FBI dive teams conduct specialized training at Lake Mission Viejo, with focus on collecting evidence

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. (KABC) -- Lake Mission Viejo on Monday served as the backdrop for FBI crisis response teams taking part in hands-on training, focusing on crime scene investigations and evidence recovery.

Jeremy Creed, an FBI supervisor special agent, said the training mimics real-life situations that the teams would have to respond to.

"Getting all the teams together at one time with a larger picture helps them integrate better into the bigger team when they have an actual incident and we don't have time to really get people up to speed," Creed said.

Members of the agency's Crisis Response, Underwater Search Evidence Response and Operational Medicine teams worked together at different stations, collecting fingerprints and preserving evidence.

"Whether it be guns that have been tossed into a stagnant pool, a stagnant lake, something like that, pulling it out," Creed said, "and the evidence response team, getting practice and getting policy refreshers on how they bag it, how they label it, how it stays in the water, to make sure that it degrades at the appropriate rate where it's been held."

He said divers often have to work in tough conditions which include zero-visibility and freezing temperatures.

"They're going down there looking (and) using metal detectors, using sonar and things like that to locate items that would be pertinent to a terrorists attack, homicide, something like that," Creed said.

The dive recovery team is one of four across the country that can be deployed anywhere in the world if needed.

Whether working together or separately, each crisis response team helps keep the public safe, Creed said.

Although the joint training only happens once a year, each individual team does training quarterly, according to the FBI.