I know it's hard in rural America, but really...

[elfs]

Crime Scene Clean-up

I won't tell you where this photo was taken, other than to point out the obvious, that the US phone number indicates an area code on the Washington State peninsula, but isn't this a great photograph? The house with its peeling paint and boarded up windows looks like something out of a Stephen King movie, and the sign is just a lovely focus, especially with that bold-faced addition on the bottom: CRIME SCENE CLEAN-UP. I know it's an important business, but do you put it on your billboard? That seems to me the sort of thing that you put in your Yellow pages ad, not your billboard. It's not as if crime scene clean-up is a spur of the moment, "Oh, I should stop in there. I have a crime scene I've needed cleaning for a couple of weeks" thing.

Comments

[shadowfey.livejournal.com]

Actually, there is another reason why they do billboards; the people who do crime scene cleanups also handle cleaning up after suicides and homicides and the like. There's just little as painful as after the scene's released, having to go clean your dead loved one's bone and goo. Chances are you won't be in a good frame of mind to go 'I know, let's look in the yellow pages for this!' So they do billboards and stuff so that if you DO need 'em, you might have seen their ad beforehand.

This information brought to you by tawdry mystery reader #375.

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't also suggest that the Police know about them, and not for bad reasons?

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

Can the police ethically recommend a specific business? I honestly don't know.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

In most cases, they are expressly forbidden from doing so.

[shadowfey.livejournal.com]

Yep, the police do know about them, and may call them in, but that varies from town to town. In some police stations they cannot make a referral because it may seem preferential, for example. With as lawsuit-happy as America's gotten, it's a thorny topic. So while the police /might/ refer people, advertising still remains important.

[(Anonymous)]

No, but the police can suggest you could look them up. Letting you know they exist is probably just as valuable.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, it is a business that is necessary and thus needs to be advertised. In the cases of most crime scenes, one is dealing with bio-hazardous waste, and there are specific laws in place as to how it's to be dealt with. Advertising like this may not be the greatest of taste, but in many localities, there's no other method available and the only way they can get business is by listening in on the police calls.