Forensic Lab Services

In 1940, the Postal Inspection Service established the National Forensic Laboratory near Washington D.C. This state-of-the-art facility is staffed by highly trained forensic scientists and technical specialists who play key roles in identifying individuals who have committed postal crimes.

Forensic Laboratory Services (FLS) is split into four units: Fingerprints, Questioned Documents and Imaging; Physical Sciences; and Digital Evidence. These units analyze a wide variety of evidence, including weapons, explosives, hairs, drugs, fingerprints, handwriting, counterfeit postage, computers, and cell phones.

As an example of the volume of work FLS handles, in a recent year it examined over 1 million items, including 378 terabytes of data. As a result, it helped to identify more than 2,200 individuals involved in crimes. In that year, the FLS Incident Response Team responded eight times to different locations in the United States to provide inspectors with onsite crime scene support.

Forensic Lab Services

Fingerprint and AFIS Unit

The Fingerprint and AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Indentification System) Unit processes evidentiary items to develop and preserve fingerprints, palm prints and footprints. These items are used to identify or exclude known individuals. Latent prints are compared to submitted prints of known individuals or searched through national databasesto identify unknown subjects. The unit supports active investigations of the Postal Inspection Service, the U,S, Oistak Service Office of the Inspector General, and other agencies on a case-by-case basis. The unit has an authorized complement of 12 forensic latent print analysts and is overseen by the assistant laboratory director.

Analysts in the Fingerprint & AFIS Unit routinely serve as trainers in the Basic Inspector Training Program as well as in the development and delivery of other specialized forensic and investigative training courses. Many of the latent print analysts are certified latent print examiners by the International Association for Identification. Several analysts are also members of the Forensic Laboratory Services Incident Response Team and are available for crime scene response nationwide in support of Postal Inspection Service investigations.

Questioned Document and Imaging Unit

The Questioned Documents & Imaging unit is comprised of two sections. The Forensic Document Examiners in the Questioned Documents section are responsible for conducting highly specialized examinations on USPIS cases including handwriting, typewriting, printing processes, suspected counterfeit USPS products (e.g., stamps and money orders), non-destructive paper and ink, and indented impressions. These examinations are conducted in a manner which allows preservation of the evidence for other possible examinations like fingerprints.

The Forensic Analysts and Forensic Photographers in the Imaging section work on a variety of Inspection Service cases, and support analysts from other sections at Forensic Laboratory Services. Forensic Analysts have the tools and software to enhance video gathered from a myriad of sources (e.g., commercial security cameras, home security systems, personal devices) to provide investigative information to our customers. Forensic Photographers assist in processing evidence for our Fingerprint & AFIS unit, and capture examination quality images of developed latent prints for future comparison by Latent Print Analysts. They also assist in court chart preparation for the field if needed.

Members of the Questioned Documents & Imaging Unit serve as instructors for USPIS’s Basic Inspector Training Course and some are members of FLS’s Incident Response Team.

Physical Sciences Unit

The Physical Sciences Unit provides analysis of materials and is composed of the Chemistry section and the Physical Evidence section. The Chemistry section is dedicated primarily to the analysis of controlled substances but also offers support in the analysis of possible poisons or unknown chemicals. The Physical Evidence section provides a wide variety of chemical and microscopical examinations of evidentiary materials including arson debris, explosives, hairs, fibers, firearms, glass, paint, shoeprints, tapes and adhesives and tool marks.

Subject-matter experts in the Physical Sciences Unit routinely serve as educators for the Basic Inspector Training program, the National Crime Scene Processing Course and the Bomb Investigations Course. Also, several members of the section are specially trained and available to respond to or provide technical assistance in processing crime scenes, especially complex or high-profile scenes.

Digital Evidence Unit

The Digital Evidence Unit is responsible for preserving, processing, and examining mobile devices, computers, vehicles, and cloud-based data. Analysts can assist with court preparation and testimony, as well as with executing search warrants by identifying and triaging time-sensitive data. The DEU consists of Forensic Computer Analysts strategically located across the United States in separate laboratories. The DEU is overseen by an Assistant Laboratory Director at FLS Headquarters.