I. Career Study Project

Jessica Patak

September 24, 2015

II. Dan Reigstad is an Instructor at the East Texas Police Academy/Kilgore College. He is the Owner of Reigstad Forensic Fingerprint Consulting & Training, and is retired from the Longview Police Department as the Senior Crime Scene Detective and Senior Latent Print Examiner. He also hold numerous certification titles.

As an instructor, he specializes in fingerprint, crime scene, photography, and forensic related classes. When he was Senior Crime Scene Detective, he was responsible for identifying, collecting, and documenting the physical evidence found at a crime scene. And as Senior Latent Print Examiner, performed specialized technical work in the identification, collection, examination, verification, recording, and maintaining of latent prints and other related crime data He would also coordinate and conduct training for subordinates and law enforcement personnel.

Possible job locations are in any city big enough to have a police department or a place to teach these classes. Like he did, you can open up a business anywhere. The locations for these different jobs he has held are possibly anywhere, but Mr. Reigstad works from Kilgore, Texas.

Necessary Education:

To be a police officer you have to complete the police training academy and pass a written exam administered by the police academy and must be 21, have a US citizenship, and a valid driver’s license.

To be a instructor of the forensics classes you have to have a degree in forensics and possibly in education, depending on where you teach (school, office, etc.)

To be a crime scene detective and latent print examiner you have to have a bachelor’s degree, and in some cases you may have to have a law enforcement officer status, and police academy training.

Use of forensic science: As an instructor he is teaching about fingerprinting, examining crime scenes, and other related classes that all have to do with forensics. Also when he worked as a crime scene detective, he had to collect and examine forensic evidence from crime scenes. His business has to do with fingerprinting as well, which is all about forensic science.

III. Interview- Mr. Dan Reigstad

1. What made you decide to join the forensics field?

In 1992 I got out of the US Army and was offered a job with the Longview Police Department as a dispatcher, then patrol officer. When just out of training I responded to a call to check the welfare of a young woman in her home. I forced entry into the house and found her shot to death on the bathroom floor. I assisted the crime scene unit with processing the crime scene and became fascinated at the level of detail that went into the investigation. After that, I started paying for myself to attend basic and advanced courses on forensics, which in turn led me to move into the crime scene unit later when an opening came up in the section.

2. How many years did you have to take classes, and what kind of classes did you take?

I have taken over 3,500 hours of formal training in law enforcement, mostly in fingerprint processing and identification, crime scene documentation and processing, evidence handling, bloodstain pattern analysis, shooting reconstruction and more. These courses have been spread out over my 23 year career and I continue to attend advanced courses in the same topics to learn updated methods and better techniques for my job. Forensics is a science so it is always changing and advancing. My training includes courses from the FBI, DEA, ATF, Secret Service, US Army, major law enforcement agencies throughout the world and major universities from around the world.

3. What was the most memorable case you worked on?

In 1999 I investigated a case where a woman from Longview was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered. The suspect then buried her body in a dump. I worked with the FBI East Texas Violent Crimes Task Force as the crime scene detective on this case. We developed a suspect and he was arrested and convicted. Not sure why, but for some reason that case stands out to me. There have been so many cases over the years it is hard to pick just one as the most memorable.

4. Was there ever a case that you couldn’t solve?

There have been cases that were unsolved. There are many reason for this, including citizens that refuse to give information about the cases to police, people destroying evidence instead of turning it over to the police, and in some cases, there is just no evidence located.

5. What made you want to open up your own business? (Reigstad Forensic Fingerprint Consulting and Training)

I have spent the most time and money (my own) putting myself through fingerprint related courses and I have taken and passed all the major proficiency and competency certification tests in the fingerprint fields. Since I have been fingerprint work on major cases for most of the agencies throughout northeast Texas, I decided to start the company on the side to allow me to spread out to a national level if needed. I travel and train detectives and investigators throughout Texas on advanced fingerprint and palm print identifications and testimony as an expert witness in courts. I also process evidence and crime scenes as needed now for citizens and corporations when law enforcement cannot locate evidence, refuses to process the scenes. This is a highly detailed service and I really enjoy working with people in this field.

6. Were there ever any scary ,moments working as Senior Crime Scene Detective?

As a Crime Scene Detective, we are often working in contaminated, high threat level and dangerous situations and conditions. It is difficult to concentrate on the fine detail needed to process a crime scene, and keep an eye out for someone walking up behind you with a gun. We normally have patrol officers there with us at the scenes to provide security for us, but in many cases we work alone.

7. What are some of the numerous certification titles you hold?

I hold the following:

- Certified Latent Print Examiner with the International Association for Identification

- I am the Chairman of the Latent Print Certification Committee of the Texas Division of the International Association

- Fellow with the Fingerprint Society of the United Kingdom

- Challenged and passed the Latent Examiner's Competency and Proficiency Exam, sponsored by a London University

- Master Peace Officer License with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement

- Advanced Instructor Certification with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement

- Firearms Instructor Certification with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement

- Police Emergency Driving Instructor Certification with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement

- Private Investigator's License with the Texas Department of Public Safety Private Security Commission

- State of Texas Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) Remote Terminal Operator Certification

- FBI Next Generation Fingerprint Identification System (NGI) Remote Terminal Operator Certification

8. If you could go back and change your mind, would you go into a different field of work?

I am very proud of the changes I have made in forensics in this region of Texas over my career. I honestly did not enjoy all my time in the crime scene unit, but I enjoyed most of it. I guess looking back I would not want to go into another field. I think I did good in this field and helped a lot of people. Most people I helped have no idea who I am or what I did for them, but that is all part of investigations. Most people see the patrol officers and do not know who is working behind the scenes. I love my job.

9. Of all the job titles you’ve held, what was your favorite and least favorite?

My favorites would be "Combat Recovery Chief" in the US Army, "Senior Crime Scene and Latent Print Detective" with Longview PD, and "Instructor" at the East Texas Police Academy. I can honestly say I have enjoyed all my jobs and have not had a job or job title I did not like.

10. If someone came you you that was thinking about working in the forensics field, what pros and cons would you tell them about the job?

The pros are easy. Self gratification when you learn the job to the highest level. You will have people and agencies from throughout the state calling on you to assist them because of your expertise. The cons are numerous. You will be gone all the time, You are either out at scenes working, in the office working, attending meetings, in court preparing for trials, or gone in training. You have very little time to dedicate to your family, and in most cases, the family will suffer from you being gone a lot. The burnout rate in crime scenes in general are very fast. Most people that get into it decide after 2 - 5 years they do not want to  do it anymore. Part of the problem is the time you are at work and the conditions you work in, including dead and mutilated bodies, working in tight cramped in spaces with decomposing bodies for days on end, lack of equipment and lack of support from your chain of command. These are normally the reasons people exit the unit the quickest. If you cannot look at a dead child or baby as a piece of evidence, this job is not for that person. You cannot take anything in this job personal. It's all just part of a job that has to be done to find the truth about the incident.

IV. Summary, A Day in his Job

Mr Reigstad’s day as a crime scene detective starts as he heads into the Police Department in the morning. When he gets to the office, he gets a call that there has been a woman shot in her house. He has to load up and head to the crime scene. When he gets to the scene he has to photograph the scene and collect the evidence. He has to look for blood splatters, ballistic evidence, and any other sort of evidence he can find. When he collects it he has to get it turned into a forensics lab. After he finishes at the crime scene that evening, he can head home. He may not go to a scene everyday, but there is one, he is there to do his job or investigating the scene.

V. References

Most of my information came from Mr Dan Reigstad and what he told me but i also used,

http://www.reigstadforensics.com/Who_is_Dan_Reigstad.html

http://study.com/articles/Crime_Scene_Detective_Job_Description_and_Requirements.html

http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/becomeone.html

http://www.criminaljusticeprograms.com/specialty/latent-print-examiner/