Crime Scene Cleaners in Kansas City serves all of Kansas and Missouri. It’s a massive area for one company to cover, but our outreach is based on the fact that no other stand-alone companies handle the rural areas comprising most of each state.
Tear gas remediation is more challenging than some would think. Teargas has several chemical formulas that law enforcement uses, including a capstan-base (pepper) formula. Most are very effective against perpetrators who have sought refuge in a structure. Many times, the structure is an occupied home or an occupied business.
Most civilians think of the canister containing a gas that is released. This is not true. The canisters carry a power substance that off-gases very intensely. The power is also very fine and floats in the air as it’s being released under pressure.
The canisters are fired as projectiles, crashing through the windows of the home or business and propelling glass shards into the area. If no wall or other obstacle prevents the glass from flying through the air, it can reach a distance of twenty feet.
The canisters often hit a wall between the studs supporting the wall, break through the drywall, drop into the wall void, and continue to release the substance. Those canisters can’t do the intended job, and sometimes, as I’ve been told, that is why the officers shoot several canisters through the windows.
So, after the perpetrator has been caught, the scene is processed, and the next step is for the property owner to clean up. If the perpetrator didn’t own the home or business, the property insurance will usually kick in and cover the loss, less the deductible.
When we were kids, or if you’ve watched certain television shows where a kid throws or hits a ball through a window, they usually end up paying for a new window. But that’s not what happens. No contractor or insurance company will allow a contractor to clean up the glass and call it good. We’ve found over many years that no matter how hard you try to clean the glass shards from a carpet, a rug, and most upholstered furniture, you cannot guarantee that all the shards are gone and that there is no chance of someone being injured by the shards.
As a consequence of that knowledge, companies routinely pull the carpet and pad to throw it away. The same is true for some upholstered furniture. The walls containing the spent canister are cut and removed to clean and treat the wall void. Depending on how extensive the damage is, we will often perform a pack out of the contents to be cleaned and treated in a more controlled area.
The entire area of the home or business will be HEPA vacuumed and treated with a neutralizing agent. The HVAC system also has to be cleaned and neutralized. These areas usually receive one more wipe-down and a thorough inspection is performed.
This is how we have developed our protocols and procedures to properly decrease the teargas and collateral damage and make those areas functional again.
WRITTEN BY DON M. MCNULTY © 2024. THIS ARTICLE MAY BE REPUBLISHED IF CITED BELOW