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.
Titles and job requirements aren't uniform, so the only way to know is to call the crime labs in your area or whereever you might be interested in working and ask them. At the coroner's office we had to have at least a bachelor's in a natural science (this was before they had forensic science majors). At the police department where I am now, they only require a high school diploma but you get more points in the interviewing process for having a four year degree, so we all have one. You can also go on the websites for professional organizations such as the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and check out their job vacancy postings and see what the various positions require. As for determining which area, I would suggest you visit crime labs in the area to see what they do and talk to the people working there. Good luck!
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I'm sorry but I have absolutely no idea. I didn't know there was a cost. I would have guessed that their attorney could request a court order to do so from the judge and the police agency that has the print would take care of it, but I really don't know. Sorry I can't be more help.
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What does that have to do with forensics?
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My job isn't like TV--I'm not involved in every single aspect of the investigation. My job is to provide forensic support to the detectives, so in any given case I estimate I know perhaps 20% of the overall information relating to the crime. I don't know what witnesses, victims, suspects have said, what financial or phone records might show, etc. etc. The detectives would probably tell me if I asked, but I'm usually too busy with all the other cases to ask.
Who to arrest and who to prosecute is up to the detectives and the prosecutors. They don't ask my opinion, and in light of the first paragraph, I probably couldn't give them an informed one.
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Before I worked in forensics, I was a personnel secretary, a hotel maid, and an ice cream counter server and a gas station 'full service specialist'. My husband is an elevator field engineer. There is 'politics' in every profession. Every. Single. One.
Best of luck!
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That's an excellent question that unfortunately I can't answer. One probably would use it, but back when I did hairs and fibers it was generally thought that the only way was to extract the dye and do thin-layer chromatography, which we didn't have. We also didn't have a Ramen, so all I could do was microscopic comparison.
Best of luck!
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I would fingerprint around all the damaged areas and the handles, and possibly collect a sample of paint in case the suspect’s keys were found (provided the state lab would do FTIR analysis on a non-violent case). And of course we’d check for any video cameras in the area that might cover the parking lot. And measure the width of the holes in the tires in case the suspect’s knife was located.
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