Police pioneer: CSI tech serves as first female program coordinator with drone team

Kim Breeden, senior crime scene investigation (CSI) technician, has worked with the Wilmington Police Department (WPD) for 22 years.

Breeden works alongside a second senior CSI technician, six civilian CSI investigators, and a sergeant who oversees the team. The Wilmington CSI team is female-dominated, Breeden said.

CSI technicians are responsible for crime scene photography, fingerprinting, evidence collection, report writing, and crime scene sketching.

“The purpose for all of this is for us to be able to go to court one day and testify to anything that we did,” Breeden said.

However, Breeden’s contributions to the Wilmington community extend beyond her primary responsibilities with the CSI department.

Pioneering the path for women in law enforcement, Breeden holds the distinction of being the first female Southeastern NC Air-Borne Law Enforcement (SABLE) Drone Program coordinator with the multi-agency team.

“There’s not a lot of females in the drone industry or in aircraft altogether,” Breeden said. “It’s amazing to be the first female [coordinator] here.”

Law enforcement officials from the Leland Police Department, the Wilmington Police Department, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wilmington Fire Department participate in collaboration. Officers from the Boiling Springs Police Department are set to join the team in the near future, Breeden said.

This position is a collateral duty for Breeden, meaning that her participation as program coordinator is entirely volunteer and in addition to her work as a CSI technician with WPD.

“It really is two full-time jobs,” Breeden said.

Breeden was part of the SABLE drone team for four years before taking over as program coordinator last year.

“I was in a spot that I was ready to learn something new,” Breeden said. “Opportunities presented themselves and I jumped in and took them.”

The SABLE drone team responds to search and rescues, traffic accidents, fires, and outdoor crime scenes when called out to help, Breeden said. Breeden also handles the administrative work for the team.

Beyond her roles with the SABLE and CSI teams, Breeden also participates in a variety of other additional collateral duties.

“I am a background investigator, so I do pre-employment background [checks],” Breeden said. “I’m also a general instructor...so I go out and teach.”

Breeden will take up a new role teaching criminalistics as an adjunct professor with Cape Fear Community College in January.

“I always joke and say I don’t know what I want to do in life when I grow up,” Breeden said. “I think I’ve just taken everything that I’ve done, and I can use it for when I retire, so I can go teach if I want to teach.”

Outside of her busy work schedule, Breeden still finds the time to pursue other personal interests.

She is heavily involved in the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, volunteering as service unit manager, troop leader, and running an annual weeklong summer camp.

“In [my] career [I] deal with a lot of negative...everything we see is negative,” Breeden said. “I wanted to balance my negative with a positive.”

Her leadership work with Girl Scouts provides her with skills she can apply to her career, Breeden said.

“It’s like these two worlds have combined for me,” Breeden said. “That’s what I love about the community engagement.”

Commenting on how she is able to manage her numerous roles and responsibilities within both her professional and personal life, Breeden said it’s something that just happens naturally.

“I don’t know how I do it, I just do it,” Breeden said. “I work all the time, but I don’t consider it work.”

Expressing pride in her accomplishments, the multifaceted CSI technician said she is thankful to those that have guided her along the way.

“I had really good supervisors and leaders and trainers,” Breeden said. “I just take the lead from them.”

Breeden attended Cape Fear Community College for her undergraduate degree and then studied in a CSI program with Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem.

She completed an internship with the Winston-Salem Police Department and was hired onto the CSI team with the department, where she worked for three-and-a-half years before returning to Wilmington.

“That was my first family,” Breeden said.

With more than 25 years of experience in her industry, Breeden provided advice to those embarking upon a similar career path working within law enforcement.

“If you have a passion for something...jump headfirst in,” Breeden said. “Don’t hold yourself back.”

Breeden said that from an early age, she had a clear conviction that she would work with law enforcement in some manner.

“I just love what I do,” Breeden said.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington Police Department CSI tech with drone team, Girl Scouts