History, Locations, and Types Crime Labs History, Locations, and Types

History of Crime Labs in the US 1923: Los Angeles PD crime lab created by August Vollmer (police chief) at Univ. of California, Berkley 1932: FBI, under direction of J. Edgar Hoover, organizes national lab offering forensic services to all law enforcement agencies in the US FBI lab is now largest in the world and serves a model for forensic labs across country and world 1981: FBI Forensic Sci. Research and Training Center opens there is no national system of forensic labs in the us—each city/county/state operates their own independent crime labs

Organization of a Crime Lab approx. 400 federal/state/county/municipal crime labs in the US some are part of the police department, others are part of the prosecutor’s or DA’s offices, the lab of the medical examiner/coroner, a university, or independent government agencies crime labs can employ a few to 100+ people depending on location

rapid proliferation of crime labs across the US can be explained by: Supreme Court decisions in the 1960s placing greater responsibilities on police to secure scientifically evaluated evidence Miranda rights and immediate access to lawyers virtually eliminated confessions as a routine investigative tool a staggering increase in crime rates since the early 1970s, especially in drug-related arrests and the resulting illicit-substance seizures that must be confirmed by chemical analysis drug abuse has accelerated to nearly uncontrollable levels drug-related forensic tests = 50% or more of all tests advances in DNA profiling has made possible the near- individualization of biological evidence (blood, semen, hair, saliva, etc.) due to the labor-intensive and sophisticated nature of drug/biological evidence analysis, the number of employees/floor space required has proliferated greatly

biggest issue facing crime labs today is the severe backlog of DNA samples requiring analysis (57,000 casework DNA samples; 500,000 convicted offender samples)

National Labs for crimes that extend beyond the jurisdictional boundaries of state and local forces, four major federal crime labs have been created: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI  Largest lab in the world) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, firearms, and Explosives (ATF) US Postal Inspection Service

Federal Bureau of Investigation First director J. Edgar Hoover Offers forensic services to ALL law enforcement agencies in the country Over 1 million examination / year

DEA Provides analysis of Drugs Produced Sold Transported

ATF Investigate federal offenses involving the use manufacture, and possession of firearms & explosives

Postal Inspection Services Investigation related to Postal Service None of these services have Unlimited Power

There are many organizations that work in criminal cases and investigations. Can you name the organizations with these acronyms? FBI CIA ATF DEA ICPO

The answers are ... FBI CIA ATF DEA ICPO Federal Bureau of Investigations Central Intelligence Agency Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms Drug Enforcement Administration International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)

Basic Crime Lab Services

Crime Labs Most Crime Labs created for Drug Analysis Only Diversity and Quality of Services Vary Greatly (Because of Money!) “Unit” Constitutes a “FULL SERVICE” Crime Lab

5 Basic Crime Lab Services Physical Science Unit Biology Unit Firearms Unit Document Examination Unit Photography Unit

Physical Science Unit Uses Chemistry, Physics, and Geology to identify and Compare Crime Scene Evidence What are some items this unit would study? drugs, glass, paint, explosives, soil, etc…

Biology Unit Examines Blood & Other Body Fluids DNA Profiles Compares Hairs & Fibers Examines Plants/Wood

Firearms Unit (Ballistics) Examines firearms, discharged bullets, cartridge cases, and shotgun shells Searches clothing for gunpowder residue Determines distance a weapon was fired from

Document Examination Unit Studies Handwriting or typewriting Analyzes paper & Ink Examines Indented Writings & Burned Documents Forgeries, Ransoms, & Kidnappings

CRAZY CRIMINALS According to Point of View, a magazine published by the Alameda county District Attorney’s office, a guy walked into an Oakland bank and handed the teller a note reading, “this is a stikkup. Hand over all yer money fast.” Guessing from this that the guy was no rocket scientist, the teller replied, “I’ll hand over the cash as long as you sign for it. It’s a bank policy that all robbers have to sign for their money.” The guy thought this over, then said “Uh, I guess that’s OK.” He signed his full name and address. That’s where the cops found him a few hours later.

Photography Unit Examines & records physical evidence Only black & white photos are shown to jurors…Why?

What if you sat on a jury that wrongly convicted an innocent person of murder—all because of color crime-scene photos? It could happen. In research published in the American Psychological Association’s Psychology, Public Policy, and Law journal on March 30, social psychologist Jessica Salerno found that color photos of murders disgust jurors more than the same images in black and white. This disgust leads jurors to want to punish defendants, and to ignore other evidence, according to her study. Salerno measured the effect of verbal and visual murder evidence on over 500 mock jurors. She found that those who see color photos of a gruesome crime are more likely to feel disgust than those who see the same crime scene in black and white, and more likely to feel disgust than those who see color photos of a less violent crime scene. Mock jurors who saw bloody color photos were also more inclined to punish defendants, and less influenced by presentations from the defense. Salerno’s findings indicate that gruesome color images have a profound impact on jurors, deepening the emotional influence of the crime and deafening them to other evidence presented. Salerno, who researches the intersection of law and behavioral psychology at Arizona State University, says her study shows that color photos may be influencing jurors for all the wrong reasons. She notes that her findings could provide psychological insight for US judges deciding what evidence to exclude in criminal proceedings. Legally, prosecutors aren’t allowed to play on jury emotions just to get a conviction. All evidence admitted in a trial must be both relevant and more probative than prejudicial. Evidence that induces a decision on a purely emotional basis—like disgust over a bloody crime scene—is supposed to be excluded, even when it’s relevant. But crime-scene photos are rarely considered too prejudicial for inclusion. That can be problematic for an innocent defendant, as jurors determined to punish someone based on gruesome images may fail to hear proof of innocence. Salerno suggests that “presenting gruesome evidence in black and white might reduce jurors’ emotional reactions while maintaining their probative information.” In other words, murder convictions can seem far too black and white when jurors see them in color.

Optional Services Toxicology Unit  poisons/drugs Latent Fingerprint Unit Polygraph Unit  lie detector Voiceprint Analysis Unit Evidence Collection Unit  CSI

Crime Laboratory Team Challenge Objective: Complete the crime lab activity to get an understanding of what tools are in each division of a crime lab and how much those tools cost.