Feature

Whodunnit? The Case of the Optical Sleuth

Susan M. Reiss

Of the 15,000 police departments across the U.S., only major urban centers and federal government crime labs can afford the hefty price tags associated with high tech. Budget crunches force many states such as California to choose between updating forensic labs and supplying patrolmen with flak jackets. "The camel hairbrush and powder, a fingerprint identification technique that preceded Orville and Wilbur Wright, are still the norm," notes Roland Menzel, a forensic researcher at Texas Tech University.