Information for law enforcement

]Many of the deaths reported to our office are reported by members of law enforcement. Here is what you should know.

Reporting a death

Deaths are reported to our office's Intake Department. You can call our main phone at [phone]. Our office takes reports 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Please provide:

• Your name, rank, contact number, and your law enforcement agency
• Location of the death
• Circumstances of the injury or death
• If the deceased has decomposed
• If you are reporting from a local police department, explain whether you notified the state police detective unit
• The deceased's:
  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Address
  • Closest legal living relative
  • Medical history, if known

Intake staff will contact a medical examiner. The medical examiner will decide if our office will accept or decline the case.

If our office accepts the case:

• Our operations desk will be notified.
• Arrangements will be made to transport the deceased from the scene.
• You should fax [phone] or email all investigative reports of the death.
• We will decide if we will perform an autopsy. An autopsy is not performed on every accepted case.

If our office declines the case:

• We have no further involvement in the death.
• The closest legal living relative is responsible to contact a funeral home for arrangements.
• If you cannot find or contact the closest legal living relative, contact a funeral home. They will handle removing the deceased from the scene.
• If there is no closest legal living relative, the funeral director can contact the Department of Transitional Assistance to apply for assistance with the burial.

The Intake department can give you a list of funeral homes who will assist with these cases.

If you are aware of religious considerations that might impact how we examine or release the deceased, you should contact the Intake Department immediately.

Identification

• Please do not send family members to our office to identify the deceased. In most cases, it's not necessary for family to come to our office for identification.
  • If families have questions about identifying the deceased, refer them to a medicolegal investigator at [phone].

Reporting bones and tissue

• Report all known information to the Intake department.
• You should not bring bones and tissue to our office until directed to do so by a medical examiner or the forensic anthropologist.