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.
This may vary by county or state, but I am not because I'm a civilian employee and not a sworn officer.
I like doing both, because being in the lab all the time can get tedious, but being at crime scenes all the time can get exhausting.
It’s not easy to get a job in this field—there’s a lot of competition and staffs are not as large as you might think. The best thing you can do, after graduation if not before, is get an internship somewhere to get some practical experience and meet people. It will also help if you’re willing to relocate.
I'm sure that depends on what material the pants were made of.
Aircraft Mechanic
Did you ever catch something critical right before a plane was about to take off?
Call Center Employee (Retail)
What's the craziest unprofessional-phone-rep story you've ever heard?
Inner City English Teacher
What was the saddest student journal entry you've read?
No, just attention to detail and patience.
Yes, I'll email you when I'm back at work tomorrow.
Not as far as I know. I think that would be too difficult because even if you could assess staleness, you wouldn't know how fast the person smokes a pack, therefore how long the pack had been open, how it had been stored, etc.
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