CSI Experts Find Clues Faster with Microscopy (BioPhotonics International)
CSI Experts Find Clues Faster with Microscopy
As criminal cases pile up, automation and digital imaging techniques will help crime scene investigators close them more quickly.
Marie Freebody
BioPhotonics International – November 1, 2011
Forensic crime shows such as CSI have taken over TV networks worldwide, providing viewers with a stylized glimpse into forensic science. A vital part of an investigator’s armory is the forensic microscope, crucial for inspecting trace evidence and for making bullet and tool mark identifications. For a century now in forensic biology, light microscopy has been used to identify spermatozoa in sexual assault cases.
Sadly, real-life crime laboratories often have hundreds of thousands of cases in vaults that have not yet been opened – some laboratories can even be years behind, said Richard E. “Dick” Bisbing, a forensic scientist for more than 40 years and formerly with the Michigan State Police. He is now executive vice president of McCrone Associates Inc. and an instructor at Hooke College of Applied Sciences LLC, both in Westmont, Ill.
“There are horror stories about criminals roaming free because there are inadequate resources and too many samples unworked,” he said.