The forensic science field is growing

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The director of the Columbus Police Department Forensic Lab said many factors play a role in the growth.

Forensic classes like the one at Starkville Academy, as well as advances in technology, are helping spark more interest in the field.

Director of the Columbus Forensic Lab Austin Shepherd has been investigating crimes for nearly two decades.

Science is what first lured him into the field.

These days he said there’s a growing market for it.

“New labs are opening up and of course, the court system and investigation units require it. They depend on it more as it becomes more available, so naturally, you’re seeing more positions open up in the field and because of that, you’re seeing college courses start up, actual degree programs in forensic science, and now, you’re seeing it kind of segue into high-schools, as well.”

Starkville Academy is one of those high-schools.

“I think this is a hidden science, if you will. A lot of people don’t know that it’s even an option. I didn’t really when I came through high-school, but the popularity of the CSI and a lot of the others, it’s fun to set the record straight at some level, see what they do for the actual real science behind it,” says forensics teacher, Dr. Eric Ezell.

Senior Aubree Campbell said the forensics class gave her a new level of respect for the field.

She said she’s learned a lot, including that real CSI work is nothing like one of her favorite TV shows.

“It’s not at all, like that is so dramatized and they figure out the crime in like two days, but in real life, it takes a really long time and Dr. Ezell was telling us that only 65 murders in the whole United States were solved last year.”

Shepherd said he believes television series like CSI spark an interest in the field for students, which leads them to dig a little deeper and then realizing exactly what Campbell did.

He said that’s not the only thing fueling the interest in forensics.

“We had a lot of government funding and things of that nature, allowing us to open different labs and pursue different types of analysis and research and it’s just kind of gone from there and now, with all of these new methods, new analytical techniques coming out that are helping solve these old unsolved cases, you’re seeing it just grow in that way, as well.”

The crime lab director said any type of education in the field is great, even if students decide not to pursue a career in it because it may come into play at some point in their lives, or in another career.

Dr. Eric Ezell agreed.

“The ability to think is honestly something that will serve them in any field they go into and if they can take that ability and apply it to their jobs, that’s my real goal.”