Regular readers have heard me go on about this topic before, but here is another article about the differences between real CSI work, and the TV version.
Original article posted here.
CSI:TV crime labs aren’t realistic; many forensic scientists may never visit crime scene, and tests can take weeks to complete
Nov 11, 2008, 1:11 PM
By ANDREA BARTLOW
WARRENSBURG, Mo.- On TV shows like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” forensic scientists are made to look like super-cops who find the crime scene, collect and process the evidence, interrogate suspects and solve the case, all in less than an hour.
In reality, criminal science is much more specialized and there are forensic scientists who never have to set foot on a crime scene.
Martin Lindenbusch, Central alumnus and Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory toxicologist, dispelled many myths about forensic science and how evidence is really handled and processed at crime labs during a campus presentation Saturday.
Lindenbusch said one of the most widespread misconceptions about crime labs and forensics is how long it takes to perform the tests and get their results back.
“We get lots of blood-alcohol content tests and the test itself only takes four minutes,” he said. “However, there is prior instrument preparation, paperwork that has to be done before and after the procedures and the tests are done in large batches.”
Tests can take weeks
Lindenbusch explained that 50–60 tests are usually processed at once, which is more efficient and time and cost-effective, with each batch taking 2 to 3 weeks to process. Some crime labs can fall behind as much as 8 months to a year, said Lindenbusch, because of a lack of equipment or capable scientists.
“We’ll spend all day or a few days getting the samples to be tested ready, then a few more days processing them,” Lindenbusch said. “Then we go back and match the samples and their results to the cases. Our lab is only about a month or so behind, which is good as a crime lab can hope to be at.”
And that’s just the screening phase of the drug and chemical tests; if more specific, or “confirmatory” tests are required, the process takes even longer.
The toxicology department performs tests to detect traces of methamphetamine, marijuana, sedatives, cocaine, heroine, opiates and many other chemicals on the samples of blood, urine and other body fluids they receive from the police.
They use forensic techniques including the AxSYM System, which measures fluorescent polarization of chemicals and substances. Also employed are gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, which identify chemicals by their molecular structure.
Highly specialized field
Because of technological advances in forensic science and criminology, scientists can be specialists as opposed to generalists, who Lindenbusch explained were more common 20 to 30 years ago.
“Generalists are like the detectives on TV, who are involved in many or all aspects of the investigation,” Lindenbusch said. “Now, the fields have expanded so that each scientist can concentrate on one aspect of forensics and really specialize.”
Lindenbusch graduated from Central in 1990 as a chemistry major with a minor in biology and said he liked the experience of coming back to lecture as opposed to learn.
“It feels good to come back and show what you can accomplish, the value of sticking to your degree,” he said.
Lindenbusch used actual cases he has worked on to illustrate the importance of forensic science and the reality of how they are processed. In one of those cases, he processed evidence from a sexual assault case that took place 14 years ago.
Science traps rapist
A male paramedic supervisor sedated a female coworker by dissolving Valium (diazepam) in a glass of orange juice and when she became unconscious, he injected her with Atracurium, a surgical anesthetic. With blood and urine samples from the victim and the glass with the orange juice, Lindenbusch was able to find the chemicals that proved she had been drugged and assaulted.
“I testified in the trial and the man was convicted for rape and sentenced to seven years in prison,” Lindenbusch said. “This case was particularly interesting because of the types of samples, since most assaults are not premeditated. The attacker used chemicals that are not commonly found.”
The future holds wider strides in forensic science, as the ability to test samples of saliva and hair is expanding, said Lindenbusch. Robotics will play a bigger role in experimentation, as machines are created that can perform a test on a sample without human interaction, from beginning to end.
“Automatic processes will cut man hours; making the machines work properly is the trick,” Lindenbusch said. “The objective is to minimize human error and input, as much as possible.”
The Department of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics, ACS Student Affiliates, the Society of Physics Students and Sigma Xi sponsored the annual colloquium titled “The Reality Behind The Hype! CSI Uncovered.”
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