Ellis County Sheriff’s Office achieves CSI IAI certification

ELLIS COUNTY – The deputies and staff at the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department are always working to make the department better under the direction of Ellis County Sheriff Brad Norman.

The most recent kudo goes to the department’s achievement of obtaining a Latent Print Examiner Certification by one of its investigators.

A statement from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department reported Ellis County Crime Scene Investigator Katie Cheek, who has been with the department seven years, obtained her Latent Print Examiner Certification through the International Association for Identification.

The International Association for Identification is the oldest and largest forensic professional association in the world.

Candidates for certification are required to undergo extensive training within their discipline, as well as a rigorous application and testing process.

“Although there are thousands of practicing Latent Print Examiners in the world, less than 1,000 of those are IAI certified,” the press release reported.

Cheek has been a Crime Scene Investigator and Latent Print Examiner with the department, now achieving her certification alongside her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and an undergraduate Criminalistics Certification from the University of North Texas.

She has also been employed at both the state and municipal levels within the field of forensic science.

In addition to completing an extensive two yearlong in-house training program with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Cheek has also completed approximately 1,000 specialized training hours throughout her career.