The Business
Crime-scene clean-up companies might also handle tasks like cleaning up a chemical spill at a factory, disposing of a mouse (that may or may not be carrying the hantavirus) rotting in someone's wall, asbestos removal from an office building and getting a "garbage house" back up to code. A garbage house is a (typically rented) house or apartment that the tenants basically used as a trash dump (and sometimes a giant toilet). |
Cleaning up crime scenes isn't just a business -- it's a lucrative business. These companies charge anywhere from $100 to $600 an hour depending on the "degree of trauma" and the amount of hazardous or biohazardous material the cleaners have to handle and dispose of. Cleaning up a homicide in a single room with a lot of blood can run from $1,000 to $3,000. This service is often covered under auto, homeowner's or business insurance, and many crime-scene clean-up companies will handle the insurance paperwork for their clients. In the case of homicide, the company usually sends the bill to the federal Crime Victim Reparations agency, which pays for the clean-up.
CTS Decon is a quickly growing field. There are about 300 companies in the United States doing this work. One of those companies, Neil Smithers' Crime Scene Cleaners, Inc., began in San Francisco in 1988 and has subcontractors in 18 states as of 2006. The San Francisco branch handles more than 400 jobs per year.
Of course, in a field that deals with tragic death, advertising and marketing can be tricky. Some companies choose the standard phone-book route, and many advertise on the side of their van. Others avoid mainstream methods entirely and focus on more discreet options, like passing out cards at service-industry functions (hotels and motels need clean-ups more often than any other business), funeral homes and police stations. "Marketing" a crime-scene clean-up business means getting to know police detectives, firefighters, paramedics and morticians, who will provide a list of cleaning services to survivors when it's requested.
While it's ultimately a business like any other, succeeding in this industry means understanding the sensitive nature of the work. Some clean-up companies provide a grief counselor at no cost if the family needs one, and others offer a sliding scale so people who don't have thousands of dollars in their bank account can still afford the service. In some communities, religious organizations help cover the cost of a crime-scene clean-up.
Some people call this growing field a social trend toward the commercialization of death, some call it simple capitalism and others call it a godsend. No matter how you look at it, if you ever end up with blood and brains all over your living room walls, you'll probably be relieved there's someone you can hire to clean it up.
For more information on crime-scene clean-up and related topics, check out the links on the next page.
