LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
I”ve heard that rumor too, but I don’t see how it could possibly be true. Cause of death is decided by a myriad of different doctors. Generally it is signed by the doctor who was caring for the patient regarding the condition that led (or at least appeared to lead) to the death. If that is not clear, if the person wasn’t consistently under a doctor’s care or if, say, a cancer patient suffers a traumatic car accident, then cause could be determined by a different doctor. That could be a pathologist at the Medical Examiner’s Office, a cancer patient’s oncologist, an ill person’s regularly-visited doctor, the doctor on staff at a nursing home, a hospital doctor who’s been caring for the patient during a temporary stay, or even an emergency room doctor. In the past few months I’ve been called to a number of deaths and none of them were ruled as COVID cases.
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I try to make them realistic, but they’re not based on real cases. Except for Trail of Blood, which is partly about the unsolved Torso Murders in Cleveland in the 1930s.
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I don’t know what you mean by this. What is the disadvantage of working as a forensic scientist? Or what are the disadvantages of the existence of forensic scientists? Or what factors work against you when trying to obtain helpful information from evidence?
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We used to, but only when we were at crime scenes, we wouldn’t have it on all the time when we are in the office. But somehow they went to new ones and we didn’t get any and have done without them since.
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At my agency we’d be calling either Dispatch or, less likely, another person, in which case we’d use their badge number. What people call their dispatch unit, base, station, (we call them the name of the city, the first word in ‘such and such police department) probably depends on the habits of that particular agency. In other words there is no difference. Hope that helps!
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That depends on where you live or where you want to work. You can check job vacancy postings at local agencies, or if you’re willing to relocate then check vacancy postings on organization websites like American Academy of Forensic Science or International Association for Identification. That will give you an idea of what is available and what the requirements are. Best of luck!
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Take as many science courses as you can. Much depends on where you want to work and what you want to do. If you want to do DNA analysis and testify in court about it, you may need a PhD in genetics. If you want to work at crime scenes bagging and tagging evidence, you may need only a high school diploma, with added hireability for advanced degrees. The only way to know is to check job opening notices or call the agencies and ask. I would also suggest that you look for schools that have hands-on lab work with forensic topics such as fingerprints or crime scene work. Best of luck to you.
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