What are a crime scene photographer's ties to a police department? Are they freelance or full employees?

Question

What are a crime scene photographer's ties to a police department? Are they freelance or full employees?

Answer 1

depends on the department. In some areas, the crime scene photographer is a police officer who has taken a special class. Others they hire a photographer. Sometimes they're a sub-contractor.  

Answer 2

Whenever I've seen them in cases, they're just uniform cops.  I've had a DA investigator return to the scene of a crime once and run video, but those guys are just plainclothes cops.

Answer 3

They are part of the police department as Crime Scene Investigators