Crime Lab Overview
Question 1: What exactly is a criminalist?
Answer 1: Generally, a criminalist is a person trained to analyze and interpret crime scene
evidence. The title of criminalist is not well-defined, and the qualifications to be a criminalist
can vary considerably from state to state (or even between crime labs of a single state).
The role each criminalist plays depends on his or her specialty. Generally, criminalists work
in a laboratory setting (unlike crime scene technicians who work in the field) and use
specialized equipment to process and analyze various types of evidence, which range from
fingerprints, bloodstains, to bomb fragments. The work environment is usually highly
controlled and sanitary to protect staff and prevent the contamination of evidence.
Regardless of their specialty, criminalists usually possess good technical skills and, due to
the need for them to testify at trial, good communication skills
The actual title of criminalist is also not universally used; persons with similar duties may be
called forensic scientists, forensic technicians, crime laboratory technicians, or another title.
In addition, it is not uncommon for states to have different levels of criminalists with
ascending educational and experience requirements (Criminalist I, Criminalist II, Senior
Criminalist, etc.). As a criminalist's rank increases, so does pay and responsibility, and it is
possible for an addition of administrative or management duties.
The qualifications required to become a criminalist vary by rank, but it is typical that entrylevel positions require a bachelor’s degree in one of the sciences (biology, chemistry, etc.)
with higher level positions requiring either more education (master’s degree or PhD) or
experience.
Salaries for entry-level criminalists also vary considerably from state to state, but starting
salaries usually rank in the low-to-mid $30,000 range. The salaries are lower in rural, lightly
populated states and higher in more heavily populated states. Federal agencies such as the
FBI pay the most but also demand the highest qualifications.
Question 2: What are the requirements needed to become a crime lab director?
Answer 2: The position of crime lab director is often a directorship (at least at the state
level), who is often a political appointee serving at the pleasure of the person who
appointed him or her (usually the governor). The implications of the last point should not be
misunderstood—a politically appointed director is not protected by civil service regulations
and can be fired at any time, for any reason, and by the person who appointed him or her.
As for anyone who is appointed, the qualifications are subjective depending upon the
individual governor. This can lead to charges of political cronyism (i.e., that the
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Crime Lab Overview
appointment is given to someone who is a friend of the governor but unqualified for the
position). While governors of most states are able to appoint anyone they desire to the
position, most try to appoint someone with law enforcement experience; however, this
person may not necessarily have any prior experience managing a crime lab.
When a crime lab director is not an appointee, he or she is usually considered a civil
servant. He or she is protected by civil service regulations that prevent him or her from
being fired at will. Unfortunately, this can also be a barrier to removing an incompetent
director. Civil servant crime lab directors usually require extremely high qualifications for
employment. They must also go through a rigorous series of interviews and background
checks.
Private labs are a different story. They are able to offer the highest salaries and benefits
(rivaled only by the Federal Government) and often draw away the best, most experienced
personnel from state crime labs. As private employees, they also serve at the pleasure of
the person who hired them unless they have the benefit of an employment contract that
specifies otherwise.
Question 3: What are some other differences between private and public crime labs?
Answer 3: Other than the differences already noted, private crime labs often specialize in
highly technical, but infrequently used, forensic specialties.
Examples of such specialties include the following:
Forensic odontology: bite mark investigation and reconstruction
Forensic anthropology: identifying bodies from bones or reconstructing a visual of a
victim’s face from only a skull
Forensic archeology: determining the age and era of discovered artifacts—including
buildings, crafted items, and remnants of materials
Advanced crime scene reconstruction
Other specialized areas
Because the cost of equipment is very expensive, public crime labs often cannot afford to
incorporate DNA testing—especially smaller states that cannot afford the cost of a DNA lab.
Therefore, private crime labs often specialize in DNA testing. More than ever, private DNA
labs are being contracted to handle backlogs of DNA testing from public labs.
The fees demanded by private labs are considerable. This is because they are for-profit
organizations, have often invested significant amounts of money in expensive equipment,
and offer their personnel highly competitive salaries in order to attract the best people.
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Crime Lab Overview
Question 4: Apart from evidence analysis, what are some of the other functions of crime
labs?
Answer 4: While evidence analysis is always the primary function of a crime lab, crime labs
also have other duties of significant importance. Maintaining fingerprint, DNA, and sex
offender databases are among the most important duties.
Fingerprint databases are collections of fingerprints and usually include both known and
unknown prints. Known prints are those taken from arrested offenders or from persons who
voluntarily submitted their fingerprints (e.g., submitted to obtain employment in sensitive
positions). Unknown prints are those taken from crime scenes and have not yet been
identified.
Fingerprint databases are among the oldest collections maintained by law enforcement
agencies, and they have been vastly improved through the integration of technology such
as computers, the Internet, and digital photography.
DNA databases are collections of DNA patterns taken from evidence recovered from victims
and convicted sex offenders. The most widely used DNA database is CODIS (Combined DNA
Index System). CODIS is pronounced code-diss.
Sex offender databases (also called registries because convicted sex offenders must, by law,
register their status with state and local authorities) are a relatively recent addition to crime
labs. Such databases, which are usually publicly accessible through the Internet, serve the
purpose of informing the public as to the whereabouts of convicted sex offenders.
Question 5: What are differences between crime scene investigation TV shows and real
crime labs?
Answer 5: While crime scene investigation television programs are very popular, they often
depart significantly from reality. First, they routinely combine crime lab functions with crime
scene investigation. In reality, the two activities are completely separate. Crime scene
investigators merely gather evidence and then send it to crime lab personnel to process,
analyze, and interpret. Another problem is that the results of testing arrive far more quickly
on crime scene investigative programs than they would in real life. Testing that would
normally take days or weeks is seemingly completed in only a matter of minutes. Finally,
crime scene investigative television shows routinely have equipment available to them that
only a few major labs (and those would typically be at the federal level) could ever hope to
afford in reality.
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Crime Lab Overview
The role crime lab personnel portray on TV shows is also problematic. Most crime lab
personnel are civilian employees of law enforcement agencies and do not carry firearms or
have the power to make arrests. On television, crime lab personnel are routinely seen
interviewing or interrogating witnesses or suspects. That would never happen in real life
because crime lab personnel are not detectives; detectives are the individuals who interview
and interrogate.
Crime scene investigative personnel would not even be expected to be present during such
interviews and interrogations. These personnel have the secondary role in police
investigations and complete tasks such as providing information—most of which is done
through written reports, not in person.
Question 6: Do crime labs ever become involved with civil cases?
Answer 6: Public crime labs do not handle evidence related to purely civil lawsuits. This is
due to both policy and limitation of resources. However, it is possible for a public crime lab
to be involved with a civil lawsuit if the municipality, county, or state that the crime lab
operates under is a party to that lawsuit. For example, if someone sued the state of
Agartha, then it might use its crime lab to analyze evidence related to the lawsuit.
For private labs, the matter is completely different; it is possible for private crime labs to
limit their practice to just civil cases. A major lawsuit worth millions of dollars can generate
tens of thousands of dollars for a private lab in expert witness fees alone. In addition, the
professional demands on the lab are less, and fewer resources need to be expended in order
to meet standards. This is because the standard of proof is so much lower in civil cases—
preponderance of the evidence versus beyond a reasonable doubt.
Private forensic labs working civil cases are usually involved with paternity testing, accident
reconstruction, and failure analysis. Failure analysis involves determining why a particular
building or structure failed, such as when a bridge collapses or coal mine caves in.
Question 7: Who determines what areas of forensic discipline are covered by a crime lab?
Answer 7: Public crime labs’ scope of operations is often determined by the governmental
agency under whose auspices the lab operates. For crime lab directors of public labs, the
scope of their operations is therefore preset and, unless they were hired at the inception of
the lab, they initially may have little say in the lab’s areas of forensic specialization.
Apart from government agencies, crime labs may be funded directly by state legislatures; in
this case, their areas of operation may be determined by a legislative committee or another
governmental entity.
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Crime Lab Overview
At a minimum, the crime lab manager of a public lab has the ability to suggest changes in
the scope and operations of the lab. Depending on the mandate from the controlling agency
or governmental entity, he or she may also have the latitude to propose and pursue major
changes.
In South Dakota, for example, the state crime lab is part of the Division of Criminal
Investigation—the state equivalent of the FBI. The Division of Criminal Investigation is, in
turn, controlled by the Office of the Attorney General. One net effect of this arrangement is
that the forensic lab does not have its own line-item budget. Its budget is derived solely
from the attorney general, who therefore has total control over the lab.
For private crime labs, the owner of the lab (who may also be the lab’s manager) decides
the areas of forensic specialties he or she wants the lab to cover. A private lab's greatest
advantage is flexibility of scale; the owner of the lab can choose to restrict or expand
coverage of areas of forensic science as he or she sees fit or can afford.
Question 8: What kind of equipment is usually needed by a crime lab?
Answer 8: An exact answer relies upon the types of analysis undertaken by the lab.
However, a crime lab’s equipment generally falls into the following two categories:
expendables and capital expenditures. Expendables are items such as latex gloves, note
paper, and testing samples that must be continuously renewed. Capital expenditures are
one-time expenses like machines and other durable goods.
Disposable latex gloves are arguably one of the most important pieces of equipment a crime
lab can have. The constant changing of gloves is one of the best ways to avoid cross
contamination, which is a real hazard to the integrity of a lab’s analysis. Lab managers
should note this and allocate enough funds to ensure a plentiful supply of latex gloves. It
would also be prudent to make available a supply of nonlatex disposable gloves handy in
case of allergies.
Major equipment includes big-ticket items like the following:
Gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer: used to analyze substances to determine
their composition
Green argon gas lasers: also used in the analysis of substances
Computers and related forensic lab software
Microscopes (including comparison microscopes)
Safety equipment (such as fire suppression systems)
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Crime Lab Overview
Question 9: What other types of work can someone with experience running a crime lab
do?
Answer 9: Managerial experience of any kind is useful, and the experience a person gains
from holding a crime lab director's position translates well into other areas of management.
Experience managing a public crime lab translates almost perfectly into management of a
private crime lab and, most likely, for more money. One interesting (if not messy) private
job opportunity involves the lucrative task of crime and trauma scene cleanup. This is the
unglamorous but necessary job of cleaning up homicide, suicide, or traumatic injury scenes
after police have finished processing them.
Crime lab directors are often political appointees, so success at managing a crime lab could
result in other governmental employment opportunities.
Question 10: How can a crime lab manager without technical skills manage a staff of
scientists?
Answer 10: It is vitally important that lab directors surround themselves with competent
senior-level personnel and then delegate supervisory duties to them. A wise crime lab
director recognizes his or her limitations in dealing with the most technical aspects of his job
and compensates that by relying on those who do have the necessary skills. By delegating
supervision of the analytical aspects of the lab’s functioning to forensic scientists, the crime
lab manager and his or her lab can be successful. One of the primary tenets of good
management is to match the right people to the right job.
If a crime lab director fails to appreciate this fundamental principle, he or she can become
his or her lab’s own worst enemy. Arrogance can often be the undoing of crime lab directors
who think that their position somehow imbues them with knowledge. The crime lab director
could possibly interfere with the functioning of his or her technical staff and disrupt the
operation of the lab.
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