Criminalist I

About the role

Criminalist I positions perform chemical, biological and physical analyses on narcotics, firearms, organic material and other substances involved in police investigations; prepare evidence for presentation in court; testify as expert witnesses; and perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Citizenship: Must be a United States citizen or have the current legal right to work in the United States.
• Education/Experience (meet ONE of the following):
  • Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college/university in Criminalistics, Forensic Science, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, Digital Forensics, or Computer Forensics.
  • Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college/university in Computer Science or a closely related physical or biological science AND one-year of full-time professional Criminalistics experience in ONE or more of the following areas:
    • Blood Alcohol Analysis
    • Computer Forensics
    • Crime Scene Reconstruction
    • Digital Forensics
    • Firearms Identification
    • Forensic Biology
    • Narcotic Analysis
    • Toxicological Analysis
    • Trace Evidence Analysis
• Coursework: 8 semester/12 quarter college-level units in general chemistry AND 3 semester/4 quarter college-level units in organic chemistry or biochemistry.
• License: A valid California Class C Driver License is required at the time of hire.

Qualifications

• Foreign degrees are acceptable if they have been evaluated and deemed to be equivalent to degrees from accredited institutions in the United States.
• A Master's Degree in Criminalistics or Forensic Science may be substituted for a MAXIMUM of ONE year of the required experience. However, a Master's Degree in Criminalistics or Forensic Science without a qualifying Bachelor's Degree is NOT qualifying.
• Experience performing comparative analysis of handwriting or latent prints ONLY is NOT considered qualifying.
• Additional qualifying experience may NOT be used to substitute for lack of the required education.
• City of San Diego employees using Out-of-Class Assignment (OCA) experience to qualify MUST submit written documentation signed by their appointing authority or payroll specialist, detailing the work performed, dates, and total number of qualifying OCA hours. OCA experience without the required documentation will NOT be considered.

Pay

Employees in job classifications represented by Municipal Employees Association (MEA) are scheduled to receive the following general wage increases: 3.5% effective 7/1/27, 2% effective 7/1/28, and 2% effective 1/1/29.

Eligible benefitted employees originally hired on or after July 10, 2021, will be automatically enrolled in the San Diego City Employees Retirement System (SDCERS).