If anyone has watched the Showtime television series, Dexter, you know that besides him being a vigilante serial killer, he is also a forensic scientist for the Miami Metro Police Department. Dexter's specialty is a blood spatter technician. Television shows like Dexter and the CSI franchise television shows have brought a different kind of law enforcement into the forefront. These television shows have also created an interest in criminal forensics as a career field.

I also mentioned this in a previous article about forensic scientists and in that article, I touched on a few jobs in the field of criminal forensics but this article and future articles will talk about one science in particular and this article will focus on blood spatter technicians, what their jobs entail and the qualifications for the career field.

A blood spatter analyst is just that. They go to crime scenes and deal mainly with blood and other bodily fluids. If they see blood spatter on a wall or a window, floor, ground, etc..., the blood spatter technician will take samples of the blood to analyze it, they will take pictures of the spatter and then perform various tests to see how the spatter occurred whether by a bullet, a bomb, a sharp object or a blunt instrument. This will go a long way in helping to solve the crime, I a crime was in fact committed. A victim could have simply fallen or even committed suicide.

If in fact it was a crime that was committed, the blood spatter or the pooling of blood, the size and shapes of the blood spatter or drops will help determine how a weapon was used, what weapon was used, the direction of travel of the victim, and even how the events of the crime unfolded. A blood spatter analyst is a very intriguing field of forensics but one cannot have a weak constitution as these crime scenes can be very gruesome.

In order to become a blood spatter analyst, like other forensic scientists, one must have a background in basic science as well as classes in mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology and should have at least a Bachelor's degree in Science. There are also more in depth training courses to take as more advances in science and the particular field of forensic sciences become available. A blood spatter analyst usually works normal hours between Monday and Friday but could be called upon at anytime an analyst is needed at a crime scene. Do you have a good knowledge of the sciences and mathematics? If you said yes, then maybe a career in forensic science is for you.