Farmingdale State College Hosts Oct. 4 Lecture on the Forensic Analysis of Tattoos in Helping Solve Crimes

How forensic experts analyze tattoos and tattoo inks in helping solve crimes and identifying individuals – living and dead - will be the subject of a lecture at Farmingdale State College Tuesday, October 4.

The talk – 11 a.m. – noon in Lupton Hall Room T101 – is being given by Dr. Michelle Miranda, associate professor in the college’s Department of Security Systems & Law Enforcement Technology, and a forensics consultant.

Dr. Miranda is a graduate of Manhattan College, where she majored in biology with the intention of going to medical school. That changed when a molecular biology course exposed her to forensic science and DNA analysis. Later, she attended a lecture by an official from New York City’s chief medical examiner’s office, and from that came an internship at the medical examiner’s office. After completing her MS in Forensic Science at City University of New York, she spent five years with the NYPD forensic investigations unit, and from there worked as a medical photographer for the Suffolk County medical examiner’s office and a death investigator for the medical examiner in Rockland County.

It was at the latter job, while working on a case, that Dr. Miranda had an epiphany about the value of tattoos in solving crimes.

“A body was found burning in a park and the criminal investigation and preliminary means of identification were based on a tattoo found on the victim during the autopsy. Due to the damage to the remains from being set on fire and charred as a result, traditional identification methods – such as facial features and fingerprints – were unsuitable.”

The forensic science behind tattoos and tattoo inks is the subject of Dr. Miranda’s book, Forensic Analysis of Tattoos and Tattoo Inks (CRC Press, 2015).