At the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Science Division is comprised of 40 people who provide resources to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in 13 of Nevada’s 17 counties. It includes more than 80 agencies.

“They may go to a crime scene and collect evidence, process the crime scene and document the crime scene. We have people in the lab who work in different departments,” said Steven Johnson, director of the Forensic Science Division.

Science plays a key role in the criminological position. Scientific disciplines range from DNA, toxicology, controlled substances and firearms. The areas of toxicology and DNA receive the most submissions per year. “It varies, but we do around 3,000 alcohol calls a year. Around 1,200 to 1,500 operations in drug toxicology per year. We also see about 800 to 900 DNA assignments per year,” Johnson said.

Johnson spends most of his time in the firearms department. “We are conducting a test shot. For this test we take a cartridge. We enter it into the database. This round could hit at an earlier time or provide an indication of a shooting. This information is now going to our investigative agency and they believe this firearm is most likely responsible for the shooting at this crime scene.”

The firearms department processes approximately 600 to 900 orders annually. Your job is to connect firearms used in a shooting scene to other shooting scenes or shooting scenes involving firearms. “You do a physical comparison under the microscope and look at individual marks left by a firearm on a cartridge case or a fired bullet,” Johnson added.

Criminal investigators typically respond to crime scenes such as homicides, officer-involved shootings and sexual assaults, which may require testimony in court. However, beforehand you must undergo training and intensive training.

“They can spend six months to a year or a year and a half training before they even handle their first case. Then we let them work cases over a longer period of time before we try to cross-train them, if we’re considering cross-training,” Johnson said.

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