>> HI, I'M ACTING CITY MANAGER

ED ZUERCHER.

HERE AT THE CITY OF PHOENIX WE

HAVE 15,000 DEDICATED EMPLOYEES

WHO WORK HARD EVERY DAY TO SERVE

THE PUBLIC IN A VARIETY OF JOBS.

ONE OF THE PLACES THAT IS VERY

INTERESTING FOR THE CITY IS OUR

STATE-OF-THE-ART CRIME LAB,

AND WE'RE HERE TODAY TO TALK TO

FORENSIC SCIENTIST LAURA ALZUBI

ABOUT THE WORK SHE DOES FOR THE

CITIZENS OF PHOENIX HERE AT THE

CRIME LAB.

HI, LAURA.

>> HI, HOW ARE YOU?

>> GOOD.

THANKS FOR JOINING ME.

SO, YOU'RE A FORENSIC SCIENTIST.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT

SORT OF BACKGROUND YOU NEED TO

HAVE THIS JOB THAT YOU HAVE

HERE.

>> WELL, RIGHT NOW AT THE

LABORATORY YOU NEED TO HAVE A

BACHELOR'S OF SCIENCE.

TYPICALLY THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE

LOOKING FOR.

I HAVE A BACHELOR'S IN MOLECULAR

BIOLOGY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF

ARIZONA, AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING

AT THE LABORATORY FOR EIGHT

YEARS.

>> SO TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT

WHAT YOUR DAILY WORK IS.

WHAT DO YOU DO EVERY DAY HERE IN

THE CRIME LAB?

>> SO IN THE LABORATORY THERE

ARE EIGHT SECTIONS OF THE

LABORATORY, AND I WORK IN THE

LATENT PRINT COMPARATIVE

SECTION.

I LOOK AT EVIDENCE THAT HAS BEEN

COLLECTED FROM CRIME SCENES,

AS WELL AS OTHER TYPES OF

EVIDENCE THAT CONTAIN

FINGERPRINT IMPRESSIONS.

SO IF THERE'S A FINGERPRINT

IMPRESSION COLLECTED AT THE

CRIME SCENE AND WE HAVE AN

INVESTIGATIVE LEAD, WE CALL THAT

A MANUAL COMPARISON WHERE WE'RE

COMPARING AN UNKNOWN PRINT TO A

KNOWN PRINT.

OFTENTIMES, MORE OFTENTIMES,

THE LATENT PRINT COLLECTED AT

THE CRIME SCENE DOES NOT HAVE

ANY INVESTIGATIVE LEAD, AND,

THEREFORE, WE WOULD PUT THAT

FINGERPRINT INTO OUR AUTOMATED

SYSTEM CALLED AFIS, AND AFIS

IS THE AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT

IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.

WE CODE THE LATENT.

WE PUT IT THROUGH THE SYSTEM.

AND THE SYSTEM WILL BRING BACK A

POTENTIAL LIST OF CANDIDATES FOR

US TO COMPARE.

ASIDE FROM THOSE TWO MAIN

FUNCTIONS THAT I DO EVERY DAY,

I DO TESTIFY IN THE JUDICIAL

SYSTEM WHEN CALLED UPON TO

PRESENT MY FINDINGS, AND I ALSO

GO OUT AND DO SOME OUTREACH

PROGRAMS FOR THE CITY OF

PHOENIX... SCHOOLS, OTHER

MEMBERS OF THE PHOENIX POLICE

DEPARTMENT, AS WELL AS OTHER

MEMBERS OF THE LABORATORY.

>> SO YOU'RE A SCIENTIST, BUT

YOU'RE ALSO A CITY EMPLOYEE.

WHEN YOU WERE GETTING YOUR

DEGREE, DID YOU THINK ABOUT

WORKING FOR THE CITY OR FOR A

LOCAL GOVERNMENT?

WAS THAT SOMETHING YOU THOUGHT

ABOUT?

>> I ACTUALLY THOUGHT ABOUT THAT

IN THE BACK OF MY MIND, THAT

THAT WOULD BE GREAT TO DO.

I DO KNOW THAT IT'S VERY

CHALLENGING TO GET THOSE TYPES

OF POSITIONS.

SO I TRIED TO DO EVERYTHING THAT

I COULD IN ORDER TO KIND OF GET

MY FOOT IN THE DOOR.

>> NOW, WE SEE "CSI" ON TV,

AND ON "CSI", THEY HAVE ONE CASE

AND THEY WORK IT AND IT'S ONE

HOUR AND IT'S DONE.

I'M GUESSING THAT'S NOT HOW IT

IS HERE FOR YOU.

HOW MANY CASES MIGHT YOU HAVE

GOING AT ONE TIME?

>> I HAVE QUITE A LARGE CASE

LOAD.

EVERY CASE IS SO DIFFERENT.

SO YOU MIGHT HAVE ONE CASE THAT

HAS ONE LATENT PRINT, AND YOU

MIGHT HAVE ANOTHER CASE THAT HAS

A HUNDRED LATENT PRINTS

COLLECTED OFF OF ONE ITEM,

SUCH AS A VEHICLE.

SO IT'S VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.

I TYPICALLY CAN DO PROBABLY

ANYWHERE FROM 50 TO 80 AFIS

CASES A MONTH, AND TECHNICALLY

PROBABLY ABOUT 10 COMPARATIVE

CASES A MONTH, JUST DEPENDING ON

THE LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY IN THE

CASE AND HOW MANY PEOPLE I

ACTUALLY HAVE TO COMPARE THE

LATENTS TO.

>> SO IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT

FROM "CSI"?

>> DEFINITELY DIFFERENT FROM

"CSI".

>> ALL RIGHT.

AND THEN AS YOU THINK ABOUT

OTHER THINGS YOU LIKE TO DO IN

THE LAB, WHAT OTHER JOBS IN THE

LAB ARE OF INTEREST?

>> YOU KNOW, I REALLY LOVE ALL

AREAS OF FORENSIC SCIENCE.

I FEEL LIKE EVERY SINGLE PART OF

FORENSIC SCIENCE IS SO

INTERESTING.

MY BACKGROUND IS IN MOLECULAR

BIOLOGY, SO I DO FIND INTEREST

IN THE FORENSIC BIOLOGY SECTION.

HOPEFULLY MAYBE ONE DAY THE

LABORATORY WILL ALLOW SOME CROSS

TRAINING, BUT AS FOR RIGHT NOW

I AM A FINGERPRINT EXPERT, AND I

REALLY DO ENJOY WHAT I'M DOING.

>> AND LAST QUESTION WITHOUT

GIVING AWAY ANY SECRET DETAILS,

ANY INTERESTING TYPES OF CASES

YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR CAREER

DEALING WITH FINGERPRINTS OR

ANYTHING ELSE?

>> I DEAL WITH INTERESTING CASES

EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I MEAN, IT'S REMARKABLE WHAT YOU

CAN FIND A LATENT PRINT OFF OF.

I'VE IDENTIFIED AN INDIVIDUAL'S

FINGER ON ITEMS SUCH AS A

WRAPPER, A STRAW WRAPPER,

ASHTRAYS.

I BELIEVE SOMEONE'S EVEN LIFTED

A PRINT OFF OF HUMAN SKIN.

SO, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY,

WEAPONS, KNIVES, GUNS.

ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT THINGS.

SO, YOU KNOW, IT JUST GOES TO

SHOW THAT YOU CAN LEAVE BEHIND

THIS LITTLE PIECE OF FRICTION

SKIN THAT CAN BE IDENTIFIED TO

AN INDIVIDUAL, AND A LOT OF

PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE HOW LITTLE

WE NEED TO ACTUALLY MAKE THAT

DETERMINATION.

>> AND I'M GUESSING THERE'S A

LOT OF SATISFACTION BEING PART

OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

KNOWING YOU ARE BRINGING JUSTICE

FOR THE PEOPLE OF PHOENIX.

>> YES, IT'S AMAZING.

AND I REALLY DO LOVE WORKING FOR

THE CITY OF PHOENIX.

IT'S A GREAT COMMUNITY.

I LOVE WORKING AT THE

LABORATORY.

WE'RE ALL VERY PROFESSIONAL HERE

AND HAVE A VERY HIGH STANDARD OF

INTEGRITY.

IT MAKES MY JOB REALLY

WORTHWHILE.

>> WELL, GREAT.

THANKS FOR SHARING WITH US

TODAY.

>> THANK YOU.

>> SO THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF ONE

OF THE JOBS IN THE CITY OF

PHOENIX.

WE'LL BE BRINGING THOSE TO YOU

OVER THE COMING MONTHS.

15,000 CITY EMPLOYEES WORKING

HARD TO SERVE THE RESIDENTS OF

PHOENIX.

FOR "ON THE JOB", I'M ACTING

CITY MANAGER ED ZUERCHER.