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

Crime Lab Organization

Crime Lab Organization

A crime laboratory, which is also often called a crime lab, is a scientific laboratory using primarily forensic science for the purpose of examining evidence from criminal cases. Most crime labs are not equipped or staffed to house all of the possible services necessary and thus some evidence is sent to other crime labs to be analyzed. Crime labs can be found in local and state police departments depending on the size of the area.  In addition, the FBI national crime lab is located in Quantico, Virginia. While some crime labs only have a few employees, the FBI Crime Lab employs over 500 scientific experts and agents!   

Major Crime Labs

Examine four of the largest Major Crime Lab Agencies in the United States in the Interactivity below. While the DEA, ATF and FBI are all part of the Department of Justice, USPIS is actually part of the United States Postal Service!

Forensic Science Specialties

Forensic Science is a collection of many sub-specialties of science. Many experts are needed when investigating the various evidence left at the scene of a crime.  Check out the descriptions of a few of the common specialty areas of Forensic Science.

Interactive: Forensic Science Specialties

 Georgia Virtual, Introduction to Forensic Science and Criminal Justice, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Crime Lab Services

Crime Lab Service

Crime labs across the United States complete many analyses and services, but most are limited in resources to a few specialty areas. The interactivity below includes some of the more common service departments found at local and state crime labs. For more information and a more complete list, go to the FBI laboratory services page and click on links of interest or check out the links in the sidebar.

Crime Lab Units Interactivity

Click on each of the different crime lab units to learn more.

 Georgia Virtual, Introduction to Forensic Science and Criminal Justice, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Local and National Labs

Let’s compare some local crime labs to a national lab.

First, click on this LINK to go to the Utah County Sheriff's Office website.  

Once you are there, read the short paragraph on the site. Look for what agencies the lab serves, how the personnel are trained, and how much evidence they typically process.

Then, click on this LINK to go to the Utah Crime Lab website.

Read through the information on the page. Look for how many labs there are, where they are located, and what agencies they serve. Also look for the services they offer, their hours, and their crime scene response system. 

Then, Click on this LINK to go to the FBI Crime Lab website.

Read the short paragraph next to the picture of the lab. Look for when the lab was opened, how many people work there, and where the lab is located. Also look through the list of services they offer.