Forensic Investigator Tova Copeman talks through some forensic techniques, and her study of decomposing rats
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Forensic Investigator Tova Copeman
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
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Welcome to Detective Diaries, brought to you
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by Private Detective's Answers investigation.
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If you're captivated by the art of deduction,
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the thrill of solving unsolvable, or the enigmatic world
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of private investigation, you have just
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Detective Diaries are where secrets are unraveled,
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and the truth is always a clue away.
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Presented by Private Detective Answers investigation,
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each episode contains of big conversations
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about the real people involved in investigation.
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I'm talking with Torva Covary about the subject
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of forensics, something that fascinates so many people.
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Dictionary definition of forensics.
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It refers to the application of scientific methods
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and its principles to investigate crimes,
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to identify offenders, and collect
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and analyze evidence to be used in investigation.
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Torva, you're a forensic investigator,
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which is a fantastic job title.
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What is it all?
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So as a forensic investigator, basically,
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we look at forensic evidence that is left at a crime scene,
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and we'll analyze it, pick it up,
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so that we can actually observe it.
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And then we will use that to sort of find the criminals
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and help engage in court cases at the crime scene.
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And you work in the private sector, not the public sector?
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Yes, so in the private sector, it's a lot more personal.
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We look at more of the crimes that are less prioritised
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when people come to us.
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They want it done quickly, and they've obviously been very hurt
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by what's happened, usually it will be like this or burglary.
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So a lot of it will include fingerprints,
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which we will take off of an object, for example.
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So say there's been a jewelry box and some jewelry's been stolen.
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We'll take that jewelry box and analyse the fingerprints on it
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and see if we can compare that to anyone that they know
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or any suspects that they may have.
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I know you have an intubly busy eye.
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Working full time.
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But from what I understand, you're still finishing your masters?
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Yes.
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Nearly there?
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Yeah, nearly there.
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OK.
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What's it in?
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What are you studying?
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So for my masters, I did criminal psychology.
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Sort of to give me a broader experience of the criminological
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wealth, because psychology is also an extra add-on thing
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that I'm very interested in.
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And I found it very interesting.
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Don't get me wrong.
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It's been very chaotic the last few months,
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working full time and finishing off my dissertation.
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But we've managed to get through it.
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And I'm just about to finish.
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So hopefully it will all go well.
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You mentioned your dissertation.
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What's the subject?
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So my master's dissertation is looking
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at the gendered attitudes of the public towards forgiving
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ex-offenders.
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So sort of seeing about how the public and their forgiveness
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and willing to forgive an ex-offender may
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change due to gender bias, or depending
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on the offender's gender, essentially.
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That sounds fascinating.
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And very much on the agenda at the moment.
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Yeah.
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It was very interesting to do, actually.
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I'm very much more of a practical person.
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I like to be more hands-on.
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But obviously, when it comes to the psychological side,
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there's only so much you can do that's hands-on.
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So I chose to look at bias in the way that that can--
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because there's so many things that that can sort of go towards,
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like not just the willingness to forgive that offender
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based on their gender, but it then
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links to how they get rehabilitated and whether they reoffend
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and then whether there's essentially more crime
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and more reoffending because people may forgive some more
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than others.
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OK, that's quite a well.
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So you undergraduate degree?
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You've proceeded the master's?
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Yes.
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So I did my undergraduate in chronology and forensics.
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Three years of that, my dissertation was absolutely incredible.
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So my undergraduate dissertation, I looked at the differences
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in aquatic decomposition rates.
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So essentially what that means is--
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obviously, decomposition is when the body
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starts to decompose after someone has died,
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and how that can determine time of death,
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sort of how they died, that sort of thing.
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So what I wanted to look at was whether that differed underwater
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and the circumstances that happened before the death
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if that altered the rate as well.
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So essentially, I looked at-- I used rats, which I know probably
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sounds quite disgusting, but obviously I can't use real people.
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So what I did is I had one rat in broom temperature,
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one in the sun, and then one in the freezer.
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And essentially, my theory was that obviously,
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you hear these stories about murders and people
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storing dead bodies in the freezer,
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because they don't have time to destroy it or get rid of it,
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that sort of thing.
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And so I wanted to know that if you chucked all of them
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into the water afterwards, whether the differences between the
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temperatures before they went underwater
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would alter the rate of decomposition, which essentially,
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my hypothesis turned out to be correct in the fact that when
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the rat that was in the freezer beforehand decomposed
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the slowest, even though the temperature of the waters
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were all the same once they were underwater,
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because it was frozen beforehand, it meant that the decomposition
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rate was a lot slower, because it hadn't started yet,
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whereas the one in the heat, obviously,
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decomposed the fastest, but they were all then put underwater
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in the same temperature.
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So it was quite interesting.
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It wasn't the nicest, but I found it very exciting and interesting
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to handle.
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So did people look up the pets when you go
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into their house in case you're going to use them as an experiment?
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No, it was purely for research purposes.
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I mean, obviously the rats were already dead.
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They were from pet shop for snakes and things like that.
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But my uni was actually really helpful with it.
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I mean, they got everything that I needed for me, including
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the rats, and then I did the study by myself all
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from my brain, essentially.
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Have we caught your interest?
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More episodes are available right now, including
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my life as a private eye from student
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to an experienced investigator.
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With me, Harry Watts.
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Listen now, on Detective Darius.
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There's no point in me asking if you enjoy fronzy.
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Because there's obviously such a passion with you.
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What is it?
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What folks should both with the whole thing?
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I think it is just one of those things
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that I honestly will never know exactly what
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fascinates me.
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I get told that it's quite weird how fascinated I am
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with the gruesome side.
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But I think that's just the way that I've
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been brought up with biology and science,
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and just wanting to go that way.
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I just find it so interesting.
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And it's such a rare job as well.
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And I think that competitiveness side of me also just
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doesn't exactly help in me wanting
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to get into something that's incredibly rare.
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OK, so you're criminology undergraduate degree.
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Going then on into a psychology.
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I've got my life.
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Yep.
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OK, just making sure.
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But in fact, was that a natural graduation?
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Or was it the movement?
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So, yeah, so I graduated from my undergrad as normal.
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And then my master's was completely set for it.
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But the reason why I decided to take the master's
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was so that I had multiple routes to take.
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Because as I said previously, obviously,
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the forensic area is such a rare job to get into.
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I mean, obviously, I consider myself incredibly lucky
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to get the job that I have now.
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But other people aren't so lucky.
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And so when I was originally taking my masters,
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I knew I was interested in psychology
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in the way that criminals think and why they do things
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the way that they do.
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Why would you chuck a body in the freezer
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before dumping it in the water?
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Why would you not just dump it in the water?
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That sort of thing.
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I wanted to know why I was curious to see what in their brain
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made them think that way or to even do the crime in the first place.
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But it also gave me that second route
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so that if I, for some reason, later on in life
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decided to change my mind, I had that psychological route
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to go down as well.
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It was a sensible decision.
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But it also just gave me more time to learn even more
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about everything that's crime related, I guess.
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So day to day, that work.
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Well, what are you working on right now?
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So right now, forensic wise, we are working on a case for a company.
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Obviously, I can't give too much information away.
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But it is quite interesting.
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We have actually been sent some envelopes,
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which essentially had foregrounding cash in.
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And they believe that one of their employees stole that cash.
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So essentially, what we've been doing or what we've been asked to do
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is bring up those fingerprints or any prints that are on the envelope
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and then take control prints of their employees
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and then sort of compare the two and see if we can find any matches,
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which is a long process because obviously
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having to take control prints of every employee isn't going to take a day.
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But I've been finding it really interesting,
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so we've been using the NINHydron, which is basically a chemical treatment.
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So we soak the envelope in this acetone type liquid,
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which will activate with heat.
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And it will bring up any prints that are left behind from their sweat pours.
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And then we'll leave that to dry and it will come up in this fluorescent pink color,
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which will then show the print or hopefully any prints that we can get.
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And then we will then match those with hopefully one of the employees
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if their suspicions are correct.
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It sounds like something straight out of CSI, but it is not,
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I'd imagine not process that's as simple as it is portrayed on the TV.
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Oh, definitely not.
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I think with the TV, it's portrayed as a two-second job, which it is not at all.
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I mean, we've had to do multiple treatments on the envelope to get any prints up.
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I mean, the envelopes also came quite crumpled, so it wasn't as easy.
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There wasn't any straight thumb prints or fingerprints on there at all
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because the envelope had been crumpled up, so obviously prints are going to be distorted.
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But it's not like we can just run it through a database
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and it just gets picked up straight away.
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Because all of those employees aren't going to have their fingerprints on a database.
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So we have to go through each at one separately and check for their ridges,
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their loops, their wells in their fingerprints and see what is similar
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or potentially matches what is on the envelope if we find anything at all.
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So it's a process and narrowing it down and looking more closely at the ones
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that are in the ones that are in the list?
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Exactly, yeah.
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You mentioned a chemical in hydrogen, so what's it like working with that?
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Do you just boil your sleeves up and get on with it or do you have a detection?
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Definitely a protection, because it uses heat and the chemicals in the liquid are quite toxic.
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So we have to make sure that we have our lab coats on, gloves on,
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and then we also have masks on as well, which quite literally look like world war two masks.
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They've got the air filters on either side, but it does the job.
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And because to keep the heat in, you have to sort of keep the room shut, where the man behind you is.
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So it gets very hot stuffy and the toxic fumes will just be too strong to go in there
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without any sort of protection.
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Get involved!
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Detective Diaries is interactive, which involves you, the listener.
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Do you have a case you'd like discussed?
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A burning question about investigative life?
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Don't forget to leave your contact details.
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Well, let's speak stuff.
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So okay, when you're not busting criminals or hanging in the living places,
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what do you do outside of work or outside of stuff?
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So if you've got any time?
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Yeah, if I've got any time.
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So the only thing that I really prioritise outside of working uni is the gym.
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So I'm a professional competitive powerlifter on the outside,
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which I may not look like one.
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But I've been doing it since I've been at uni,
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and it is literally, since I left uni, it's been my life.
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Essentially, it's the one thing that is sort of me,
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and that's my time outside of work.
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Like, if I need to de-stress, I go to the gym.
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If I need to just clear my head of anything, I go to the gym.
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Like, it is very much what I prioritise,
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mental health, what I's, and physical.
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I like to be, that is my one thing,
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that I always take care of and prioritise when I'm not working or doing uni work.
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Powerlifting is not most people's past.
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No.
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How much can you lift?
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00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:41.080
So, powerlifting, essentially, for those who don't know.
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It is three different types of lifts.
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So you've got the squat, the bench and the deadlift.
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And when you compete, you'll do three attempts of each,
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with your third attempt, being your highest attempt.
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00:15:56.760 --> 00:16:00.760
And then, basically, whichever ones that the referees
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00:16:00.760 --> 00:16:04.760
who are watching approve of, that will be your total.
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So your total is those three added up together at the end of it.
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So for squat, I have squatted 140 kilos.
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Well.
280
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Bench is 60 kilos, and deadlift is 167 kilos.
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00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:24.840
167 kilos, I'll try to do the maths on that,
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but it had under £400.
283
00:16:27.640 --> 00:16:29.400
About £300?
284
00:16:29.400 --> 00:16:30.400
Yeah, I think so.
285
00:16:30.400 --> 00:16:33.080
I'm not 100% sure, because we always go by kilos.
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00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:35.240
My brain is driven to kilos.
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00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.720
We never do pounds, but something around those lines, yeah.
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So you're not somebody to be messed with?
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00:16:41.160 --> 00:16:44.960
No, I would like to think that way.
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What's been your highlight in sport?
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00:16:47.560 --> 00:16:53.120
Oh, probably, you know what, it's Bucks, which is--
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it stands for British University Championships.
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So while I was at uni, I was competing quite a lot,
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as well as also running the society, which we had powerlifting
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society at uni.
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And Bucks is the biggest uni competition you can do.
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You have to qualify doing another competition beforehand
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with a certain total.
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And then you would qualify for that.
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So you couldn't just roll up and do it.
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So essentially, why it was my biggest highlight
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was because I did it for the first time in my second year
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of uni, and it was brilliant.
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I had a great day, did really well.
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And then I wanted to do it in my third year, obviously,
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go again, because it happens once a year.
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And I didn't make it.
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So I was just due to unforeseen circumstances,
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like just busyness and the chaos and my training had just
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gone slightly downhill.
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So I was like, right, when I did my masters, obviously,
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it was my last year.
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And you can only do Bucks if you're at uni,
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because it's university championships.
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So I was determined to get there for that last year,
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because it was the last time I could do it.
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And I did a competition in November,
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and I didn't hit the qualifying total,
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because they'd upped it that year as well.
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And then I tried again in January, didn't qualify.
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Tried again in March, didn't qualify.
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00:18:26.080 --> 00:18:29.600
And now, when I say this, you're supposed to only compete
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once every six months, right?
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I competed four times in about four months.
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So by the time it got to the fourth comp, it was actually--
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I think it was April--
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00:18:40.840 --> 00:18:45.560
and I managed to qualify, and I'm not even joking.
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That day was one of the best moments of my life,
329
00:18:49.360 --> 00:18:53.480
like reaching that qualification total and getting it,
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00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:55.760
and everyone being there to support me,
331
00:18:55.760 --> 00:19:00.000
especially my society, was just an amazing experience.
332
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:01.880
And that's why I love competing so much,
333
00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:05.080
because you get that high, not just from--
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00:19:05.080 --> 00:19:06.400
it's you versus you.
335
00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.480
So I was not just proud of myself, but having everyone there
336
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to support me as well was amazing.
337
00:19:13.320 --> 00:19:16.920
So that, I would say, in the sport was probably the best
338
00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:17.880
I liked me.
339
00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:19.800
So you don't give up?
340
00:19:19.800 --> 00:19:22.240
No, I'm very stubborn.
341
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:23.920
Do you apply that to work as well?
342
00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:25.560
Yeah, I'd like to think so.
343
00:19:25.560 --> 00:19:31.720
I tend to sort of take on a lot, but in a way,
344
00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:36.360
because I'm stubborn enough to know that I can do it.
345
00:19:36.360 --> 00:19:43.480
So, and I get it done, might have a little bit of a messy sort
346
00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:46.160
of need a de-stress moment at some point,
347
00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:48.560
but I end up doing it anyways, because I
348
00:19:48.560 --> 00:19:49.800
know that I could in the first place.
349
00:19:49.800 --> 00:19:57.360
Hello, I'm Meti in Middleton, and listen
350
00:19:57.360 --> 00:20:00.440
to my podcast about my month-long work experience
351
00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:04.320
as a private detective, what it was like growing up in Singapore,
352
00:20:04.320 --> 00:20:08.480
and my life as a criminology student here on Detective Diaries.
353
00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:18.200
You mentioned early about running the society at uni,
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00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:20.760
so it's not a male dominated sport.
355
00:20:20.760 --> 00:20:23.960
Well, it's not anymore.
356
00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:27.360
And I would like to say that is partially because of me,
357
00:20:27.360 --> 00:20:30.160
and that was my whole reasoning for running the society.
358
00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.560
So when I first joined in first year,
359
00:20:33.560 --> 00:20:36.360
there was me and one other girl in the whole society,
360
00:20:36.360 --> 00:20:37.880
of about 60 members.
361
00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:40.000
That was literally just me and her.
362
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.920
And then in second year, I sort of started
363
00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:46.040
becoming specific roles for the society
364
00:20:46.040 --> 00:20:48.840
and sort of learning the trade of running it
365
00:20:48.840 --> 00:20:51.720
and sort of being in the back doors of what
366
00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:54.120
was actually going on rather than just being a member.
367
00:20:54.120 --> 00:20:58.080
And then in my final year, I decided to run it.
368
00:20:58.080 --> 00:21:01.800
And statistic wise, the amount of females
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00:21:01.800 --> 00:21:06.840
that we've got from then to now is at least 50/50 now.
370
00:21:06.840 --> 00:21:09.520
It's not 60/40 girls.
371
00:21:09.520 --> 00:21:10.400
It is incredible.
372
00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:12.840
And I'm so happy that it's turned out that way
373
00:21:12.840 --> 00:21:14.760
because that was what I planned.
374
00:21:14.760 --> 00:21:17.040
So you were in inspiration?
375
00:21:17.040 --> 00:21:20.440
Wow, maybe.
376
00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:23.440
I just wanted to make sure that women know
377
00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:27.560
they have that feminine power and not to be sort of scared
378
00:21:27.560 --> 00:21:30.360
or nervous because it's a male dominated sport.
379
00:21:30.360 --> 00:21:33.520
Like there's so many more strong females out there now
380
00:21:33.520 --> 00:21:35.920
who are recognising powerlifting as a sport
381
00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:38.080
and realising that they can do it.
382
00:21:38.080 --> 00:21:39.720
And it's incredible to see.
383
00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:41.440
It's really, really nice.
384
00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:45.280
OK, can you apply that into that same kind of inspiration
385
00:21:45.280 --> 00:21:48.040
as a similar example?
386
00:21:48.040 --> 00:21:50.400
I mean, there must be, I'm not sure they're not.
387
00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:53.560
I know that hundreds of people out there
388
00:21:53.560 --> 00:21:59.440
like you, who would like to be the person who does.
389
00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:01.680
Got any advice?
390
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:05.520
Honestly, I would just say get out there.
391
00:22:05.520 --> 00:22:10.720
Like, there's the one thing that I wish someone would have told me
392
00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.800
was don't just go for the police.
393
00:22:13.800 --> 00:22:17.080
As good as the police are, they're not your only option,
394
00:22:17.080 --> 00:22:19.080
especially in the forensics world.
395
00:22:19.080 --> 00:22:22.280
I mean, forensics wise, if you're wanting to be a CSI or things
396
00:22:22.280 --> 00:22:24.400
like that, they don't even go through the police.
397
00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:25.640
They're their own company.
398
00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:28.920
You've got Eurofins, which is their complete own forensic
399
00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:30.360
company.
400
00:22:30.360 --> 00:22:35.040
And they are the ones that do all of the forensic lab stuff.
401
00:22:35.040 --> 00:22:39.040
If that's what people are looking for, police is not the only option.
402
00:22:39.040 --> 00:22:39.720
Don't get me wrong.
403
00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:41.400
The police are absolutely fine.
404
00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:48.080
But broaden your horizons and don't just focus on trying to get into the police
405
00:22:48.080 --> 00:22:49.800
so that you can then go into the forensics.
406
00:22:49.800 --> 00:22:51.600
You don't need to go into the police.
407
00:22:51.600 --> 00:22:54.880
You can go straight into forensics all day one.
408
00:22:54.880 --> 00:23:01.200
Toby, you sound like you've arrived and you are staying where you are.
409
00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:02.840
What happens in the next six months?
410
00:23:02.840 --> 00:23:03.520
Next year?
411
00:23:03.520 --> 00:23:05.000
Next five years?
412
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:06.240
And fair?
413
00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:08.760
Well, I mean, hopefully I'll be a little less stressed
414
00:23:08.760 --> 00:23:13.080
because I would have my master to deal with anymore.
415
00:23:13.080 --> 00:23:13.520
I don't know.
416
00:23:13.520 --> 00:23:19.080
I would like to take a lot more things on, especially
417
00:23:19.080 --> 00:23:21.040
in the forensics area.
418
00:23:21.040 --> 00:23:24.120
I'd like to learn more things.
419
00:23:24.120 --> 00:23:30.320
Even with the technological side, even the mobile forensics and the computer forensics
420
00:23:30.320 --> 00:23:33.560
and all of that stuff, I'd love to learn.
421
00:23:33.560 --> 00:23:38.640
Not necessarily do it as my day to day thing because I love doing my fingerprinting
422
00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:43.760
and my forensics on fingerprints and on evidence like that.
423
00:23:43.760 --> 00:23:48.080
But I would love to learn more about the technological side
424
00:23:48.080 --> 00:23:52.440
because that is one thing that I never expected
425
00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:56.600
or really thought about learning before I joined here.
426
00:23:56.600 --> 00:23:58.920
So there's always something to learn?
427
00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:01.080
Yes, definitely.
428
00:24:01.080 --> 00:24:04.000
There is so much to learn, especially in forensics
429
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.080
because there's so much that it can account for.
430
00:24:07.080 --> 00:24:14.600
It's not just fingerprints or DNA or blood, it is literally anything.
431
00:24:14.600 --> 00:24:20.440
It's hair fibers, it's computers, it's audio, it's mobile,
432
00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:29.160
it's even bits on the pavement or ink on something
433
00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:31.920
that you can always find forensics somewhere.
434
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.440
So always the traces of where each thread will go?
435
00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:37.840
Always leave a trace, always.
436
00:24:37.840 --> 00:24:40.080
Torba, thank you for talking.
437
00:24:40.080 --> 00:24:43.760
Any message?
438
00:24:43.760 --> 00:24:45.480
For myself?
439
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:52.880
Well, I would like to think that when I listen to this back in the years time
440
00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:57.720
that my knowledge will expand quite a bit
441
00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:04.320
and I will hopefully be a lot more, even more expertise in this forensics.
442
00:25:04.320 --> 00:25:06.560
Don't think anybody's got any, don't worry.
443
00:25:06.560 --> 00:25:08.600
Torba, thank you again for talking.
444
00:25:08.600 --> 00:25:09.320
No worry.
445
00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:22.000
We hope you enjoyed today's podcast brought to you by Ansys Investigation and UK fingerprint.
446
00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:27.280
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You can call their office on 02-0-7158-0332.
459
00:26:23.800 --> 00:26:25.800
Thanks once again for tuning in.
460
00:26:25.800 --> 00:26:29.560
Until next time, stay curious and keep seeking the truth.
461
00:26:29.560 --> 00:26:32.140
(upbeat music)
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00:26:32.140 --> 00:26:34.720
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