Information on Forensic Fingerprint Examiners

If you are an avid fan of the CSI TV shows, you may have heard of terms such as forensic fingerprint examiner and wondered what they are and what they do.

In this article, I will explain what a forensic fingerprint examiner is and describe what they do.

In many crime labs, fingerprint examiners are a crucial part of a criminal investigation. If you pursue a job in this field, you will be required to make comparisons between fingerprints found at a crime scene and similar prints obtained from suspects and from large databases. You also make trips to crime scenes and help out with exposing, photographing, and lifting fingerprints. In order to do these, you must be familiar with all the light and chemical techniques for exposing latent fingerprints and all the methods for protecting and gathering them.

To obtain a job in the field of a fingerprint examiner, the candidate must possess a bachelor’s degree with additional coursework or experience in fingerprint analysis. Some employers will hire you with a high school education and with some college experience in biology, chemistry, or math. Check with your potential employer to determine the exact requirements. If college is not your cup of tea, then plan on working for several years before climbing up the corporate ladder.

For that reason, it is best to attend college and take coursework in the forensic science curriculum. You will have a better chance of landing a job as a fingerprint examiner with your college degree over somebody who never even went to college.

Having a firm grasp of forensics can help bring a perpetrator to justice and bring closure to his victims or their families.  For this reason, there will always be a demand for a forensics expert.