaners do is to remove any biological material from your business. Most commonly, especially in the case of violent crimes, this involves cleaning up blood. These professionals have special cleaners that help them find and disinfect blood before removing it from any walls, floors, or furniture.
Sometimes crime scenes may also involve other biological materials, including brain matter, feces, urine, or even putrefaction liquids. These can seep into your floors and surrounding fixtures and can be extremely difficult to remove. Crime scene cleaning services have the tools needed to tackle these materials and ensure your business is safe and clean.
Replace Damaged Materials
In some cases, parts of your walls or floors may be too damaged to salvage and restore. This is most common in the case of liquefaction, which can pose structural damage, in addition to lingering odors. When this is the case, crime scene cleanup professionals can replace the damaged section and ensure it blends with the rest of your décor.
Handle Odors
If a body is allowed to sit for long periods of time, it can start to putrefy and will begin to smell. Over time, that smell can seep into your carpets, walls, and business fixtures. Trying to get rid of that smell on your own can be difficult or impossible, and you cant continue doing business with it hanging around.
Crime scene cleaning professionals are trained in odor remediation techniques. They can remove any materials that could be the source of the smell and use special cleaning agents to deodorize your remaining fixtures. With their help, youll be getting your business back to normal in no time.
What They Dont Cover
It is important to note that while crime scene cleaners can handle the biological damage from a crime, they are not responsible for restoring every piece of your business to mint condition. For instance, if any displays or windows got broken during the crime, they arent responsible for replacing those. You should talk to your insurance agent about dealing with any structural damage that happened during the crime itself.
Crime scene cleaners are also not responsible for addressing or replacing any products that got damaged, destroyed, or lost during the commission of a crime. They focus on cleaning up biological waste left behind and fixing damage to your building itself. Your business insurance should cover other damage and repairs.
Get Help with Crime Scene Cleanup
When the worst happens and a crime is committed in your business, you shouldnt have to deal with the cleanup on your own. Crime scene cleanup professionals know how to get your business back to normal as soon as possible. With their help, none of your future customers ever need to know what happened in your business; your future will be clean.
If youd like help cleaning up a crime scene, check out the rest of our site at Spaulding Decon. We clean up lifes accidents, from crime scenes and drug labs to hoarding situations and more. Find a location near you today and start getting your life back to normal more quickly.