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.
No, nothing is cleaned. It’s just dried and then kept as is. For one thing you might want to do more testing in the future so you’d never want to wash your evidence away.
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Yes, certainly. I didn't manage to find the one piece of evidence that solved the whole thing, but I have worked on several. In my department a double homicide finally broke open after 30 years: https://www.news-press.com/story/news/crime/2020/10/01/joseph-zieler-suspect-two-cape-coral-homicides-seeks-dna-expert/3584935001/
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I didn't know there was a character limit. But yes, many people write 'how can I become a forensic scientist' without ever checking past questions to see that that has been asked 20 times. And I think others are trying to goad me into saying something non-PC. Apparently too many people have too much time on their hands.
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Probably everyone gets interested in the field because it looked interesting in a TV show. But by the time you’re sufficiently trained to actually get a job, you’d know that it’s not like TV.
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Hotel Employee
What was the craziest request you ever got from a guest?
Correctional Officer
Were there a lot of suicides in your prison, and what's the most common way prisoners do it?
Dry Cleaner
Why do dry cleaners have autographed pictures on their walls?
All of those are good. Take as many science courses as you can. Much depends on where you want to work and what you want to do. If you want to do DNA analysis and testify in court about it, you may need a PhD in genetics. If you want to work at crime scenes bagging and tagging evidence, you may need only a high school diploma, with added hireability for advanced degrees. The only way to know is to check job opening notices or call the agencies and ask. I would also suggest that you look for schools that have hands-on lab work with forensic topics such as fingerprints or crime scene work. Best of luck to you.
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The ability to find 'contact' DNA, the improvement and proliferation of video cameras and the improvement and proliferation of downloading cell phone data. I think those are the major points.
Hope that helps!
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Not that I know of.
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