The mission of the Forensic Services Division of the Greensboro Police Department is to provide forensic services characterized by a level of excellence that is established through diligence, perseverance, and positive partnerships with the greater law enforcement community, judicial system, and members of our community.

Personnel assigned to this Division perform a range of duties in direct support of department investigations. The (4) primary sub-units comprising the Forensic Services Division are the Crime Scene Investigations Section, the Firearms and Tool Mark Section, the Latent Print Section, and the Property & Evidence Section.

Additionally, the FSD conducts scientific forensic examinations in the specialized disciplines of Firearm and Friction-Ridge (Fingerprint) Analysis. These examinations are undertaken in accordance with standards set forth by the ANSI National Accreditation Board ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation program. The division employs standardized and validated inspections methods which serve to satisfy the requirements of its accreditation to ISO/IEC 17020:2012 quality standards for the examination of forensic evidence and accompanying customer needs. The FSD attained initial ISO/IEC 17020 Accreditation in 2016. 

- Crime Scene Investigations Section

The Crime Scene Investigations Section of the Forensic Services Division is comprised of forensic inspection personnel whose core duties & responsibilities are centered upon forensic inspection and community engagement. Forensic inspections are characterized by the provision of crime scene/evidence documentation and processing services. While community engagement obligations often extend in a manner that allows forensic science to serve as a bridge between law enforcement and community members through participation in student/school programs, civic group presentations, and community programs.

The primary organizational purpose of this section is the qualified documentation and recovery of physical evidence. This evidence serves to establish objective elements of a crime and provide associative links between the key components comprising a criminal event (suspect, victim, location, items/objects). CSI Section personnel are responsible for being able to assess a scene in a manner that ensures items/conditions of probative value are recognized as evidence and appropriately handled to ensure evidence integrity is maintained. This work essentially sets the foundation upon which an entire case is constructed and ultimately lends significant weight to the overall solvability rate of an investigation.

Section personnel respond to forensic inspection calls for service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Section personnel are also tasked with performing forensic imaging services and conducting laboratory inspections of items/evidence recovered pursuant to an agency investigation


- Forensic Specialists Section

The forensic team consists of Forensic Specialists who rotate an on-call status and respond to homicides and major case activations. Their duties include the processing of major crime scenes, as well as the collection and examination of physical evidence from criminal investigations. In addition, they conduct analysis and examinations on evidence to further determine evidentiary value of the property. 


- Latent Print Section

Finger/palm prints can provide follow-up investigators with information concerning the potential identity of individuals who may know about a particular crime. The Latent Print Section is responsible for the evaluation, storage, examination, and disposition of all friction-ridge impressions recovered by the Department.  Examinations conducted by this section also play a critical role in confirming the identity of deceased individuals; thus assisting the investigation from a law enforcement standpoint, but also ensuring family and friends receive notice and closure.  The LPS function is assisted by the utilization of local, state, and nationwide automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) that allow prints of unknown origin to be searched against records of known-origin friction-ridge impressions, to generate potential associative leads.  Comparison examination results issued by this section provide valuable information regarding the identity/actions of individuals associated with a particular investigation (whether they are potential suspects, victims, witnesses, or persons with knowledge).

- Firearms/Tool Mark Section

The Firearms & Tool Mark Section is responsible for supporting violent crime reduction strategies through analysis and comparison of firearm evidence.  The section assists investigations by providing the department with information regarding firearms used to commit crimes within the city. By examining firearm evidence (firearms, casings, bullets) the section can provide critical information and associations, such as: determining that a specific known firearm recovered by the department was used in a particular crime, or that the same firearm was used in multiple crimes over time (thus linking incidents city-wide and nationwide).

The FTS is an ATF NIBIN Site and was accepted into the ATF NNCTC in May 2019. NIBIN is a national ballistic database of fired cartridge casings that provides law enforcement with associative leads, or links, between specific firearms and fired casings recovered from crime scenes; it also generates associations that provide links between multiple crimes/crime scenes where the same firearm was used. As an ATF regional NIBIN Site, the department (in partnership with the ATF) provides IBIS-NIBIN services for over 30 outside agencies.

Forensic Imaging Section

The Forensic Imaging Section performs a variety of specialized photography and videography services in support of law enforcement procedures. These services include, but are not limited to, managing and maintaining the Departmental Digital Imaging System (DIMS), completing forensic examinations of digital/standard VHS surveillance recordings, processing digital images taken at crime and accident scenes, as well as other department photographs, filing and maintaining photographic CDs, photographing persons arrested for crimes, maintaining all department staff photographs, printing and filing photographs or digital images, and photographing evidence in the lab and at crime scenes using appropriate photography equipment as requested, including a specialized Infrared/Ultra-Violet light camera in conjunction with an alternate light source and 1:1 photography of latent evidence. 


- Property/Evidence Section

The Property and Evidence Section is responsible for maintaining custody and preserving the integrity of case evidence so it may be introduced at trial and serve to assist in the provision of justice by retaining full probative value. This section arranges for analysis of evidence by internal and external customers and is also charged with disposing of property after the completion of the cases (in accordance with General Statute), which involves providing notice to lawful owners, posting advertisements, initiating destruction/release, preparing items to be sold at a public auction as well as sending all unclaimed monies to the Guilford County School Fund.