A Look at the 2017 California Homicide Investigator’s Association Conference

Whether it’s the great location or the fantastic people (or both), we’ll never tell!

For several years in a row, Aftermath has taken it’s show on the road out west, bringing valuable information on the subject of crime scene cleanup to the attendees of the California Homicide Investigators Association (CHIA) Conference. This year’s event, held at the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, boasted over 800 attendees – homicide detectives, coroner investigators, crime scene technicians and prosecutors attend from across the nation.

Aftermath’s National Director of Business Development, Stephen Brown, and Tony Cusinato, Senior Manager of Law Enforcement Relations, attended. “The feel of the show is always positive and there is a lot of sharing of best practices,” Stephen said.

What is CHIA?

According to the organization’s website, “the mission of the California Homicide Investigators Association (CHIA) is to provide investigative support, training and networking opportunities to homicide investigators, prosecutors and death investigation professionals throughout the Western United States.” Formed in 1968 following an informal meeting between Los Angeles and San Francisco detectives, the group now boasts over 3,000 members, including law enforcement representatives from throughout the United States and Canada.

Furthermore, CHIA characterizes the annual conference as the “cornerstone” of the organization. There are presentations on cases of importance to the law enforcement community, and training seminars on a variety of topics. The event “provides a fertile environment for networking, individual case evaluations and discussions regarding the latest investigative techniques and technologies with some of the top investigators and prosecutors in the country.”

In the Vendor Hall

In addition to seminars and training sessions, many attendees took time to visit the vendor hall.  Stephen and Tony received numerous questions about servicing jail cells and municipal/public property. Stephen explains: “We let everyone know that we can do those types of cleanings, but what differentiates us is that our primary focus is on helping families that have had a traumatic experience such as a homicide, suicide or unattended death in their home. We can dispatch quickly because we have both northern and southern California locations, and we provide families with a no obligation estimate. Also, we often can help families file a claim through their homeowners insurance to limit their out of pocket expense while properly remediating the biohazardous situation.”

“We also met over a dozen winners of our PPE giveaway contest and they all had great things to say. In fact, the vast majority had to use the kits in the line of their work and were very appreciative of having them.” This year’s attendees also had a chance to win – Stephen and Tony gave away a 5.11 Tactical Bag with a PPE kit at conference. The winner was Jason Vasquez of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

As a second-chance bonus, everyone that entered the drawing was also entered into our Spring PPE Giveaway. The online giveaway continues through March, so be sure to enter today and every day until 4/1!

Aftermath Supports Law Enforcement

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but we couldn’t keep our excitement about this great event to ourselves! “The conference was well organized,” Stephen said. “It was great to see attendees actively engaging with vendors. It helps us know we’re getting our message out there.”

Aftermath is a proud supporter of conferences like CHIA. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to showcase how our services help to aid families in traumatic and difficult situations.We also regularly sponsor contests like the Spring Giveaway and K9 Contest to show our appreciation for the hard work performed by first responders just like you.  If you are a member of law enforcement, check out our page for professionals to discover how we can help your department. We’re looking forward to meeting you this convention season!