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What we build · Public safety
Crime scene and forensic units
A crime scene unit brings the evidence technician’s bench, storage and lighting to the scene, and keeps every item secure and documented on the way back to the lab. High Level Enterprises builds crime scene investigation vehicles and forensic trailers for police and sheriff’s departments, state crime labs and medical examiners, on the same line that builds its mobile command centers and prisoner transport vehicles.
Who buys a crime scene unit
- Police and sheriff’s departments — scene processing without sending evidence back and forth.
- State crime labs and regional task forces — a shared unit that covers several counties.
- Medical examiners and coroners — scene work and transport support.
What HLE builds into a crime scene unit
- Work and evidence space — work counters, locking evidence storage and drying cabinets, sinks and supply storage.
- Light and power — scene lighting, a light mast, generator and shore power, and power for cameras and lab equipment.
- Documentation and comms — a workstation with connectivity for reports and photographs, radios and camera monitors.
- Exterior — awning, compartments for scene gear, and graphics from the HLE graphics department.
Platforms
Vans, cutaways, medium-duty trucks and HLE-built trailers. The mobile command plans in the library are a good starting layout.
How this unit is built
The construction column for a crime scene unit
What HLE does, and what to ask any builder before you compare quotes. The full column is on How we build it.
What HLE builds
1.5 in square steel tube cage, welded, powder-coated before the body goes on. Foam insulation cut to each cavity, not stuffed.
What to check on any proposal
Ask for the tube section and whether the cage is coated before or after assembly. "Steel frame" says neither.
What HLE builds
One-piece pressure-laminated sidewalls with no horizontal seam. Windows cut from the panel.
What to check on any proposal
How many pieces is the sidewall, and where do the seams fall? Every seam is a future leak.
What HLE builds
Harnesses built in HLE's own shop with marine-grade connectors, every circuit labeled at both ends, a panel drawing delivered with the unit.
What to check on any proposal
Ask for the panel drawing before delivery. If they cannot produce one, the next technician cannot either.
What HLE builds
Every unit through the rain booth: at least 15 minutes under full spray with a person inside looking for water, then straight into a road test with someone inside still watching for leaks.
What to check on any proposal
Ask whether every unit is water-tested and how. A hose in the yard is not a test.
Common questions
What sheriffs and fleet managers ask first
Can you build to our department's evidence procedures?
Yes. Tell us how evidence moves from the scene to the lab and HLE engineering lays out the storage and work areas around it.
Can it double as a command post?
Yes. Workstations, radios and a conference area can share the unit; see mobile command centers.
Request a proposal
Tell us the vehicle. We tell you what it costs and what to attach.
Pick a plan or describe the program. Say whether you need a price, a bid package, a grant kit or a formal proposal. A person at HLE reads every request; nothing goes to a queue.
Or call 574-343-2150, 7:30 to 4:30 Eastern, and ask for Tabatha.