A crime laboratory - often shortened to crime lab - is a scientific laboratory, using primarily forensic science for the purpose of examining evidence from criminal cases.

Lab personnel

A typical crime lab has two sets of personnel:

• Field analysts - investigators that go to crime scenes, collect evidence, and process the scene. Job titles include:
  • Forensic evidence technician
  • Crime scene investigator**
  • Scenes of crime officer (SOCO)
• Laboratory analysts - scientists or other personnel who run tests on the evidence once it is brought to the lab (i.e., DNA
  DNA
  Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
  
   tests, or bullet striations). Job titles include:
  • Forensic Technician (performs support functions such as making reagents)
  • Forensic Scientist/Criminalist (performs scientific analyses on evidence)
  • Fingerprint Analyst
  • Forensic Photographer
  • Forensic Document Examiner
  • Forensic Entomologist

United States

In the United States, crime labs may be publicly or privately operated, although private laboratories typically do not respond to crime scenes to collect evidence. Public crime labs are organized at the city, county, state, or national level. A law enforcement agency that does not operate its own crime lab usually has free access to a higher level laboratory for analysis of their evidence.

• Most states have their own crime labs, for instance Oklahoma has the OSBI, many other places have smaller yet still sufficient crime labs.

Crime labs in popular culture

The term "crime lab" has become a part of popular culture, largely due to the TV dramas. Some of the more famous shows are:

• Bones (TV series)
  Bones (TV series)
  Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
  
  
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
  CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
  CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
  
  and spin-offs CSI: Miami
  CSI: Miami
  CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
  
  and CSI: NY
  CSI: NY
  CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
  
  
• NCIS
  NCIS (TV series)
  NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
  
  
• Quincy, M.E.
  Quincy, M.E.
  Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC...
  
  - a 1970s television show featuring crime lab personnel and procedures

Several non-fiction television programs, document the resolution of criminal cases based on the scientific analysis of the evidence:

• Forensic Files
  Forensic Files
  Forensic Files is an American documentary-style series which reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and even outbreaks of illness. The show is broadcast on truTV, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, in association with truTV...
  
  

External links

• FBI Crime Lab
• Arkansas State Crime Lab
• US Postal Inspection Service Forensic Lab
• Reddy's Forensic Page - link to US and international forensic laboratories