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That's another thing. Ballistics is the study of projectiles in flight/motion. I was refering to firearms identification ;)

I'll have to pipe in since this is my area of specialty. To the OP: Not all guns leave stria behind on the bullet (or casing) that are high enough quality for a positive association or a "match". I have personally test fired weapons, and looking at the test fires produced by myself, they was...

Most agencies in my local area has 24/7 coverage with different groups of two or more "CSIs" on duty, and someone on call with a pager in case something crazy comes up. Shifts at my specific agency are 4-10s, and overlap. 0600-1600 1400-2400 2200-0800

Re: Forensic Science Trivia Game I think the question is poorly worded. Saferstein lists 20 different common types of physical evidence. It is important to know who has categorized the physical evidence into these 5 types before one can even guess at what the proper catergories would be.

Re: Crime Lab Evoluion - Where Do We Go After the "CSI Effec Not a silly question at all. In the US MOST CSIs are not sworn officers. They do not go to a police academy. They do not have to "swear to uphold the law". Put simply they are not cops. They are civilian employees who quite...

Actually in the US it is harder than England to set up these databases. The fingerprint databases contain booked individuals/individuals who have been convicted/individuals who have made special applications for permits or licenses. Not everyone is "in the system". An even more restrictive...

Re: Crime Lab Evoluion - Where Do We Go After the "CSI Effec True, but it's a TV show. It has to look glamorous or people wouldn't want to watch it. And if cases had to wait months until after the field work was done before the in house lab work was done, people would loose interest. It...

Re: Crime Lab Evoluion - Where Do We Go After the "CSI Effec As far as "ranks", generally sworn are higher than civilian. As far as "wages", until you get pretty high up the sworn police rank latter, the CSI people are better paid. As far as "most important", I don't think anyone is more...

Re: Crime Lab Evoluion - Where Do We Go After the "CSI Effec Remember too that it is extremely rare for someone who does CSI to be a "sworn" officer out there on the street with a gun chasing down badguys. When CSI first aired I was talking with a nearly 20 year veteran homicide detective...

Re: Crime Lab Evoluion - Where Do We Go After the "CSI Effec I've never seen first hand where the CSI effect has resulted in funding for crime labs. The latest increase in US federal funding on crime labs has to do with national databases like CODIS and NIBIN. I agree that the juries can...

Re: Crime Lab Evoluion - Where Do We Go After the "CSI Effec Sounds like CFS is doing things right if they have a backlog. In the United States there are "for fee" labs that are being paid money over government labs that have huge backlogs. But if CFS is already independent of the defense and...

Crime Lab Evolution The old crime lab "black-box" model is quickly being destroyed by the new "open to inspection" forensic laboratory. There are a few reasons. The first of which is that as television shows popularize forensics through dramatized accounts loosely based on factual premises...

While prelim (grand jury whatever you want to call them) are important, people considering going into the forensics field shouldn't be very concerned with them. In thousands of cases I've been envolved with, and over 50 trials (mostly homicides), I've never been called into testify on a prelim...

I'm sure there are a few. I am in the processes of starting one specifically to answer questions about "real CSI". I encourage you to drop by, register, and post any questions you might have.

When considering a career in forensics, be sure to take a class in public speaking. doing the analysis is one thing, but if you can not intelligently explain your findings to a jury you might as well have not done any of the work to begin with. Also be prepared to spend a lot of time outside a...

The Anatomy of a Criminal Investigation There are three major parts to a criminal investigation, all three are popularized in television shows. The first part is the investigation of the crimes after the crime. The second part is the scientific analysis of evidence gathered during the...

It might matter on what country you live in. But in the United States the answer is the salary is the same. There are some differences if you want to be a DNA technical lead, which usually required a masters degree, but for the most part there is no requirement for a masters for entry level...

I agree with you there. In the jurisdiction that I testify in the jury is allowed to ask questions after both sides have asked their questions of the witness. In the last 4 - 5 years the jury is asking much more intelligent questions that shows a general understanding of the science behind the...

The shows making the public aware of forensics is one thing. People in the jury box expecting real scientists to have available the tools and resources they see on TV is something else. The so called "CSI-effect" has had a very negative impact on the field. Why did the jury let the guy off...

As I always say, if you can not effectively communicate your scientific opinions on the stand, you might as well have never have performed the analysis in the first place. At least then someone who COULD have effectively explained things to the trier of fact could analyse the evidence. The...