Crime scene investigators are people who look for clues to help solve crimes. Forensic experts collect, label, analyze and maintain the records and evidence used in government matters or detective investigations. This evidence includes weapons, bullets, fingerprints, drugs, water, autopsies, soil, fabric and human tissue samples, and many other items.

High school students hoping to have this job should take classes in computers, all sciences, math, writing, etc.

Those who are seeking to be an identification technician will require a high school diploma. Those thinking to be more technical will require a master’s degree, or if you want to be a laboratory investigator you need to have a doctoral degree. If you are planning to work for the FBI you need to train for more than 14-weeks after getting a masters degree.   

The responsibilities of this job are difficult. There are things like taking DNA samples. They can find them from someone who has a wound or a cold. They also have to collect evidence at the scene. They will do that by looking for blood, fingerprints, footprints, hair, or other items of interest.

In their job they have to find suspects. They sometimes take pictures of the scene, for evidence about victim and suspects. They will look at past records of this type.

Detectives and FBI agents have a lot of tools. They use tools like electro-guns, ultraviolet light, infrared light and fingerprint kits. They use these tools for different reasons. They use the electro-gun for paralyzing criminals. To take special pictures they use ultraviolet lights. They use infa-red to take pictures of dried blood. They use a fingerprint kit to lift prints off something else. They use microscopes to see small items. Like fibers in fabric, hair, and other items.
 

One related career for this job is a coroner. A coroner is a person who cuts corpses open to find how they died. They do this by recovering a body from a scene, and take it back to the coroners` office.

Coroners usually hope to find food in the stomach, so if they do they can find what the person ate last. Then he (she) will study the food and go look for that kind of restaurant. If they find that restaurant they will look at the camera tapes from it. If they see the killer they will study him (her).  

Who I Interviewed And What I Learned On January 25 interviewed Kristin Driry. She was a good interviewee because she is a crime scene investigator. She has been a crime scene investigator for three years. She is currently involved with all major crime types like robbery, rape, homicide and different levels of other felonies. She also takes pictures of the crime scenes. Where you go for schooling and training depends on what level you want to attain and your specific interests.   She enjoys going to work and not doing the same thing everyday. It is different because she has different jobs day to day. Fingerprints have been used for identification; they also used them to seal documents. Chromatography has been used to separate chemical mixtures.   The best print identification in Yakima County is Sir Francis Goldwin he is a level 2-crime scene investigator. The techniques are what have changed the most in recent years, because of the new technology in that field; they also have new ways of taking DNA samples. DNA is a microscopic double helix. It looks like a ladder that has been twisted. You can find it in any living cell on your body including your blood and skin. You can also find it in your hair.  Digital photography is what has changed in the study of investigations. They use it most in murder cases. The yearly salary for a level 1 investigator is about $36,000. In 2nd level you get about $40,000 a year. She often investigates murders. It affects her outside of work. ”Sometimes my job scares me”, says Kristin. “Usually I work in my cubicle. I write reports there. I also study evidence there”, she says.

Bibliography American Academy of Forensic Sciences. So You Want to Be a Forensic Expert. Texas: American Academy of Forensic Sciences, 2002 pp. 1-49 Driry, Kirsten. Personal Interview. January 25, 2005. “Forensic Experts.“ Career Discovery Encyclopedia. 2000. Pp.142-4. “Forensic Experts.” Encyclopedia Of Careers and Vocational Guidance. 2000. Logan, Dr. Barry. “Forensic Laboratory Services.” Washington State Patrol. November 18, 2004. http://www.wsp.com.

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