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Forensic Engineering
By: Erin Presler and Nyla Hamilton
Education and Training
Forensic science positions typically require a bachelor's degree to work in the field. Knowledge and understanding of legal procedures also can be helpful. Job candidates who have extensive hands-on experience with a variety of laboratory equipment, including computers and related equipment, usually require a short period of on-the-job training.
About 30 colleges and universities offer a bachelor's degree program in forensic science; about another 25 schools offer a bachelor's degree in a natural science with an emphasis on forensic science or criminology; a few schools offer a bachelor's degree with an emphasis in a specialty area, such as criminology, pathology, jurisprudence, investigation' ontology, toxicology, or forensic accounting.
People interested in careers as forensic science technicians should take as many high school science and math courses as possible. Science courses taken beyond high school, in an associate or bachelor's degree program, should be laboratory oriented, with an emphasis on bench skills. A solid background in applied chemistry, physics, and math is vital.
Other Qualifications
Nature of the Work
Work Enviroment
Forensic science technicians work under a wide variety of conditions. Most work indoors, usually in laboratories, and have regular hours. Some occasionally work irregular hours in order to collect data from crime scenes.
Advances in automation and information technology require technicians to operate more-sophisticated laboratory equipment. Forensic science technicians make extensive use of computers, electronic measuring equipment, and traditional experimental apparatus.
Some science technicians might be exposed to hazards from equipment, chemicals, or toxic materials. Forensic science technicians often are exposed to human body fluids and firearms. However, these working conditions pose little risk if proper safety procedures are followed. For forensic science technicians, collecting evidence from crime scenes can be distressing and unpleasant.
Alphonse Bertillon
In 1883, the Parisian police adopted his anthropomorphic system, called signalization or Bertillon. Bertillon identified individuals by measurements of the head and body, shape formations of the ear, eyebrow, mouth, eye, etc., individual markings such as tattoos and scars, and personality characteristics. The measurements were made into a formula that referred to a single unique individual, and recorded onto cards which also bore a photographic frontal and profile portrait of the suspect (the "mug shot"). The cards were then systematically filed and cross-indexed, so they could be easily retrieved. In 1884, Bertillon used his method to identify 241 multiple offenders, and after this demonstration, Bertillon was adopted by police forces in Great Britain, Europe, and the Americas.