Do the police clean up after a crime scene?

Responsibility for cleaning a crime scene rests with the property owner, occupier or their insurer, not with the police. The police secure and examine the scene, but they have no duty to restore it afterwards, and neither does the local authority in most cases. Families, landlords and letting agents are usually left to arrange the clean themselves once the scene is released.

A crime scene cannot be cleaned normally because blood and bodily fluids carry bloodborne pathogens such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, which are a genuine infection risk. Contamination often reaches under flooring, into grout and behind skirting, so surfaces must be decontaminated to a verified standard rather than simply wiped, and any porous materials that cannot be cleaned are removed. This overlaps closely with blood and trauma decontamination.

Waste from a crime scene is classed as clinical waste and must be removed by a registered waste carrier under the Environment Agency duty of care. Contaminated materials are bagged, tracked on a waste transfer or consignment note, and taken for licensed treatment, which is why the work is carried out by a specialist rather than a general cleaner.

Crime scene cleaning is often covered by household or commercial buildings insurance. Many policies include specialist cleaning after an incident, and a specialist contractor can usually liaise with the insurer and bill the claim directly, so the family is not left out of pocket at a difficult time.