Anyone out there work in a crime lab?

[gshoemate]

We have one here in Orlando and I have always been interested in crime. I know it's not as glorious as CSI makes it look to be but I have some questions....can anyone help?

 

[cuterlt]

sent you a PM

 

[phillybeth]

Go ahead and ask, some other posters might be interested too. I will answer what I can.

 

[battricia]

I'm interested in whatever anyone has to offer too! Especially in forensic photography, etc. I have a bachelors degree in film and media arts, and have TONS of photography experience, both digital, film, and video. A few weeks ago we were driving through an area of the town I recently moved to, and saw a forensics lab and a huge police dept. I said to my boyfriend, 'I wonder how you become a forensic photographer, maybe I should send them my resume', and he said 'ah you probably have to have a degree in crime', so I put it out of my mind, until I saw this thread, so if anyone has info on this, please let me know. Thanks for making the thread, and thanks for the posters who answer questions.

tricia.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

A show question: What exactly does Greg do on CSI Vegas

 

[joats]

CourtasanSatine:
I believe Greg's title is lab technician. Usually DNA & substance testing. I don't know if this is what you meant. But I love GREG and love CSI!


check out this site
www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/main.shtml

 

[phillybeth]

I don't know too much about forensic photography. Where I work, the crime scene investigators take all the photographs and they are uniformed officers. I don't know who would do the pictures for the medical examiner or coroner. I doubt that it requires a four-year degree, although most other forensic fields do.
Greg must be a DNA analyst, no way would a lab technician in real life be given that degree of authority and autonomy. Lab techs can do almost everything a full-fledged forensic scientist does but they cannot draw conclusions, they can only report data.

And no, it's nowhere near as glamorous as CSI makes it look. Plus we are a lot more specialized. We rarely go to the crime scene, we hardly ever observe autopsies. And our cases can take years to go to trial, not days.

 

[Serena]

I've heard that lots of people are going into forensics and other classes because of the show. I find it interesting myself, and I love the show, but sometimes I have to turn away. lol

 

[gshoemate]

I'm interested in the latent prints side of it. I have alway been interested in criminal justice field but I don't want to be a police officer and I really can't handle blood, so I thought latent prints would be on the safe side. However, where would I start. I am assuming to get a job in this field you would need a degree but what type? I'm sure there is not a Latent Print degree and it seems like a degree in Criminal Justice really wouldn't help much. I have tried to research it online but haven't been able to find much information on it. I'm just confused....but that's normal Thanks for any info.

battricia, check online and see if the lab in your area has a website, you might be able to find info there as far as job openings and job requirements.

 

[phillybeth]

Forensics has always been a popular field- anyone remember Quincy? It is very very difficult to get an entry-level position. One of my coworkers sent out over 400 resumes and went on over 50 interviews before finally getting a job. And it really doesn't pay THAT well. Most jobs are with municipal or state labs, so they are civil-service jobs. Don't get me wrong, we make decent money, but no one is getting rich doing this.
As far as the squick factor goes, like I said we are rarely at the crime scene or the autospy. Most of what we see are small pieces of evidence, clothing, footwear impressions, sexual assault kits, etc. I mean there is the psychological factor, knowing that you are working with evidence from a violent crime, but most of what we see isn't disturbing or gross in any way.

 

[phillybeth]

Where I work, all the latent print examiners are uniformed officers with specialized training, so I don't know that much about it. Let me see if I can find some links for you.
You are right, Criminal Justice probably won't help that much. A good science background- degree in Biology or Chemistry- will take you much farther. Some schools offer Forensic Science programs but you will be much better off with a general science degree- any entry-level job wil train you in what you need to know.

 

[ead79]

CourtasanSatine, I also believe that Greg does chemical analyses. He often says that he is doing GC/MS analysis. That stands for Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry, and it has to do with chemical analysis. Gee, can you tell that my company has a chemical lab, and that I don't work in it, LOL!

 

[phillybeth]

http://www.theiai.org/

This looks like a great resource, especially for fingerprints.

One thing that ticks me off about CSI is that they run DNA on their GC/MS! It doesn't happen that way in real life, one piece of equipment doesn't do everything. And we don't get results in 5 minutes either.

 

[jsmith]

My SIL is the DNA technical leader for the State of Colorado-however she started her career in forensics working for FDLE and did her DNA training at the crime lab in Orlando-I can give some general information-she does not have a degree in criminal justice but rather her undergrad is in Zoology, her masters in Biology and she is working toward a PHD in molecular biology. She started out as a chemical analysis tech in the lab in Jacksonville about 10 years ago and then got selected to train as a DNA analyst. Unlike Phillybeth she is also a crime scene investigator although that is more a function of her circumstances than anything-we have three labs in Colorado and by happen stance she works in the most remote where the lab folk also do crime scene-that is not the norm and the analysts in the Denver and Pueblo labs do not do crime scene. She has worked on some interesting cases, including being the lead investigator in the disappearace of a mother and daughter in Grand Junction and the Kobe Bryant assult case. She says much of what happens on CSI is TV stuff-although she did say it was quite possible to turn DNA iD around in 24 hours if that were needed-ie. in the case of Saddam Hussien

 

[CourtasanSatine]

ead and joats: thanks for the answers so far Greg's my favorite Vegas character(along with Calleigh and Speedle on Miami)

 

[TIGGERSMOM]

Same here in MA, the investigatoirs as well as photographers and ballisticians are all uniformed officers who must go through years of training before being certified to testify in court.

It is very rare here to have an actual chemist called to a scene. That might happen if it is evidence that must be garnered from a suspect, i.e. hair, fiber etc. But then only if it is on their skin and not clothing. Blood is drawn by medical personnel not techs and very rarely is a tech certified for court testimony. That is usually reserved for higher level chemists and uniformed personnel.

Our labs are broken down into specialties and personnel very rarely bounce section to section.

Greg would not be a call out chemist, nor would he be allwed to draw conclusion just present data to lead chemists.

Al chemist here have 4 year or higher degrees, techs can have less and substitute experience for degrees.

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

As someone who has a B.S. in Criminal Justice I can guarantee you I wouldn't get a job in forensics without additional training. I do, however, work for the Department of Justice which is very interesting in its own right.

 

[goofygirl]

This is an interesting topic to me as well, I am a crime buff and CourtTV junkie, I also have a lab tech degree, I'd need further schooling for forensics lab work, there's one school in the Philly area I know that offers a forensics degree, I've thought about it.

I've never seen a crime lab in person. I've been in the morgue and pathology lab at work- not the same, but the closest I ever came!

 

[goofygirl]

Anyone else here a fan of Forensic Files on CourtTV? I have seen almost every episode!

 

[CourtasanSatine]

I watch Forensic Files like mad just to figure all this out(but I'm still partial to Greg )