Stop! It's the FBI!
Just shy of two weeks ago, Buffalo Seminary had the pleasure of hosting a presentation done by two Evidence Response Team (ERT) members belonging to the FBI. Both Maureen P. Dempsey, Public Affairs Specialist and Kim Smith, Staff Operations Specialist (For Violent Crimes Against Children) came and talked about just what FBI do. During the presentations both talked about counterterrorism and forensic science. We got a close look into the Bureau and how it works.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was created in 1908 by Attorney General Charles Bonaparte under Theodore Roosevelt who were both progressives at the time. Bonaparte wished to create a group of special agents to defend against specific threats. He succeeded of making the goals of the FBI to protect the USA from all foreign threats, whether it be spies, terrorists, slave traders, hackers, pedophiles, gangs, mobs, or serial killers.
In the past, agents entering the bureau were hired right out of high school at eighteen years of age, but in modern times, agents come from all walks of life. The bureau hires people with college level education, and will sometimes collect people from different fields to help investigations. In the FBI there are different categories people can fall under such as Intelligence Analysts, (International and National) Law Enforcement, Professional Staff, and people in the private sector.
Because it was for a Forensics class, we quickly got down to the nitty gritty things like, "What do you do on a crime scene?", or "How do you classify fingerprints?" On a crime scene, they described putting scrubs on, this flimsy, plastic materials that is supposed to both protect the user from unknown harmful chemicals, and leave the evidence unsoiled. It can wrap around the feet, cover the ankles, legs, torso, arms, and even stretch over the head. Each time they have to leave the site, even to go to the bathroom, agents are offered new scrubs (and gloves) to put on the way in. They both joked that the hardest thing on the job was to open things with the plastic gloves on.
For fingerprints, the agents described how hard it was to lift evidence from a scene. They jokingly admitted it wasn't like the Hollywood movies where they'd get a nice complete print, but rather most were smudged, somewhere half a print, and if that person had never committed a crime before it was difficult to pin down who the perpetrator was.
For hair, the forensic scientists must have a complete hair with the root attached in order to analyze it. The hair, especially the root, can show DNA, and any chemicals the person has ingested (either prescription or otherwise.)
For boot prints, or tire tracks in dirt or outside places, investigators will pore plaster into the grooves, and watch it set to dry. Once that is done, it is lifted out of the dirt, cleaned and taken back to the lab to analyze the brand of boots.
All types of evidence must be concealed in bags labelled evidence, and sealed shut. For special cases, there are boxes to contain evidences, like a boot. For arson cases there are round metal tins where chemicals left over from the fire are stored and sealed shut because these chemicals used often give off vapor that can be captured for labelling.
The speakers both elaborated on some of the jobs they have done, such as helping after the 9/11 attacks, helping the Boston Bombing (from terrorists), and even going overseas to help ambassadors. It was back in 1932 when the FBI had their first crime lab up and running in Virginia. Today there are state of the art labs running all over the country.
Read more at: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us
