Name: Janette Psaroudis
Age: 32
Qualifications:
Bachelor of Behavioural Science, and Bachelor of Science (Biological) (La Trobe University);
Honours in Science (Melbourne University)
Position: Forensic Biologist — Biological Examinations Branch (Biology), Victoria Police Forensic Services Centre
I have worked as a Forensic Officer in the Biological Examinations Branch (BEB) of the Victoria Police Forensic Services Centre for over two years. In BEB we deal with crimes against the person, including homicides, sex crimes, assaults, armed robbery etc. Under the direction of a senior biologist and at the request of a Police Informant, I conduct scientific analyses on items of evidence taken from crime scenes, victims and suspects—this may include clothing, weapons, medical or mortuary samples and various other objects of evidence. I examine, describe and photograph these items and perform testing to identify any biological material that might be present, such as blood, semen, saliva, hair and trace. I then take samples of the biological material for DNA testing. By doing this we attempt to exclude or link a suspect to a victim or a crime scene using DNA analysis. The case notes that I take are often used in court and presented by a senior biologist, although it is possible that I may also be called to court. I also occasionally attend crime scenes and other sites outside the laboratory to assist the senior biologists.
What do you like about your job?
I love that it is different every day. The cases just keep coming in and there is usually so much to do. The work is interesting and can be quite exciting, especially if you find a useful piece of evidence or obtain a good result. It’s not always interesting though; there are boring and repetitive tasks to do as well, just like any job, but that’s all part of it. You never really know what’s going to happen on any particular day, or what bizarre object or weapon you will be examining next. For me, crime scene work is probably one of the most fascinating parts of the job, however, I only get to do that very occasionally—it’s something you tend to do more of as you gain seniority. At the end of the day, it’s a job that provides a service to the community and it’s a good feeling knowing that you have contributed something.
What do you dislike about your job?
It can be a very smelly, messy and gory job—especially the smelly part. It’s not at all glamorous like the media often makes it out to be. Blood, semen, vomit, urine, excrement, grime and filth, you name it we have to deal with it. I sometimes have to examine heavily blood stained clothing, dirty underwear, period pads, tampons, condoms and semen encrusted bedding, and that’s not the worst of it. You do tend to get used to it though, it’s all part of the job and it’s all for very good reason.
In your opinion, are jobs in your field easy/difficult to come by?
They are few and far between, especially since there is only one forensic lab in each state, but they do come up occasionally as in any organisation people move on or the organisation grows and we need more people to keep up with the work. When jobs do come up, however, there is usually a great deal of competition; we can get hundreds of applications in for the one job.
What are your longer term career goals? Where do you see yourself in five, and ten years?
My aim is to become a reporting officer. That is a forensic biologist who is in charge of their own cases and reports these cases in courts of law. At a more senior position there is also an opportunity to do scene work and specialise. My interests are in Blood Splash Pattern Interpretation, so 10 years down the track that’s where I hope to be headed. Having said that, even once you’re in forensics, the competition for higher positions is still very strong; advancing in forensics is a challenge in itself.
Day in the life
There really is no typical day, every day is different, it depends on the case that I’m working on, if I’m on a particular roster for that week, or if anything urgent comes in that day. Several days may be spent working on a single item from one case, or I may work on several different cases in the one morning, it depends on the case.
This is an example of the type of work I might do in a day. In between each case I will fill in my work diary (an official Police diary that is a record that each employee must produce on a daily basis) and enter data into the casework database for each case.
8.30 am – 10 am
I continue a case I’ve been working on for the last two days. One of the case managers asked me to examine some items from a homicide—the murder of an elderly man who had been beaten and stabbed to death in his home. The previous day I had examined clothing from the victim, who had been stabbed numerous times, as well as a video recorder and a chair leg that the informant believes may have been used as weapons. Today I begin by examining three knives found at the scene. The informant is unsure which, if any, is the weapon, therefore all three knives must be examined. I describe the items, photograph them, perform preliminary tests on some possible blood found on two of the knives, and swab the handles for trace DNA from the suspect. I perform further testing to confirm that it is definitely human blood, and a sample is then submitted for DNA analysis to see if it matches with the victim.
10 am – 12.30 pm
After a quick tea break I proceed to examine the clothing of the suspect. Same procedure as before—describing, photographing, and looking for blood from the victim on the suspect’s clothing and shoes. The case manager, who is an expert in Blood Splash Pattern Interpretation, then analyses the patterns of blood on the clothing and shoes. Since the suspect also bled, choosing stains to sample is tricky. We are interested in ascertaining whether any blood matching the victim is present on the clothing, rather than sampling blood from the suspect. As a result of the analyses, I sample some stains on the clothing for DNA testing.
1 pm – 4 pm
After lunch I pick up a sex offence case. An intruder allegedly broke into the victim’s house and raped her on her own bed. I am required to analyse her underwear and bedding for possible semen stains from the offender. Visual examination is uneventful, so I utilise a technique called AP (Acid Phosphatase) where a whole bed sheet can be screened by pressing wetted paper onto the fabric and then spraying the paper with a chemical reagent. If semen is present, some of it will soak into the paper and react when sprayed with the chemical, causing a dark purple colour to form. This is only a screening test; a slide must be made from any stain found in order to observe sperm heads, thus confirming the presence of semen. Additionally, I examine a further item from the same case, an apple that the offender is alleged to have taken a bite from and left on the kitchen bench. The apple is swabbed to test for saliva from the offender, and submitted for DNA analysis.
4 pm – 5.30 pm
A car that is evidence in an alleged sex offence is brought into the Vehicle Examinations Unit and a biologist is requested to attend. A case manager asks for my assistance to examine the back seat of the car, which is where the offence was reported to have occurred. We look for biological evidence to place the victim in the car (for example hair or blood) and test for the presence of semen from the suspects—using the AP technique as used for the bedding previously.
5.30 pm
Time to clean up and go home!
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