A
man is found dead with a bullet wound in his chest. Who did it? Since there is
blood spatter, a gun, and tire depressions at the scene this question is best
left for the forensics and investigators. At this stage many people become
confused on proper procedures. Many believe that the scene will be investigated
by six people, who will collect the evidence, process the evidence at a lab,
question the suspects, and arrest the bad guys all in the space of about an
hour. I am so sorry to disappoint everyone out there that believes this to be
true because it’s not. Contrary to what
many people believe the processing and handling of evidence, the appearance and
workings of a corpse, and how forensic evidence is applied to the criminal justice
system in order to catch criminals, is not a quick six person job.
1. We have one job. We do not work with guns one minute, blood the next, and then cut up a body.
The processing
and handling of scenes and data fall onto the shoulders of a broad group of
forensic scientists. First there are those who process and handle a scene, these
scientists are known as Crime Scene Investigators(CSI's). They are responsible
for collecting and documenting evidence at crime scenes. Collecting this data
isn’t always easy. These scientists are the first to the scene, and CSIs see
everything. These scientists have to get into the gore at crime scene to
collect evidence without destroying the evidence in the process, or losing
their lunch for that matter. CSIs collect blood, fingerprints, fibers, and
objects connected to crimes that need to be analyzed. Everything that is taken
from a scene must be documented, including where it was found, what it is or
looks like, and the objects distance from the body or another main stationary
object. Everything at a scene will be photographed at least three different
times. There can be over a thousand photographs for one crime scene. Depending
on what evidence was found, the evidence will then go to a specific scientist
to be processed for further analysis. Blood will go to DNA analysts and
toxicologists, the DNA analysts will test for DNA matches, while the
toxicologists will look for drugs or other abnormal properties in the blood. Fingerprints
will go to, big surprise here; fingerprint analysts. These analysts will remove
fingerprints from objects, run fingerprints through the system, and compare
prints. If a firearm is involved the firearm will go to firearm analysts. These
firearm specialists can tell what kind of firearm that was used, where the
firearm was bought, where a person was standing when they shot the firearm, and
who or what the shooter was aiming for. These are just some of the things and
some of the forensic scientists involved in processing data from a crime scene,
and as this shows forensics is no, tight nit, six man team. There may be six
people in every category involved. Unlike television show processing data in
real life takes a lot longer than an hour. Getting this data can take weeks,
even months. This is because the test can be very long, and because there is
so much evidence to process, due to the large number of scenes and back log.
2. We do not carry a gun as part of our jobs.
3. We are scientists, not a negotiators nor interrogators.
4. My ability to make an arrest is the same as yours; a citizens arrest.
5. Tests take days/weeks/months not minutes.
6. I wish some of the machines that they use were real, unforgettably they are not.
7. Tests offer statistics, not certainty.
I could go on and on, but I will not. But, the next times some one informs you that they are a forensic scientist think twice before saying, "Oh, so your like one of those guys on "CSI" right?" .............. -.- "no"..
