FBI Laboratory

FBI Laboratory
Emblem of the FBI Laboratory Division
Active	November 24, 1932 – present (91 years, 5 months)
Country	United States
Agency	Federal Bureau of Investigation
Type	Forensic laboratory
Part of	Science and Technology Branch
Location	Marine Corps Base Quantico, Quantico, Virginia
Structure
Employees	Approx. 500 (2007)[1]
Branches	Forensic Analysis Operational Support

The FBI Laboratory (also called the Laboratory Division)^[2] is a division within the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation that provides forensic analysis support services to the FBI, as well as to state and local law enforcement agencies free of charge. The lab is located at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia. Opened November 24, 1932,^[3] the lab was first known as the Technical Laboratory. It became a separate division when the original Bureau of Investigation (BOI) was renamed the FBI.

The Lab staffs approximately 500 scientific experts and special agents. The lab generally enjoys the reputation as the premier crime lab in the United States. However, during the 1990s, its reputation and integrity came under withering criticism, primarily due to the revelations of Special Agent Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, the most prominent whistleblower in the history of the Bureau. Whitehurst was a harsh critic of conduct at the Lab. He believed that a lack of funding had affected operations and that Lab technicians had a pro-prosecution bias. He suggested they were FBI agents first and forensic scientists second, due to the institutional culture of the Bureau, which resulted in the tainting of evidence.