THOMASVILLE — Thomas County’s new coroner and local law enforcement officers are on the same page about crime scene protocol.

Don Shiver, local funeral home owner, was elected coroner in November, ousting Sam Brown, former longtime coroner.

On Sunday, Shiver’s first day on the job, he responded to a traffic fatality and to a death at a residence in the city.

On Tuesday morning, the new coroner was getting his Thomas County Judicial Center office in order and meeting with prospective deputy coroner candidates.

In addition to meeting with local Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, Shiver has met with Thomas County Sheriff’s Office investigators and Thomasville Police Department detectives.

Shiver and officers discussed death crime scene protocol from the time law enforcement officers arrive until crime scene personnel’s gathering of evidence is finished.

Said Shiver, “We have to let them complete their job at the crime scene before we can complete ours.”

It is imperative to preserve a crime scene, said Lt. Tim Watkins, Thomas County Sheriff’s Office chief investigator, adding that law enforcement officers and the coroner document a crime scene.

The sheriff’s office will work with Shiver to accomplish what needs to be done.

Law enforcement is concerned about fingerprints, DNA and fiber, along with other aspects, of a crime scene, Watkins explained.

“The scene belongs to us. He is more in charge of the body,” Watkins said.

A body is not touched until all evidence is collected and documented, then law enforcement officers and the coroner examine the body.

Until a crime scene is preserved “as is,” nothing should be touched in a death investigation, Capt. Maurice Holmes, Thomasville Police Department Criminal Investigations Division commander, said.

The protocol is necessary when a death is suspicious or unattended.

In the past, Holmes said, things were moved before law enforcement personnel arrived at a crime scene and completed that part of the investigation.

“That can always compromise the case,” Holmes said.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820