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.
Sorry, but no. I’ve never been involved in the psychology of the suspects.Best of luck!
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That entirely depends upon what agency you work for. Some police department crime labs may have that requirement. Many, like mine, have civilian employees for forensic support. The only way to know is to call the place you might want to work at and ask. (Or check their website for job postings.)
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Any science major is a good thing. The requirements for each agency or lab vary, so if you have a particular location in which you wish to work, you might call all your potential employers and ask what the job requirements are. Then you can decide whether a science degree, a forensic science degree, a masters or a PhD would be best. Also check salaries and decide whether they are sufficient, and be prepared for a lot of competition.
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I'm sorry, but I have no idea. I don't work in digital forensics.
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We’ll hold the scene as long as we need to get everything done, and that could be a day or two or three, but for a kidnapping it probably wouldn’t be more than a day, just enough to collect all the victim’s stuff, and collect fingerprints, hairs, fibers, anything that might belong to the kidnapper. We eventually get tired and want to go home (though we can go and come back, so long as it hasn’t been ‘released’) and the police department don’t really want to hold it longer then absolutely necessary, because they have a cop or two sitting there doing nothing but guarding the scene, and it takes them off the road. Hope that helps!
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Luminal and dye stains just enhance or show you where things are, like blood or fingerprints. DNA analysis and fingerprint analysis are equally effective, so you use what you have. You might have DNA at a crime scene but no fingerprints, or vice versa. We don’t get a choice of what’s left at a crime scene, so we have to make the most of whatever is there. Given that, whatever is the most effective is whatever gives you information relevant to the crime. Say there’s a smear of the victim’s blood on the suspect’s shirt. The suspect tells police he found the body and tried to administer CPR. In that case, the DNA is very much there, but useless to solve the crime. If the suspect says he never met the victim and the same shirt is found in the suspect’s closet , then that’s very relevant to solving the crime.
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