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The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and
the Farmington Police Department share a Police Crime Laboratory,
which enables both agencies to provide professional and accurate
crime scene investigations.
One of just four such labs
in the state, the crime lab includes a darkroom for film processing
as well as an area to process physical evidence taken from the
crime scene. Additionally, the lab is equipped with audio/visual
equipment from which still photographs can be captured from crime
scene videos as well as surveillance videos.
The crime lab includes technology that allows technicians to do
latent fingerprint processing, a technique that develops fingerprints
not visible to the naked eye. Dusting powders, chemicals, use
of an alternate light source or a combination of techniques help
the crime lab deputy locate fingerprints that are often crucial
in the solving of crimes. The lab also includes an Automated Fingerprint
Identification System (AFIS), one of four in the state, which
accesses a fingerprint database maintained by the FBI. The database
affords the possibility of identification of individuals from
their fingerprints. |
| A Crime Lab Technician for the San Juan County
Sheriff’s Office conducts a forensic examination related to
evidence gathered from a crime scene. |
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Additionally, the crime lab has a workstation
for data recovery and analysis of computer forensic examinations,
one of only three such operations in the area.
Crime scene reconstruction
is an important responsibility of the crime lab technician.
Crime scene reconstruction is the use of scientific methods, physical
evidence, deductive reasoning and their interrelationships to
gain explicit knowledge of the series of events that surround
the commission of a crime. The goal of crime scene reconstruction
is to identify the most probable sequence of events during the
commission of a crime.
The Sheriff's Office detective
assigned to the crime lab is available to be dispatched to crime
scenes and is an integral part of the Sheriff's Office's commitment
to provide experienced and professional staff to the citizens
of San Juan County. He works closely with personnel from
the Farmington Police Department assigned to the Crime Lab. |
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Using a household iron, the Crime Lab Technician
attempts to lift fingerprints from evidence. |
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