Crime Lab Tour: The Forensic Garage
Vehicle examination bays are a relatively new feature of the modern crime lab in the United States. Now there have always been garages that vehicles could be sequestered in but that was not their primary purpose. Large agencies may have used parking structures (for patrol vehicles) or impound lots but they lacked certain amenities for the forensic scientist. When I first got into forensics we used to process vehicles at the tow yard. Some had indoor garages but others did not. In some cases they would back the cars into a kind of shipping container where you couldn’t even open the doors! Another problem is the potential for unauthorized access. Even if you lock the vehicle it’s possible for damage to occur from the normal operations of the tow yard. Workers may brush against the car wiping off fingerprints or they can accidentally hit the vehicle as they move other vehicles around. I’ve even seen cases where the suspect (owner) climbs the fence after hours and literally steals their car back from the tow yard.
A vehicle in a tow yard
A forensic garage offers certain qualities that are hard to find in other facilities such as,
- Security from all persons not affiliated with the investigation (including other officers and detectives)
- Environmental control (weather, lighting, temperature, etc.)
- Access to specialized tools and processing systems.
A vehicle in transit on a flatbed tow truck
Most vehicles can be processed in the field. Fingerprinting a recovered stolen vehicle with no damage may not necessitate it being towed back to the crime lab. If the car was used to kidnap and rape a woman however, it’s going to take time to process. Some vehicles can take hours to properly search and document. It’s nice to have a safe and secure area to work in where you don’t have to worry about approaching snow storms, security, limitations of your equipment, or even the prying eyes of the media. You may have to wait hours for a search warrant to look for various kinds of trace evidence, documenting damage like impacts or bullet holes, or even restoring obliterated VIN numbers so it nice to know the vehicle is protected. A forensic garage allows the investigator to control the environment which is critical for things like an ALS examination (light control) or the application of blood reagents like Luminol.
Looking for a bullet with a fiber optic scope
In addition to the controlled environment the garage can provide very specialized equipment such as chemical fume hoods, vehicle lifts, pneumatic tools, even a winch. Vehicle lifts are handy for getting under a vehicle to recover fired bullets, remove tires or bumpers, or even document things like damage to brake or fuel lines. It’s also nice to get under vehicles to look for blood, tissue, or clothing strips in cases of hit and run or homicide where the victim is intentionally run over. You may even find vegetation from the crime scene wedged in the undercarriage. Most garages are designed to be over sized. Large enough to house a city bus or several vehicles at once. Further, the garages are alarmed, can be easily locked down, and may even have video surveillance. I was recently at a large garage that even had a huge tent structure that allowed the entire vehicle to be fumed with cyanoacrylate! Most forensic garages have room for two to six vehicles although some agencies may have more if they can demonstrate a need (like a regional or state crime lab).
Vehicle on a lift. Notice the chemical fume hood in the corner to the left. These are used for things like fingerprint processing with chemical reagents. The white hose is to evacuate exhaust fumes.
Pink ballistic trajectory rod in a vehicle
Bottom line is that a forensic garage is a unique feature of the modern forensic laboratory. They are nothing like the automotive garages you may be used to. They are over sized to ensure there is enough room for a photographer to be able to get the whole car in a single photograph and some even have cat walks above so elevated pictures can be taken. If you ever get a chance to tour a crime lab call ahead and see if they have a garage you can visit. Some may be off site from the main crime lab so it doesn’t hurt to ask in advance.
A view without a vehicle
Posted on October 24, 2012, in The Crime Laboratory and tagged bullet, crime, Crime Scene, csi, detective, fiction, forensic garage, forensics, murder, mystery, police, thriller, tom adair, vehicle examination. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
I really enjoy your blog. I do have a question. I’m doing a novel about a cold case murder in Texas in 1981. Could you tell me how much of the protocol has changed since then? I don’t think they did the DNA things then, so gathering of evidence might be different. Also,I’ve been told by our Coroner that most Texas places didn’t have coroners then, and if an autopsy was required, the body would have to be taken to a larger city…usually Ft. Worth. Do you happen to know where I could get further information about crime scene detection of an earlier time period?
You’re correct that DNA was not an option in 1981 but forensics was still pretty advanced. As a writer you can set the stage however you want in terms of the experience and capabilities of the detectives or crime scene investigators. In Texas I would bet the CSIs were all commissioned deputies or officers back then. They also likely utilized the laboratory at the DPS or Texas Rangers. They would be collecting blood and doing traditional blood typing back then.They would also be collecting fingerprints, shoe impressions, ballistics, etc. This would also have been the time when the Atlanta Child Murders was big in the news so hair and fiber evidence was very much in people’s minds. Many of the forensic sciences have been practiced since the 19th Century and only gotten stronger. As far as fingerprinting they could have done superglue fuming, powders, and various other chemical reagents like Ninhydrin, Physical Developer or Silver Nitrate. Luminol was also utilized back then for developing latent blood. A good text to read that was used at the time (among many others) was The Fundamentals of Criminal Investigation by Charles O’Hara. It’s out of print now but you might find used copies at Amazon or abebooks.com.
Thank you so much for your insight. I’ll try to find that book. Thanks. Margaret Brettschneider