On TV, detectives solve crimes in 43 minutes (plus commercial breaks). In real life, it takes much more time — and many more minds, including researchers discovering new ways to analyze evidence and look at crime scenes.
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There's a reason research matters. It creates technologies, medicines and other solutions to the biggest challenges we face. It touches your life in numerous ways every day, from the roads you drive on to the phone in your pocket.
The ASU research in this article was possible only because of the longstanding agreement between the U.S. government and America’s research universities. That compact provides that universities would not only undertake the research but would also build the necessary infrastructure in exchange for grants from the government.
That agreement and all the economic and societal benefits that come from such research have recently been put at risk.
Learn about more solutions to come out of ASU research at news.asu.edu/research-matters.
Their work can have wide-ranging effects, as the impact of crime is wide-ranging, affecting not just the individual victim but also community stability and even the economy.
Arizona State University is answering the call of justice with future-focused research coming out of the new School of Interdisciplinary Forensics at ASU’s West Valley campus in particular.
Here’s a look at how ASU’s forensic research is solving crimes, catching criminals and making communities safer.
CS'fly': Insect data holds clues to crimes
When detectives arrive at a crime scene, they have questions. One of the first things they want to know — aside from who and why — is time of death. Researchers at ASU’s West Valley campus have created a first-of-its-kind database by tracking blowflies and analyzing their lifespans. The data will help determine more accurate and robust time-of-death estimations from insect evidence.
Blowflies are naturally attracted to dead bodies. They can arrive at a murder scene as soon as 10 minutes after death. When they do, they lay eggs, which produce maggots that break down a corpse. ASU’s blowfly research pinpoints the exact time of death for a murder victim — key information that can be used in court to bring about justice. Researchers are also analyzing blowflies in California, Texas and Alabama.
A new way to detect drug use
Collecting urine in a cup may be an effective way to detect drug use, but researcher Min Jang may have discovered something better: fingerprints.
They are easier to collect than a urine sample, a blood test or even hair, and can be done without the knowledge of the drug user. The method also has applications beyond detecting drug use or abuse.
Jang has just signed agreements with Crossroads Inc, Community Medical Services, Sunlight Medical Services and Sonoran Prevention Works to collect fingerprints from patients for substance-use testing. These partners are interested in Jang’s research because it provides fast, less invasive, and more affordable fingerprint analysis for drug testing. Jang says his research is designed to have numerous applications — both within law enforcement and in commercial sectors.
Shattered glass left on bullets may help solve crimes
Broken glass can reveal where a criminal stood, the angle of a bullet’s path and even the direction of travel in a drive-by shooting. But what’s truly state-of-the-art is using microscopic glass fragments embedded in bullets — fragments smaller than half a strand of hair — to crack shooting cases wide open. That's exactly what one ASU researcher is doing. Her technique will help when glass experts analyze a crime scene and don't have enough information to decide between one piece of glass and another.
Shirly Montero was inspired to research glass on bullets after a forensic firearms examiner approached her with a police-related shooting involving a driver in a vehicle. He wanted to know if glass embedded in a recovered spent bullet could be used as evidence to differentiate between two possible scenarios: If the police shot through the windshield, it could be justified as self-defense; a bullet coming through the passenger window meant that the shooting was unjustified. ASU’s shattered glass research can help with these types of close-call cases.
Identifying hidden elder abuse
When the death of an older adult is considered suspicious, their body is sent to the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner. But it can be difficult to determine the exact cause of these injuries and decide whether abuse is to blame.
So a multidisciplinary team of experts is working to help fill in the gaps. The researchers have established a skeletal atlas of elder abuse that will elucidate the differences in skeletal patterns associated with abuse or neglect of an older person, and those commonly found in accidental ground-level falls. The research also addresses the critical gap in understanding how the aging process affects healing time for older individuals with fractures.
The team hopes to educate the public about elder abuse, improve criminal justice procedures and help older adults while they are still alive.
DNA across the animal kingdom
Forensics can also help solve crimes involving animals. Researcher Sreetharan Kanthaswamy has used DNA evidence to tackle wildlife trafficking and bolster conservation efforts, as well as to connect suspects to crime scenes through pet hair or to address cases of meat adulteration.
He also helped build one of the largest national DNA databases for dogs, one of the first to include many mixed-breed dogs.
On the human side of things, Kanthaswamy continues to analyze traces of blood, saliva and hair collected at crime scenes for DNA profiling, which can be used in civil cases to establish paternity, resolve inheritance disputes, prove identity and even assist in immigration cases.
Fighting cybercrime with forensics
Cybercrime has increased in recent years, taking on many nefarious forms. Criminals steal their victims’ identities — or steal from them with a click of a mouse. To counteract such crime, researcher Jihun “Max” Joun uncovers secret online messages, tracks activity and gathers electronic evidence. His work includes investigating cases of employees working themselves to death in Korea.
His methods range from data remnant analysis — finding and analyzing leftover data that remains after something is deleted from a phone or computer, in order to uncover what was once there — to quick-reaction incident response and eDiscovery, a process used in legal cases to find and gather electronic evidence from computers, emails and other digital sources.
ASU grads working for your communities
ASU graduates are already making an impact in their communities with their forensics degrees.
Alumna Lilianna Valdivia, who graduated with an undergraduate degree in forensics in 2018 and a master’s degree in 2024, started working as a crime technician at the Chandler Police Department after graduation and worked her way up to forensics scientist and criminal investigator at the Glendale (Arizona) Police Department, where she is working to solve crimes.
Linhsey Trinh, a police officer with the Westfield Police Department in Indiana, is using her forensics degree during encounters with community members at crime scenes. Trinh’s 2024 master’s degree in forensic psychology via ASU Online helps her engage with both victims and criminals with mental health issues during de-escalation.
Gracie Thompson, who graduated summa cum laude in December with a bachelor’s degree in forensic science, analyzed blowfly larvae's stomach contents and examined tiny molecules that play a big role in controlling how our genes work, which earned her several awards. She is volunteering at Arizona’s Department of Public Safety Crime Lab.
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