A crime laboratory, often shortened to crime lab, is a scientific laboratory, using primarily
forensic science
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
for the purpose of examining evidence from criminal cases.
Lab personnel
![USPP-Identification Unit-officer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/USPP-Identification_Unit-officer.jpg)
A typical crime lab has two sets of personnel:
*Field analysts – investigators that go to crime scenes, collect evidence, and process the scene. Job titles include:
**Forensic evidence technician
**Crime scene investigator
**Scenes of crime officer (SOCO)
*Laboratory analysts – scientists or other personnel who run tests on the evidence once it is brought to the lab (i.e.,
DNA tests, or bullet
striations
Striations means a series of ridges, furrows or linear marks, and is used in several ways:
* Glacial striation
* Striation (fatigue), in material
* Striation (geology), a ''striation'' as a result of a geological fault
* Striation Valley, in ...
). Job titles include:
**Forensic Technician (performs support functions such as making reagents)
**Forensic Scientist/Criminalist (performs scientific analyses on evidence)
**Fingerprint Analyst
**Forensic Photographer
**Forensic Document Examiner
**Forensic Entomologist
Crime labs
United States
In the United States, crime labs may be publicly or privately operated, although private laboratories typically do not respond to crime scenes to collect evidence. Public crime labs are organized at the city, state, or national level. A law enforcement agency that operates its own crime lab usually has access to a higher level laboratory for analysis of their evidence. Most states have their own crime labs, for instance Oklahoma has the OSBI, many other places have smaller yet sufficient crime labs. Crime labs simply do not have the funding or personnel resources to keep up with the large influx of cases being brought into the laboratory, as well as the backlog of cases already in existence.
The
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
founded the first crime laboratory in the United States (1923), followed by the
Bureau of Investigation (1926), forerunner to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
. (''Every Contact Leaves a Trace'', Connie Fletcher, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2009, interview with crime lab director)
Crime labs in popular culture
The term "crime lab" has become a part of popular culture, largely due to the TV dramas. Some of the more famous shows are:
*''
Bones (TV series)
''Bones'' is an American crime procedural comedy-drama television series created by Hart Hanson for Fox. It premiered on September 13, 2005, and concluded on March 28, 2017, airing for 246 episodes over 12 seasons. The show is based on forensi ...
''
*"
Castle (TV series)
''Castle'' is an American crime mystery/comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC for a total of eight seasons from March 9, 2009, to May 16, 2016. The series was produced jointly by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios.
Created by Andrew ...
"
*''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
'' and spin-offs ''
CSI: Miami
''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...
'' and ''
CSI: NY
''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...
''
*''
NCIS''
*''
Quincy, M.E.
''Quincy, M.E.'' (also called ''Quincy'') is an American mystery medical drama television series from Universal Studios that aired on NBC from October 3, 1976, to May 11, 1983. Jack Klugman starred in the title role as a Los Angeles County med ...
'' – a 1970s television show featuring crime lab personnel and procedures.
Several non-fiction television programs, document the resolution of criminal cases based on the scientific analysis of the evidence:
*''
Forensic Files
''Forensic Files'', originally known as ''Medical Detectives'', is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was origi ...
''
Backlogged evidence issues
Due to the lack of funding and staff, delays in the ability to test cases has occurred creating a backlog in the analysis of evidence.
[Houck, M. M. (2020). Backlogs are a dynamic system, not a warehousing problem. Forensic Science International: Synergy, 2, 317-324. doi:10.1016/j.fsisyn.2020.10.003]
See also
*
Combined DNA Index System
The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is the United States national DNA database created and maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. CODIS consists of three levels of information; Local DNA Index Systems (LDIS) where DNA profiles orig ...
References
External links
FBI Crime LabArkansas State Crime LabCensus of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime LaboratoriesBureau of Justice Statistics
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of crim ...
Forensic Science Laboratories: Handbook for Facility Planning, Design, Construction, and RelocationNational Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...
US Postal Inspection Service Forensic Lab- link to US and international forensic laboratories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crime Lab
Forensic facilities