LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
That’s a good question…I know that the human body will either decompose or desiccate, so if the conditions were right and she dried out instead of breaking down, then the body might be largely preserved. But what could be determined from an autopsy would be a question for a pathologist, I’m afraid. Sorry I’m not more help.
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I”m sorry but I”ve never used thin layer chromatography. If I had, it most likely would have been to distinguish extracted fiber dyes. As far as I know it’s the only way to determine if natural fibers likely had the same source.
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It depends on what you want to do. I've always used only basic addition, division etc., for calculating reagents. Accident reconstruction would probably require a bit more and maybe DNA analysis, but I don't really know. Best of luck!
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As far as the job is concerned, I would think the odds of getting the job would be the same, but there are other considerations. The pay and benefits are different (at least at my agency) between sworn and civilian because they’re different unions. A sworn officer would be taking less pay and benefits to be non-sworn so the hiring party might wonder why, or worry that they would get tired of it and want to leave.
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Border Patrol Agent
Do Mexican authorities help on THEIR side of the border?
EMT
Does your crew ever fake an emergency to slice through traffic?
Lifeguard
Are most public pools just gross lakes of bodily fluids?
That's never happened to me at the police department, but then there's only my forensic unit with access to our refrigerator so it's not a problem. But it used to happen in the lunch room at the coroner's office all the time! I injected candy with hot sauce once. That stopped it for about a week.
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Some law enforcement agencies still require their forensic staff to be sworn police officers as well, but most have civilian staff for the forensic support. I have always been a civilian and therefore cannot carry a gun.
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Every group of people looks for reasons to feel superior to any other group of people. It's (a not very attractive part of) human nature. But in my experience interagency rivalries have been super mild. It's more a trope of fiction than reality.
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