Criminalistics

Criminalistics

Criminalistics is the scientific investigation, identification, and comparison of physical evidence for criminal or civil court proceedings. Criminalists must be trained in many disciplines including chemistry, biology, law enforcement, physics, and mathematics. The four-year criminalistics curriculum leads to a bachelor of science degree and includes a half-time internship in a criminalistics laboratory during the senior year. Students in the criminalistics program are encouraged to complete all the requirements for a degree in chemistry approved by the American Chemical Society while completing the criminalistics degree program. Graduates of the program are prepared for employment in criminalistics and have completed the requirements for admission to graduate school in chemistry or criminalistics, medical school, dental school, or law school.  Chemistry students with a concentration in Criminalistics can choose from:  ACS certified BS in Chemistry or BS in Chemistry.  Both degree programs are accredited by Forensic Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC).

About the Criminalistics Program

Definition

Criminalistics is a branch of Forensic Science that applies science to law through the recognition, documentation, collection, preservation, and analysis of physical evidence. A criminalist is a specialist who uses scientific principles to analyze, compare and/or identify firearms, fingerprints, hairs, fibers, drugs, blood and other physical evidence. A criminalist may also be trained to conduct crime scene investigation. Additionally, the criminalist must testify as an expert witness in court.

Admission

Upon admission to Metropolitan State University of Denver, any student who wishes to major in Chemistry with a concentration in Criminalistics, should consult the program director (Dr. April Hill, ahill45@msudenver.edu, (303) 352-7123) as soon as possible to receive detailed information about the program options and to complete the declaration of a major/minor form.

Career Opportunities

Opportunities are available with Federal Agencies such as:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• U.S.Customs
• Armed Services Laboratories

Many of our graduates have also found employment with state and local forensic laboratories.  In addition to careers directly related to criminalistics, chemistry majors find employment opportunities in such diverse fields such as: medicine, veterinary medicine, chiropractics medicine, osteopathy, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, physical therapy, dentistry, dental hygiene, medical technology engineering, and law.

Criminalistics Program Goals

The program’s primary goal is to prepare majors for careers and/or postgraduate studies in Forensic Sciences and for a lifetime of learning in the field. The Criminalistics Program endeavors to provide students the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills, criminalistics specific knowledge and a crucial understanding of chemical principals.

Transfers

Transfer students are welcomed. If, upon evaluation, chemistry courses taken at an accredited institution of higher education are judged to be comparable to the chemistry program’s course offerings, transfer credit will be awarded.

Special Requirements

Nearly all criminalistics employment is in government agencies that have special requirements including background checks and polygraph examination. Background checks will include criminal record, credit history, and interviews with people familiar with the applicant. Recent illicit drug use (five years), felony convictions, commission of crimes for which you have not been charged, drunk driving convictions and co-habitation with drug users and/or felons will disqualify an applicant from most positions. Many government agencies have a maximum age above that they will not hire. The same qualifications apply to the required internships.

Crim Internship Policies (17 KB)

Notes

The Concentration program is accredited by the Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC), whose mission is to maintain and enhance the quality of forensic science education through a formal evaluation and accreditation system for college-level academic programs that lead to a baccalaureate or graduate degree. The requirement of a minor is waived for students in the Concentration program. The Criminalistics Concentration is split into two tracks as outlined below.  Track A requires one semester of Physical Chemistry and two internships in Criminalistics.  Track B requires only one internship and a full year of Physical Chemistry, which grants the Chemistry degree the certification of the American Chemical Society.

Chemistry BS with Criminalistics Concentration

Basic Chemistry Core for Criminalistics			Credit Hours
CHE 1800	General Chemistry I		4
CHE 1810	General Chemistry II		4
CHE 1850	General Chemistry Lab		2
CHE 3000	Analytical Chemistry		3
CHE 3010	Analytical Chemistry Lab		2
CHE 3100	Organic Chemistry I		4
CHE 3110	Organic Chemistry II		3
CHE 3120	Organic Chemistry I Lab		2
CHE 3130	Organic Chemistry II Lab		2
		Subtotal	26
Additional Required Chemistry Courses
CHE 4100	Instrumental Analysis		3
CHE 4110	Instrumental Analysis Lab		2
CHE 4310	Biochemistry I		4
CHE 4350	Biochemistry Laboratory		1
		Subtotal	10
Required Criminalistics Courses
CHE 2710	Introduction to Criminalistics		3
CHE 3700	Criminalistics I		4
CHE 3710	Criminalistics II		4
CHE 4710	Criminalistics Internship II		3
		Subtotal	14
Required Ancillary Courses
BIO 1080	General Biology I		3
BIO 1090	General Biology I Lab		1
BIO 3050	Cell and Molecular Biology		4
BIO 3600	General Genetics		4
CJC 1010	Introduction to Criminal Justice		3
CJC 3110	Constitutional Issues in Criminal Procedures		3
MTH 1210	Introduction to Statistics -OR-		4
MTH 3210	Probability and Statistics		4
MTH 1410	Calculus I		4
PHI 1030	Introduction to Ethics		3
PHY 2010	College Physics I		3
PHY 2030	College Physics I Lab		2
PHY 2020	College Physics II		3
PHY 2040	College Physics II Lab  -OR-		2
PHY 2311	General Physics I		3
PHY 2321	General Physics I Lab		2
PHY 2331	General Physics II		3
PHY 2341	General Physics II Lab		2
		Subtotal	39
Required Options (Choose A or B)
Option A
CHE 3190	Survey of Physical Chemistry		4
CHE 3200	Survey of Physical Chemistry Lab		1
CHE 4700	Criminalistics Internship I		5
Option B
CHE 3250	Physical Chemistry I		4
CHE 3280	Physical Chemistry I Lab		2
CHE 3260	Physical Chemistry II		4
CHE 3290	Physical Chemistry II Lab		2
MTH 2410	Calculus II		4
MTH 2420	Calculus III		4
		TOTAL	99 – 109

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Criminalistics Minor

The Criminalistics Minor program is designed to complement the Criminal Justice Major.  Students who combine these two disciplines in a major/minor program receive a broad law enforcement background with understanding of all phases of criminal investigation.  The required courses for the minor teach many of the same scientific principles as the concentration, but at a level understood by the student with little scientific background. 

Facilities

The Chemistry Department and Criminalistics program is housed in the new Science Building (opened January 2010) on the Auraria Campus. The new 195,000 square-feet facility is paired with a renovated existing 143,000 square-feet Science Building. The Chemistry and Criminalistics programs occupy the third floor of the building. Laboratories include two general chemistry, one analytical, one physical/inorganic, one instrumental, one shared biochemistry and two organic laboratories. The Criminalistics program also has a dedicated laboratory, darkroom, and microscopy lab. A biosafety hood and DNA extraction and PCR areas are also located within the department. All of the laboratories are equipped with prep areas and mini-Mac computers. There is a dedicated student research lab and common areas on the floor. There is also office space for faculty and staff. The nuclear magnetic resonance laboratory is located in the basement of the building.

 

Recent graduates have secured jobs at Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Augusta, Georgia, Idaho State Police - Meridian, Idaho, Agilent Technologies, Boulder, Colorado, Ora Labs, Parker, Colorado, Newmont Mining, Centennial, Colorado, Environmental Protection Agency, Denver, Colorado, and the University of Colorado - Anschutz, Aurora, Colorado. 

  

Recent student conference presentations

Gesick, K.M.; Elkins, K.M. “Evaluation of DNA recovery from chewing gum simulated forensic samples by seven DNA extraction methods,” CHED Poster #167, 242nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Denver, CO, August 29, 2011.

Radulovich, M.D.; Elkins, K.M. “Modifications to the Chelex DNA extraction method to reduce cost and extraction time,” CHED Poster #173, 242nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Denver, CO, August 29, 2011.

Bevins, P.D.; Elkins, K.M. “Preparation and Evaluation of Nanoparticles for Latent Fingerprint Recovery,” poster presentation in the Metro State Student Research Forum, Denver, CO, April 1, 2011.

Gesick, K.M.; Elkins, K.M. “Evaluation of Six Methods to Extract DNA from Chewing Gum Simulated Forensic Samples,” poster presentation in the Criminalistics Section (A129) at the 63rd Annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) National Meeting, Chicago, IL, February 25, 2011.

Bevins, P.D.; Elkins, K.M. “Preparation and Evaluation of Nanoparticles for Latent Fingerprint Recovery,” poster presentation in the Criminalistics Section (A162) at the 63rd Annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) National Meeting, Chicago, IL, February 25, 2011.

Bevins, P.D.; Elkins, K.M. “Preparation and Evaluation of Nanoparticles for Latent Fingerprint Recovery,” poster presentation at a meeting of the Colorado Section of the American Chemical Society, Colorado Springs, CO November 29, 2010.

Kadunc, R.E. and Elkins, K.M. “Comparison of quantity and quality of DNA recovered from simulated arson cases in which burn temperatures and conditions were varied,” poster presentation in the Criminalistics Section (A138) at the 62nd Annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) National Meeting, Seattle, WA, February 26, 2010.

Mann, G.R.; McLaughlin, S. and Elkins, K.M. “DNA Degradation in Simulated Arson Cases using Various Accelerants,” poster presentation in the Criminalistics Section (A19) at the 61st Annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) National Meeting, Denver, CO, February 1

9, 2009.