The Organization of a Crime Lab

What is the name of the system operating in Alabama?

Affiliations

• Police Department

• District Attorney’s Office

• Medical Examiner or Coroner

• Universities

Why has there been such an increase in the number of labs in the last 40 years?

• Supreme court decisions in the 1960’s placed a greater emphasis on securing scientifically evaluated evidence. (Confessions are no longer a routine investigating tool.)

• Increasing crime rate (However, except for drug cases, only a small percentage of police investigations require scientific investigation of evidence.)

• Uncontrollable drug use – each case requires confirmatory analysis

• Advent of DNA Profiling

Major Federal Crime Labs

• FBI (Department of Justice)

• Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratories- regulate the production, sale and transportation of drugs

• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

• U.S. Postal Inspection Service

Crime Lab Services

• Full-Service Labs

Physical Science Unit –analysis of drugs, soil, trace evidence

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Biology Unit- DNA profiling, comparison of hair and fibers and botanical materials.

Full-Service Lab

• Firearms Unit-examination of firearms, ammunition, tools

• Document Examination Unit• Photography Unit

Optional Services: Toxicology (body fluids and organs examined for traces of drugs and/or poison), Latent Fingerprint, Polygraph, Voiceprint Analysis Unit, Evidence Collection Unit