Forensic Scientist Helps Fight Crimes
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HILE HER LIFE MIGHT NOT LOOK like an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the forensic investigators on this CBS drama could easily take a scene from the career of Michelle Miranda ’00, Ph.D. Now an associate professor in the department of Security Systems and Criminal Justice: Law Enforcement Technology at the State University of New York College at Farmingdale, Miranda has established herself as a leading expert in the forensic sciences, and a preeminent investigator when it comes to solving crimes through a more modern mode of evidence: tattoos. She wasn’t always fascinated with ink. In fact, she came to Riverdale aspiring to be a doctor. After visiting the College and falling in love with the campus, Miranda began her first year as a biology major, pre-med, and added a minor in chemistry later on. Then one day, she attended a lecture given by a criminalist from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in New York City, and Miranda found her calling. “As I sat through this lecture, I was thinking, ‘This is it for me; this is what I want to do; there is where I want to be,’” she says, recounting that pivotal moment. “I wanted to go into forensic science.” Afterward, Miranda talked to the lecturer, who offered her an internship. The budding forensic scientist subsequently added a second minor in sociology to build up her criminal justice knowledge. This was her senior year, when most students are looking to ease up on their course loads. But Miranda charged forward with a jam-packed schedule. “I remember doing all that, and it was just the best experience because it set the stage for everything else I wanted to do from there,” she says. Miranda set out to learn everything she could about the field. “At the time, forensic science wasn’t a big deal; it wasn’t like it is today; it wasn’t all over the TV,” she notes. “I found myself just
trying to get as much information as possible. I would talk to faculty members, and I also started talking to outsiders. My original goal was to become a medical examiner.” In gathering feedback, however, she was hearing a repetitive refrain that forensic pathologists weren’t trained properly in trace evidence, which includes hair, textile fibers, fabric, rope, glass and others. Miranda enrolled in the master’s program in forensic science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice to learn about trace evidence and criminalistics — and still go to medical school, eventually. But that changed when she started to work for the NYPD. “I found that I loved trace evidence,” she says. “I loved doing spectroscopy and using the skills I had learned from Manhattan as a chemist and a biologist, and applying them to the problems in forensic science. It’s like being a detective.” Miranda spent five years in the NYPD’s Forensic Investigations Division before deciding to pursue a doctorate in criminal justice, focusing on forensic science. While in the doctoral program at the City University of New York, she consulted as a forensic expert. Miranda also worked as a death investigator in the medical examiner’s office in Rockland County. She even worked as a forensic photographer for the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office. As Miranda quips, “I was all over the place.” She admits that she was getting a little jaded with the field. But then two interesting cases presented themselves and took her down a new path. One involved a man who claimed to have been attacked by police officers, pointing to a hole in his clothing as evidence. Yet, when inspecting his clothing, she found black residue around the hole, and it turned out the accuser had a tattoo shop and access to ink and tools that can puncture. Then, a colleague called Miranda about the case of a woman who had been killed, set on fire, and dumped in a park. The victim was burned beyond the ability to be identified
by facial features or fingerprints. During the autopsy, however, they found evidence of a tattoo, and the tattoo had a name and design. They photographed it and asked around if anybody could identify the tattoo. Someone did, and the case was solved. (The victim had been murdered by the father of her child.) After those two cases, Miranda realized that tattoos need to be considered in a forensic context, and logged in a database. “The beauty of tattoos is we’re not just restricted to using them on human remains,” she explains. “You may not know the details about a person, but if you see a tattoo on someone, you’ll remember that tattoo. The nice thing about it is it’s really useful for potential identification of suspects.” For now, Miranda is happy to be in an academic environment. “I wanted to do my own research and investigate these different things in a really deep scientific manner, and at the same time, I wanted to educate people,” she says. “I like the fact that I’m explaining investigatory techniques and forensic science to people that are going be on the front lines.” Miranda still does private consulting and enjoys writing about investigations, crime scene reconstruction and the importance of being a critical thinker. She has one book out, Forensic Analysis of Tattoos and Tattooing, and another book due out in 2020, based on her work with the NYPD. Yet Miranda still has more to accomplish. “I want to get more publications out. I want to do a little more internationally and educate people. Then I’ll probably just take it easy and write about weird things,” she jokes.
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