{"id":3500,"date":"2022-06-08T00:10:47","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T04:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.167.168.176\/~phillips\/kerriansnotebook\/kerriansnotebook\/?p=3500"},"modified":"2024-06-06T10:45:07","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T14:45:07","slug":"kn-p-141-what-does-a-csi-tech-really-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/2022\/06\/kn-p-141-what-does-a-csi-tech-really-do\/","title":{"rendered":"KN, p. 141 “What does a CSI tech really do?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there are no paragraph separations in this article, please double-click on the title in order to create a more readable version.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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TV makes the job of a CSI tech look like a lot of fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

It looks like an easy job, too. Get a call from dispatch, arrive at a crime scene, pop on the gloves, shine a flashlight around, take a few photos, collect the evidence along with your team of 4-5 colleagues and go back to the lab an hour or so later, ready to process all of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have the real CSI techs and law enforcement professionals stopped laughing yet?\u00a0 \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the reality:<\/span><\/p>\n

Most small towns (under 50,000 people) have no CSI lab. None. The local police in smaller towns are able to collect fingerprints, but most have to send them off to a State Lab to be processed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many towns, even with a population of 100,000 people, don\u2019t have a ballistics lab to check the caliber of any bullets\/casings left behind at the scene or found in the victim\u2019s body.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Carolina<\/strong> (as of 2022) had a population of 10.7 million, and has three State crime labs \u2013 one full service and two regional labs.<\/span><\/p>\n

New York State<\/strong> (as of 2022) had a population of 19.68 million, and has four State crime labs \u2013 one full service and three specializing in varied areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Jersey<\/strong> (as of 2022) had a population of 9.26 million.\u00a0 It has seven\u00a0 State labs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Texas<\/strong> (as of 2022) had a population of 30.03 million, with a full service forensic lab in Austin and 14 regional labs, some conducting only drug testing, and others close to full service.<\/span><\/p>\n

And all of those crime labs are processing evidence from all kinds of crimes (burglary, robbery, rape, arson, cold case, assault, etc.) not just murders. It take a few hours to get the prints, preserve the evidence, bag and tag it for transport, but it takes months to get it processed, because there is a long line of cases ahead of yours. In some States, the wait is as long as 18 months. That is not a typo, folks. Eighteen months to wait until the evidence can be processed. Even if the case is a high profile one, moving to the head of the line might only shorten the wait to 2-3 months, because there are other high profile cases in line as well or cases that are already in court, waiting for clarification of the evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

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There is no such thing as instantaneous fingerprint matches. See the article about fingerprint analysis here<\/span><\/a><\/span>. There are now handheld machines that scan a viable fingerprint at the scene, but that only speeds up the collection process, not the identification of the fingerprint. (I was recently told that a new fingerprint reader can return an answer in 45 seconds, but some fingerprint experts are reserving judgment as to the accuracy of the matches.)
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Get the picture? The State Bureaus of Investigation are short-staffed and the cases more numerous, as attorneys seek to prove or disprove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the evidence gathered at the scene linked their clients to the crime.<\/span><\/p>\n

In general, the analysts examine all types of evidence related to criminal investigations and assist the criminal justice system. They can provide:<\/span><\/p>\n