Jobs / Science and research / 19-4092.00
Forensic Science Technicians
Collect, identify, classify, and analyze physical evidence related to criminal investigations. Perform tests on weapons or substances, such as fiber, hair, and tissue to determine significance to investigation. May testify as expert witnesses on evidence or crime laboratory techniques. May serve as specialists in area of expertise, such as ballistics, fingerprinting, handwriting, or biochemistry.
- US jobs
- 19,120
- Median wage
- $72,060 a year
- Job family
- Science and research
Can agents do the work of forensic science technicians?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Science and research:
- Task levelPartialThin evidence. CORE-Bench asks agents to reproduce the results of published papers in computer science, social science, and medicine from the authors' code and data. Princeton's HAL team declared it solved in December 2025: Claude Code with Claude Opus 4.5 scored 95.5% after manual regrading. No benchmark in our collection tests new experiments or lab work.
- Project levelNot yetThin evidence. On PaperBench, where agents replicate machine learning papers from scratch, the best official result is 26.0% (o1, April 2025). On a small subset, ML PhDs scored 41.4% against o1's 26.6%. No newer official results exist, and no benchmark tests research projects in other sciences.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in science and research, not always this occupation's tasks.
- 95.5%Claude Code + Claude Opus 4.5 (after manual regrading) · 3 Dec 2025Solved
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Collect evidence from crime scenes, storing it in conditions that preserve its integrity.
- Keep records and prepare reports detailing findings, investigative methods, and laboratory techniques.
- Use photographic or video equipment to document evidence or crime scenes.
- Testify in court about investigative or analytical methods or findings.
- Use chemicals or other substances to examine latent fingerprint evidence and compare developed prints to those of known persons in databases.
- Measure and sketch crime scenes to document evidence.
- Visit morgues, examine scenes of crimes, or contact other sources to obtain evidence or information to be used in investigations.
- Train new technicians or other personnel on forensic science techniques.
- Operate and maintain laboratory equipment and apparatus.
- Collect impressions of dust from surfaces to obtain and identify fingerprints.
- Examine and analyze blood stain patterns at crime scenes.
- Analyze gunshot residue and bullet paths to determine how shootings occurred.
Other job titles for this occupation (50)
Crime Lab Analyst (Crime Laboratory Analyst) · Crime Scene Analyst (CSA) · Crime Scene Technician (Crime Scene Tech) · Criminalist · CSI (Crime Scene Investigator) · Evidence Technician (Evidence Tech) · Forensic Science Examiner · Forensic Scientist · Forensic Specialist · Latent Print Examiner · Ballistician · Ballistics Technician (Ballistics Tech) · Biometric Fingerprint Technician (Biometric Fingerprint Tech) · Biometric Fingerprinting Technician (Biometric Fingerprinting Tech) · Biometrician · Blood Splatter Analyst · Computer Forensics Technician (Computer Forensics Tech) · Crime Analyst · Crime Lab Technician (Crime Laboratory Technician) · Crime Scene Examiner · Crime Scene Specialist · Crime Specialist · Criminal Justice Technician · Criminalist Technician (Criminalist Tech) · Criminologist · Digital Forensics Analyst · DNA Analyst (Deoxyribonucleic Acid Analyst) · DNA Examiner (Deoxyribonucleic Acid Examiner) · DNA Tech (Deoxyribonucleic Acid Technician) · Evidence Specialist · Fingerprint Classifier · Fingerprint Technician (Fingerprint Tech) · Firearms Examiner · Firearms Specialist · Forensic Analyst · Forensic Computer Examiner · Forensic Document Examiner (FDE) · Forensic Examiner · Forensic Investigator · Forensic Lab Tech (Forensic Laboratory Technician) · Forensic Nurse Examiner · Forensic Science Technician (Forensic Science Tech) · Forensic Service Tech (Forensic Services Technician) · Forensic Technician (Forensic Tech) · Forensic Technologist · Forensic Toxicologist · Investigator · Latent Fingerprint Examiner · Latent Print Analyst · Trace Evidence Technician (Trace Evidence Tech)