Crime scene cleaner: a grim job, but somebody's got to do it
Charlene Archibald vomits at the sight of a rubbish bin, but is ready to clean up a gory crime scene.
Crime scene tape
Bruce Whitfield speaks to Charlene Archibald, co-founder of Crime Scene Clean Up.
In South Africa, the tragic reality is that we've got a very high rate of violent crime.
There are thousands of gory crime scenes all over the country, in homes, work places and public spaces.
Violent crimes ranging from brutal rapes, to gunshot victims and the blood splatter from gruesome stabbings.
She's always had to clean up the scene following a suicide.
After the crime scene investigators collect all the evidence needed to hunt down the suspects, those crime scenes need to be cleaned up, because life needs to go back to 'normal'.
Charlene Archibald is the co-founder of Crime Scene Clean Up, and tasked with wiping away all traces of the most heinous crimes.
"I really like cleaning. Obviously my house is really clean, and having OCD really helps a lot. So you see a mess and clean it."
- Charlene Archibald, co-founder - Crime Scene Clean Up
Speaking to Bruce Whitfield on The Money Show, she explains how the idea came about to start this unique business.
"So initially I was not going to do this at all, I was just going to be admin, and they kind of just pushed me to just have a look at the scene, and I thought, this isn't that bad...."
- Charlene Archibald, co-founder - Crime Scene Clean Up
"We thought about it. Did some reading and we decided this is what we want to do, and this is how we're going to help people as well."
- Charlene Archibald, co-founder - Crime Scene Clean Up
Archibald and her business partner bought into an existing franchise where they learnt the ins-and-outs of the job.
She explains how she was trained by experts, who used pig's blood to mimic a grisly crime scene.
"When you buy the franchise you automatically get training. The training entails a mock-up scene where they use pig's blood, because it's the only thing that works basically the same as human blood. It will settle in the same way"
- Charlene Archibald, co-founder - Crime Scene Clean Up
Archibald says she knows it's a macabre job, but in the end she sees it rather as a service she's providing to the families of victims who are reeling from a horrifying ordeal.
Cleaning up the scene following a suicide is also something difficult to do.
"I also think of the family that's left behind. I always try and tell them that they're not really the victim."
- Charlene Archibald, co-founder - Crime Scene Clean Up
Listen to the interview for more.