I obtained an internship position at the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office (TCME) in Fort Worth, Texas working under the supervision of latent print specialist W.M. (Bill) Bailey. As a fingerprint specialist, Mr. Bailey is in charge of identifying unknown remains through fingerprint analysis and is responsible for processing evidence that comes in containing possible latent prints.
The TCME’s office functions not only as a medical examiner’s office, but as a forensic crime laboratory as well, which means that they have a full-service evidence-processing center including: DNA, trace, latent prints, toxicology and ballistics. At the TCME, the goal is to process the body of the deceased to determine identity if unknown, the cause and the manner of death, along with serving as a crime laboratory for 89 counties in the state of Texas. The TCME occupies two buildings just outside of downtown Fort Worth. The main building houses the morgue, investigators, evidence technicians, administration, toxicology laboratory, firearms laboratory, anthropology laboratory, human ID, and the pathologist’s office. The second building, called the annex, houses the archive rooms, evidence storage rooms, latent print laboratory, histology, DNA, and conference rooms. There is a forensic anthropologist on staff at the TCME, along with an odontologist, five pathologists, several death investigators, and evidence technicians. Working with Mr. Bailey gave me access to both buildings and the ability to observe processes performed throughout.
By working alongside Mr. Bailey, I was able to observe the intricacies of fingerprint analysis on a daily basis. When working in the latent print laboratory, my duties included processing evidence by superglue fuming, powder dusting or using chemicals such as ninhydrin. I also typed reports, filed post-mortem prints (all prints taken to identify the deceased are kept on file in the event that the identification is ever questioned), and organized the evidence locker and procedural manuals (there is a manual for everything and they must all be kept up to date and within easy access of the examiners). In the Human ID laboratory, I performed jobs such as taking post-mortem prints, watching autopsies, speaking with detectives, editing the CRIPT system, learning to use AFIS, learning to identify different aspects of fingerprints, and filing cases that had been identified.
Throughout my time at the ME’s office, I was able to process a vast variety of evidence. One such type of evidence was paper. When processing paper such as notebook paper, envelopes, business cards, insurance cards, etc., prints are processed using ninhydrin. This chemical is poured in a basic tin or glass baking pan and the paper is then dipped in the pan and hung to dry overnight. Once dried, the paper is dusted for prints. When processing gloves, you must cut them up one side and open them up so that they can be fumed on both sides inside the super glue chamber. Once fumed, the gloves are dusted for prints using bi-chromatic powder and then observed under a magnifier and a high-powered light to make prints more visible.
Two really common items that come into the crime lab for latent processing were Ziploc drug bags and guns. Guns are usually thoroughly photographed because of their involvement in a violent crime that will probably go to trial while drug bags rarely provide print results and rarely go to trial. The items are placed in the super glue chamber and fumed. After fuming is complete, they are squirted with Rhodamin 6G and hung to dry overnight. Once dry, they are observed under a forensic light source to see whether a print develops. If a print is seen, the item is dusted with powder to make the prints visible to the naked eye. Shell casings and credit cards are also processed using these same steps.
The most memorable experience of my internship was when a severely decomposed and unidentified body came into the morgue. Initially, I was excited because my goal is to work with the decomposed in the field of forensic anthropology. After working in the morgue every day, I had become accustomed to the smell and the sight of death, but walking into that room with the decomposed body was a whole different story. Surprisingly, there were at least ten decomposed bodies to come into the morgue over the summer. The body in this case was still covered in maggots and the skin was completely gone (you could not tell the race or gender of the individual just by glance). So, as you can imagine, the process of fingerprinting this individual became difficult. The hands had to be cleaned up first, and when this was done it was discovered that there were still some fingerprint ridges visible on the tips of the fingers. When fingerprinting someone, finger cards and curved-finger holders are used to help roll the print properly, which can at times be difficult if the body is in rigor mortis (the progressive stiffening of the body that occurs several hours after death as a result of the coagulation of protein in the muscles. It usually starts to wane after about 24 hours). There is also a roller that is used to obtain palm prints. Once the prints are taken, they are run through AFIS for a match, and sealed in a sheet protector with evidence tape so that they are not touched by a bare hand.
I learned that the field of forensics is not just gathering and processing evidence but also requires excellent verbal and written communication skills and composure in order to testify in court and deal with the police. The primary thing that I learned is that there is an enormous amount of paperwork to be completed. For each process that you perform, you are required to fill out mounds of paperwork documenting exactly what you did, the condition the evidence was in when you received it, and how you received the evidence. In summary, this was a great experience and I would definitely recommend the Medical Examiner’s Office as a place for an internship.