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I recently went Snooping.   That word is, in part,  a tribute to Snoopy, the dog in Charles Schulz’s comicstrip.  Sitting at his typewriter, atop his doghouse, Snoopy created his now famous opening line:  “It was a dark and stormy night.” 

That sentence wasn’t true for me last Thursday.  Rather, “It was a hot and humid afternoon”  when with my trusty iphone in hand, I went Snooping—legally. My goal– to find out what goes on behind and beyond the yellow crime-scene tape that separates most of us from details often horrendous.   To learn not from CSI but from CBI.   I had both motive and opportunity.

My local chapter of “Sisters in Crime” had  arranged an afternoon field trip to a Forensic Lab of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI).   Doggedly determined to gain information from forensic scientists for my suspense novel and for curious friends and colleagues, I set out in my nondescript car for the outskirts of Arvada.

The Science

 The CBI facility is surrounded by a black wrought iron “fence.”  I pulled up to a wide, electronically controlled gate, pushed a button and identified myself as a member of the SinC tour.  The gate swung wide.  I entered, parked and walked to the entry.   

Again, I identified myself to a speaker and then a door to a small, blessedly  air-conditioned reception area opened.   Inside, I signed in with my name, time of arrival, etc., and was issued a visitor’s pass. They don’t fool around with security here.  To go anywhere beyond the reception area, one has to have a staff member along.

 After a couple dozen more SinC members had been duly signed in, we were divided into two groups. We were about to gain “inside information.”

CBI and the Forensic Evidence Labs

The CBI  is one of five divisions of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. It provides law enforcement services to local, state, and federal law enforcement and government agencies. Including operating an internationally-accredited forensic laboratory system.

The forensic labs divide their work into  DNA casework; latent prints; firearm and toolmark anyalysis; drug chemistry analysis; crime scene evidence processing; serology (analysis of blood, semen, tissue, saliva); trace evidence analysis; DNA database management and toxicology analysis. There’s a  separate investigative unit for each.

On the tour

Posters on the facility’s numerous hallway walls identify the various lab units.  Peering inside each lab through an adjacent window, one can see pristine countertops and the equipment needed for a specific-type analysis, from microscopes to robots to water tanks.

As we walked through the halls, the scientist guiding our tour provided general information about each lab’s focus. One of the first labs on my tour involved DNA. CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) includes DNA info about offenders only.  Victim DNA is not in the database. Factoid:  Identical twins have identical DNA. What is not identical are their fingerprints.  Each has his/her own unique fingerprint. As does each of us.  The Latent Fingerprint  lab uses modern technology to search evidence for prints that might otherwise go undetected.

The Drug Analysis lab provides the scientists who work there with a “cheat-sheet” poster identifying  various drugs. 

In the back of the Firearms lab is a water tank, into which a  scientist fires a bullet. The purpose —  to check if  that bullet has the same markings as shell casings  found at a crime scene.  This unit also works with NIBIN, the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network.  It’s a specialized computer network in the United States which contains digital images of recovered pieces of ballistic evidence.

The Evidence unit is the only one  with  a vault,  where evidence is kept. Our guide mentioned that it is not uncommon for scientists in this unit to work long hours and weekends.

Scientists and Standards

The scientists working at this CBI facility have advanced degrees in specific areas of expertise.  They follow exacting protocols.  This CBI  lab meets the standards set by International Laboratory Accreditation.   As our guide told us, “We do everything by the book.”  They document each step of their work. Defense attorneys have the right to observe the testing being conducted involving their clients.  Forensic Lab scientists also may be called upon to testify at trial.  Criminal info resulting from the forensic work goes from CBI to FBI.

At the end of our tour, I asked our guide what gives her the greatest satisfaction in working at the CBI Forensic Lab.  Her immediate response – “Knowing that I have helped bring justice.” (Using what I learned on this tour, I am hopeful that at the end of my novel, my character can credibly say the same thing.)

With  the tour over,  I turned in my “Visitor” badge, signed out noting the time, and was buzzed out into the parking lot.  I pulled up to an iron gate  which automatically opened, and I exited. Looking into my rear view mirror, I realized I was leaving  this secure CBI facility with several important takeaways!

Consider

Public safety is a serious, complex responsibility of the state. Successfully protecting the public from criminal activity  requires cooperation  among local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.  It involves  the latest scientific methods in evidence analysis and information-sharing through databases.  The public, in turn, has a role in strengthening public safety by  providing support for these efforts.