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.
Usually I'm annoyed most often by people asking for things to be done immediately while ignoring a) that we are working on more cases than just theirs, b) that some processes take time, and/or c) that what their asking for isn't going to prove anything for them anyway.
As for fellow scientists, the worst offenses are a) finding typos in my reports and b) taking the last piece of cheesecake out of the communal fridge.
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I don't believe so, but I haven't done DNA analysis in 20 years so I'm not the best person to ask. I know there's an amylase test for saliva, but I don't know if it's used any more. And if you have a mixture I doubt it would be possible to tell what DNA is from what bodily fluid.
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Yes.
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I don’t know what you mean by pure math. Most crime scene work, fingerprints, tool marks, serology, might need regular adding and subtracting, but I don’t know of any field that uses calculus or algebra. DNA analysis uses a lot of statistics and ballistics and traffic accident investigation might use physics and geometry. But those are the only examples I can think of.
Best of luck!
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At my department I mostly work with fingerprints, analyzing and comparing fingerprints that I collect off pieces of evidence or pick up at crime scenes or ones that the officers submit after they collect them at crime scenes. I will also go to crime scenes, photograph, collect prints, items of evidence, maybe test for blood or collect samples of blood with sterile swabs. There’s also a lot of time spent writing up all this information in our reports and other paperwork. If I worked in DNA or ballistics or toxicology, I would probably spend all day in the lab doing those types of analysis. So it depends on where you work, what services they provide, and what your exact position is. I hope that helps!
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Departments have access to larger (county, state, sometimes federal) fingerprint databases, though it's still not like you see on TV. DNA analysts can now obtain a profile from 'touch DNA', someone simply touching an object. And video surveillance systems have become commonplace but also much easier to use with better clarity.
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Trace Evidence, my first book, was optioned and I wrote the screenplay for it. But the producers couldn’t sell it and had to give up. I’ve had nibbles on other books but nothing yet. I keep hoping!
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