READ: The Crime Lab

The Crime Lab

Unit 2: The Crime Lab

Crime labs are operated at many different levels in the United States. Smaller crime labs exist that serve single departments or geographical areas. Larger state crime labs and national labs such as the FBI lab also exist. Many crime labs are publicly operated. This means they are run by government and law enforcement agencies. Some crime labs are privately owned.

Crime labs provide a wide array of services. The type of services a crime lab provides often depends on the size of the lab and the needs of the agency it serves. Smaller crime labs typically have fewer services than larger labs. Many crime labs have teams of field workers such as crime scene investigators and field technicians that go out to the scene to gather evidence. Forensic scientists, lab technicians, and other specialized scientists perform testing on evidence brought to the lab.

Some of the services that laboratories provide include the following:

• Substance analysis - Identifying unknown substances and drugs.  
• Fingerprint analysis
• Firearms and toolmarks - analyzing marks on bullets, guns, and other tools.
• DNA analysis
• Trace evidence analysis -  analyzing  hair, fibers, soil, paint chips, etc.
• Footprints and impressions analysis
• Digital evidence recovery - searching electronic devices and recovering  evidence.
• Blood Analysis