Csi how does it work

Through our three Bachelor of Science Degree programs, you will become highly trained by professors with experience in the CSI field. Find out more about what we offer below! This consent includes contact via automated means. I understand that consent is not required to apply or attend Gwynedd Mercy University. Contact Information. Box Gwynedd Valley, PA Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube.

Skip to main content. Step 2: On-The-Job-Training Real-life work experience will provide you with the intricate know-how employers are looking for when hiring for jobs. Step 3: Earn CSI certifications and State licensure Depending on the state, there are different requirements for state licensure as a crime scene investigator.

Step 4: Higher education could provide advancement opportunities Be aware that this is not the only route to take to become a CSI, just the most common.

Please select Spring Fall First Time Freshman Transfer Readmit. Please enter your legal first name. Please enter your legal last name. Please enter your email address. Please enter your cell phone number. Yes No. Recommended Fields. Although careers for crime scene investigator may not be as sensational as nighttime television shows make them out to be, they are, for the right individuals, incredibly rewarding and gratifying.

But before embarking on a career as a crime scene investigator CSI , a thorough understanding of this profession is in order. A crime scene investigator is, more often than not, a member of law enforcement who is responsible for identifying, collecting, preserving, and packaging physical evidence at the scene of a crime. Although it is often believed that crime scene investigators are the professionals performing tests on the physical evidence, those jobs, in fact, are reserved for forensic scientists and other forensic professionals.

A select few crime scene investigators may also perform laboratory forensic work, although the majority of crime scene investigators perform their work at a crime scene, where they collect everything from firearms and fingerprints to DNA samples and photographic evidence.

A crime scene investigator is most often employed by a local, state or federal law enforcement agency. Analyzing a blood pattern involves studying the size and shape of the stain, the shape and size of the blood droplets and the concentration of the droplets within the pattern.

The CSI takes pictures of the pattern and may call in a blood-spatter specialist to analyze it. A CSI may use combs, tweezers, containers and a filtered vacuum device to collect any hair or fibers at the scene. In a rape case with a live victim, the CSI accompanies the victim to the hospital to obtain any hairs or fibers found on the victim's body during the medical examination.

The CSI seals any hair or fiber evidence in separate containers for transport to the lab. A CSI might recover carpet fibers from a suspect's shoes. The lab can compare these fibers to carpet fibers from the victim's home. Analysts can use hair DNA to identify or eliminate suspects by comparison.

The presence of hair on a tool or weapon can identify it as the weapon used in the crime. The crime lab can determine what type of animal the hair came from human? Tools for recovering fingerprints include brushes, powders, tape, chemicals, lift cards, a magnifying glass and Super Glue.

A crime lab can use fingerprints to identify the victim or identify or rule out a suspect. There are several types of prints a CSI might find at a crime scene:. A perpetrator might leave prints on porous or nonporous surfaces. Paper, unfinished wood and cardboard are porous surfaces that will hold a print, and glass, plastic and metal are nonporous surfaces. A CSI will typically look for latent prints on surfaces the perpetrator is likely to have touched. For instance, if there are signs of forced entry on the front door, the outside door knob and door surface are logical places to look for prints.

Breathing on a surface or shining a very strong light on it might make a latent print temporarily visible. When you see a TV detective turn a doorknob using a handkerchief, she's probably destroying a latent print. The only way not to corrupt a latent print on a nonporous surface is to not touch it. Proper methods for recovering latent prints include:. Powder for nonporous surfaces : Metallic silver powder or velvet black powder A CSI uses whichever powder contrasts most with the color of material holding the print.

He gently brushes powder onto the surface in a circular motion until a print is visible; then he starts brushing in the direction of the print ridges. He takes a photo of the print before using tape to lift it this makes it stand up better in court. He adheres clear tape to the powdered print, draws it back in a smooth motion and then adheres it to a fingerprint card of a contrasting color to the powder. Chemicals for porous surfaces : Iodine, ninhydrin, silver nitrate The CSI sprays the chemical onto the surface of the material or dips the material into a chemical solution to reveal the latent print.

He then places the plate, the heat source and the object containing the latent print in an airtight container. The fumes from the Super Glue make the latent print visible without disturbing the material it's on.

A latent fingerprint is an example of a two-dimensional impression. A footwear impression in mud or a tool mark on a window frame is an example of a three-dimensional impression. If it's not possible to submit the entire object containing the impression to the crime lab, a CSI makes a casting at the scene.

A casting kit might include multiple casting compounds dental gypsum, Silicone rubber , snow wax for making a cast in snow , a bowl, a spatula and cardboard boxes to hold the casts. If a CSI finds a footwear impression in mud, she'll photograph it and then make a cast. To prepare the casting material, she combines a casting material and water in a Ziploc-type bag and kneads it for about two minutes, until the consistency is like pancake batter.

She then pours the mixture into the edge of the track so that it flows into the impression without causing air bubbles. Once the material overflows the impression, she lets it set for at least 30 minutes and then carefully lifts the cast out of the mud.

Without cleaning the cast or brushing anything off it this would destroy any trace evidence , she puts the cast into a cardboard box or paper bag for transport to the lab. For toolmark impressions, a cast is much harder to use for comparison than it is with footwear.

If it's not feasible to transport the entire item containing the tool mark, a CSI can make a silicone-rubber cast and hope for the best. There are two types of tool marks a CSI might find at a crime scene:. It can also compare the tool mark in evidence to another toolmark to determine if the marks were made by the same tool.

If a CSI finds any firearms, bullets or casings at the scene, she puts gloves on, picks up the gun by the barrel not the grip and bags everything separately for the lab. Forensic scientists can recover serial numbers and match both bullets and casings not only to the weapon they were fired from, but also to bullets and casings found at other crime scenes throughout the state most ballistics databases are statewide.

When there are bullet holes in the victim or in other objects at the scene, specialists can determine where and from what height the bullet was fired from, as well as the position of the victim when it was fired, using a laser trajectory kit. If there are bullets embedded in a wall or door frame, the CSI cuts out the portion of the wall or frame containing the bullet -- digging the bullet out can damage it and make it unsuitable for comparison. A CSI collects and preserves any diaries, planners, phone books or suicide notes found at a crime scene.

He also delivers to the lab any signed contracts, receipts, a torn up letter in the trash or any other written, typed or photocopied evidence that might be related to the crime. A documents lab can often reconstruct a destroyed document, even one that has been burned, as well as determine if a document has been altered. Technicians analyze documents for forgery, determine handwriting matches to the victim and suspects, and identify what type of machine was used to produce the document.

They can rule out a printer or photocopier found at the scene or determine compatibility or incompatibility with a machine found in a suspect's possession. An evidence tag may include identification information such as time, date and exact location of recovery and who recovered the item, or it may simply reflect a serial number that corresponds to an entry in the evidence log that contains this information.

The crime scene report documents the complete body of evidence recovered from the scene, including the photo log, evidence recovery log and a written report describing the crime scene investigation. In a CSI van, you might see hack saws, pliers, a pipe wrench, a pry bar, wire cutters, bolt cutters, shovels, sifters, a slim jim, a pocket knife, measuring tapes, orange marker flags, a flashlight, batteries, chalk, forceps, Vise-Grips, a compass, a magnet, a metal detector, distilled water, kneeling pads, and stuffed animals for living child victims.

In , the FBI established its own forensics lab to serve police departments and other investigating authorities all over the country. The FBI lab is one of the largest in the world. The Denver Crime Lab at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation provides evidence collection and laboratory analysis for any police department in Colorado that requests its services. It also conducts state investigations that don't fall under the jurisdiction of any local authority.

Some specialty departments in the Denver Crime Lab include latent fingerprints and impressions , which develops latent fingerprints; analyzes and compares fingerprints, footwear and tire impressions; and runs fingerprints through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System AFIS, which uses the FBI database for comparison against hundreds of millions of prints. The trace evidence department runs GSR analysis, and identifies and compares samples of soil, glass, fibers and paint.

The chemistry section conducts analysis and comparison of illicit drugs, explosives and unknown chemicals. The computer crimes team recovers evidence from computers and performs computer enhancement on audio or video evidence. There's also firearms and toolmark identification , which identifies firearms; tests firearms to establish barrel pattern and distance of gun from entrance wound; and identifies and compares bullets, casings and toolmark impressions.

Then there's serology and DNA , which conducts body fluid analysis, including DNA analysis for blood stains, semen and hair for identification and comparison. Lastly, there's a questioned document section that detects forgery and alterations; conducts handwriting comparisons; reconstructs destroyed documents; and identifies and compares printers, typewriters or copiers used to produce a document.

Often, a piece of evidence passes through more than one department for analysis. Each department delivers a complete report of the evidence it analyzed for the case, including the actual results numbers, measurements, chemical contents and any expert conclusions the scientists have drawn from these results.

The CSI in charge might compile the results and deliver them to the lead detective on the case, or the lab might send the results directly to the detective squad. The role of a crime scene investigator doesn't end when he completes his evidence report. It doesn't even end when the lab results related to that evidence are delivered to the detectives on the case. A big part of a CSI's job is testifying in court about the evidence he collected, the methods he used to recover it and the number of people who came into contact with it before it ended up as the prosecution's Exhibit D.

And the defense attorney's job is to attack the evidence, which sometimes means attacking the person who collected it. This is why search warrants, evidence logs, photographs and extremely detailed reports are so critical to the CSI process. The defense will try to get every piece of incriminating evidence thrown out of court.

The legality of the search, the untainted preservation of the evidence and the full, undisputable documentation of the crime scene are prime considerations in a crime scene investigation.

So, does Hollywood get it right? Viewers don't want to watch a bunch of CSIs waiting around for a search warrant, and they would probably be unsatisfied if they never got a look at the suspect. Scientifically speaking, "CSI" sometimes misses the mark. In reality, it's not possible to come up with a two-hour range for the time of death. Also, you don't just scan a fingerprint into a computer and wait for it to spit out a photo of the suspect. Fingerprint-comparison software returns several possible matches that an expert then analyzes visually to determine a definite match.

Other places where Hollywood gets it wrong involves investigative process. Crime scene investigators almost always get warrants before searching a scene.

Pretty much the only scene that might not require a warrant is an apartment owned by the victim, who lived there alone and never shared the space with anyone else at any time. This means there's a lot of waiting involved -- it's pretty unusual for a CSI to arrive on a scene and just start searching. What usually happens is the CSI arrives and determines which areas need to be searched, and then someone gets a hold of the district attorney, who gets a hold of a judge, who signs whatever search warrants are requested.

Once the district attorney brings the warrants to the scene, the search begins. And the search involves the evidence, not the neighbors of the victim. CSIs do not deal with witnesses or suspects. They don't interview people at the scene, they don't interrogate anyone and they definitely don't pursue the perpetrator.

These are all the jobs of the detectives on the case. Also, it's rare for a CSI to handle an entire investigation from beginning to end, even if we're just talking about the evidence.

There are tons of people involved in collecting and analyzing evidence, including CSIs, forensic specialists, medical examiners and detectives. It's a rare CSI who has the time or expertise to do it all. In Mr. Clayton's opinion, shows like "CSI" aren't making criminals any smarter.

The truth is, crime scene investigation and forensic science are always trying to catch up with the criminals, not the other way around. And while there are certainly people who meticulously plan a crime and how to get away with it, Mr. Clayton's experience with crime scenes tells a different story: Most violent crimes are committed in the heat of the moment.

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While the fiction part makes for great television, here is some information about crime scene work that will give you a more accurate picture of what these positions entail should you be interested in pursuing this line of work.

Any career in the field of criminal justice is going to be exciting, challenging and world-changing because you are helping put the bad guys away , but shows like CSI tend to glamorize the often tedious work of crime scene analysis. The true fictitious scenes are the ones in which CSI have contact with witnesses and suspects; that simply does not happen in the real world of crime scene analysis. Police detectives interview witnesses and suspects and even collect evidence.

Crime scene analysts try to reconstruct the how it was done aspect of the crime by piecing together the often-minute details of a crime scene. To learn more about CJ jobs, please read these criminal justice blogs about these exciting degree programs and the jobs for which you'll be prepared. Let's take a look at some of the biggest differences between CSI TV and actual crime scene analysis:. The technician in the show might sometimes interrogate the suspects, become involved in chases or become almost as involved in the case as the police officer.

None of this happens in real life, but it sure does make for exciting television! In the "real world" of criminal justice, the crime scene technician's job is not as glamorous as the shows suggest.