TRACE EVIDENCE ANALYSIS

The term "trace evidence" came from the phrase "Vanished without a trace." Did the person truly vanish "without a trace" or was there evidence being overlooked because of its size? Based on Locard's Exchange Principle two objects that come in contact with each other will exchange material. Trace evidence is small matter that is left behind and taken away from a crime scene.

The Trace Analysis Unit is not a single section but a grouping of sub-sections: Hairs, Fibers, Glass, Paint, Fire Debris, Explosives, Impressions, and Miscellaneous. Each sub-section is a stand-alone entity.

It is said that if one doesn't know what to do with an item because it doesn't fit into a classic evidence category give it to Trace because they'll analyze anything. This is true. A criminalist in the Trace Analysis Unit learns to examine specific types of trace evidence like fibers and explosives. More importantly they learn to use instruments like a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, an FTIR microscope, a scanning electron microscope with an x-ray detector, and a GRIM while learning techniques like basic and advanced microscopy, microchemistry, and capillary electrophoresis. The trace criminalist develops a strong scientific foundation on which is built expertise with instruments and techniques that can be applied to evidence that they've never encountered like cosmetics, lotions, soil and pollen, tobacco, and buttons. The life of a trace criminalist is researching the unknown, analyzing the unexpected, and presenting results in a court of law.