The Saint Paul Police Crime Lab:
An Evolution In Forensics
by
Edward J. "Ed" Steenberg
Saint Paul Police Historical Society
Part V: The Forensic Services Unit
Nationally Accredited on December 08, 2014
It should be noted that in 2012, public defenders' inquiries disclosed flawed drug-testing at the then unaccredited Saint Paul Police Crime Laboratory 43. Police Chief Thomas E. Smith revamped the laboratory as a result and it has since been accredited in the field of Forensic Inspection by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board. As a result of same inquiries, Governor Mark B. Dayton signed a bill into law in 2014 44 that requires all forensic laboratories in the state to become accredited.
The Saint Paul Police Department's Forensic Services Unit
(formerly known as the Crime Lab) focuses its capabilities on:
- Crime Scene Inspection including
- Crime Scene Search
- Visual
- ALS (Alternative Light Sources
- Documentation
- Photography
- Sketching (Hand)
- Measurements
- Computer Aided Drawings
- Evidence Collection
- General Collection & Packaging
- DNA Collection
- Trace Evidence Collection
- Latent Print Processing
- Toolmark Collection
- Physical Methods
- Impression Evidence Processing
- Presummptive Blood Testing
- Chemical Methods
- Crime Scene Search
- Latent Prints including
- Development
- Visual
- Physical Methods
- Chemical Methods
- ALS (Alternate Light Sources)
- Comparison
- ACE-V (Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification)
- Databasing (Computerized Searches)
- Development
- Impression Evidence including
- Development
- Visual
- Physical Methods
- Chemical Methods
- ALS (Alternate Light Sources)
- Comparison
- Comparison ACE-V (Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification)
- Pattern Recognition
- Development
- Firearms including
- Serial Number Restoration
- Chemical Methods
- Barrel Length Determination
- Knife Blade Length Determination
- Serial Number Restoration
Nationally accredited for Forensic Inspection in 2014 45, Saint Paul's residents, visitors and community members receive the highest level of service that comes from merging the worlds of law enforcement and science. Rosanna Caswell, Certified Latent Print Examiner, is the Forensic Lab Manager. She is currently backed up by seven sworn officers, including one police sergeant, and two civilian criminalists with natural science backgrounds.
When one considers the evolution in forensics over the past eight decades in Saint Paul a lot of changes have taken place, not only in the application of science in the workplace, but also in the management of said services. Since the creation of the Saint Paul Police Crime Laboratory in 1935, we went through a number of civilian, as well as sworn officer managers. What goes around, comes around. For the first thirty-eight years, civilian criminalists were in charge of the crime lab, and for the next forty years, it was placed in the hands of sworn officers. Today we have gone full circle with, again, the hiring of a civilian specialist as the manager of the Saint Paul Police Forensic Services Unit.
Saint Paul Police Mobile Crime Lab, Then & Now
Please go to the "SPPD History" page on our Saint Paul Police Historical Society website to review other documents relevant to this subject, and for additional information on the history of the Saint Paul Police.
Photo Left: Rosanna M. Caswell, Forensic Services Mgr.; Circa 2013
Photo Right: Rosanna M. Caswell, Civilian Employee of the Year; Circa 2016
Part VI: The Saint Paul Police Crime Lab Timeline >>>
43 Déjà Vu: A senior criminalist resigned in 1973 after his courtroom testimony was brought into question. That incident precipitated the assignment of sworn officers as directors of the crime lab for the next forty years.
44 Minnesota State Statute 299C.157 was signed into law in April 2014, with a provision that all lab facilities begin the accreditation process by July 2015.
45 Accredited on December 8, 2014 by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board/FQS (A.N.A.B.). As part of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the FQS Board is the recognized conformity assessment service for accreditation of forensic testing agencies.