IN HONOR OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE DAY, LASD RECOGNIZES THE HARDWORKING SCIENTISTS WHO HELP NAB CRIMINALS

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Scientific Services Bureau operates one of the largest full service crime laboratories in the United States. There are nearly 300 staff members, of which 160 are women, who work to provide forensic science support for all law enforcement agencies within Los Angeles County, with the exception of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Forensic science is any science that can be used in the legal system and crime scene investigation is a combination of science, logic and law.

At the crime scene, all potential evidence is collected by Forensic Identification Specialists. This evidence includes ballistics and firearms, latent prints, trace evidence, biological evidence, footwear and tire track evidence, digital evidence and drug evidence. These are examined and analyzed at the crime lab.

The Latent Print section of the crime lab collects prints at crime scenes, conducts investigations and works with chemical processing. The job also entails report writing and testifying in court. Other careers in the crime scene investigation field include evidence technicians, crime scene analysts and forensic investigators.

Danielle Tiesma, a Forensic Identification Specialist II at the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center in Los Angeles, is shown lifting fingerprints from an object using a magnetic brush, magnetic powder and lifting tape.

Antoinette S. Bravo, a Forensic Identification Specialist II also working out of the Herzberg-Davis Center is shown taking photographs of a crime scene and marking evidence using yellow evidence markers.

Thanks to the rapid growth of crime TV shows like “CSI,” the profession of Crime Scene Investigator has been brought into the spotlight. The job probably does not look like what you have seen on the TV shows, but it is an incredibly rewarding and gratifying career in the law enforcement world.

In support of Women in Science, the LASD salutes Forensic Identification Specialist Bravo and Tiesma, for their commitment in the field of science, law enforcement and the pursuit of justice.

** Photo of Danielle Tiesma and Antoinette Bravo Forensic Identification Specialists II

** Latent Print Section / Crime Scene Investigation Photography, 2020.