Gloria D. Hill

Gloria D. Hill contrasts the reality of her work with the portrayal of forensic scientists on such television programs as CSI: “I don't go to crime scenes, I don't see dead bodies, I don't interrogate suspects and not every case gets solved in an hour.”

It sometimes takes a day to look at evidence. With homicides you can get almost anything. I recently had a woman who was found near a dumpster. The police submitted items from the dumpster – a crack pipe, an apple. On any type of a robbery, car thefts, we look to see if there's any potential blood left behind. Let's say there's a hat left at the crime scene. We would be looking for hair that has tissue on it. We see if we can get any kind of product from it.

Have you had any ‘cold hits' from DNA found at a scene?

I had a hit the other day. A woman had her house robbed. Two women came in and one used the bathroom. Swabs were taken from the toilet seat and we were able to get a DNA profile that led to the hit.

We search all of the Virginia state felons, get a number. Then we e-mail Richmond and let them know I got a hit to this number. They fax me back the suspect's information – name, social security number – and we give that to the investigator. How many hits I've had is hard to say. I had one on two consecutive days last week. It kind of depends on the number of cases you have. It's all computerized and you send it off and in a few minutes we know whether we had a hit or not. We look at 16 different areas of DNA and everyone is different.

Have you had to testify on any of these cases?

Yes, we provide testimony. It was scary the first time and scary every other time. I try to figure out how to explain something without getting too technical. Once I've done that it's up to someone else to decide how heavily to weigh that evidence.

Are you happy with your career choice?

I wanted to do something in science that was applicable to everyday life. Forensic science seemed so cutting edge, so cool. You're able to see how science applies.

I like my job. I didn't realize how weird a concept that is until I mention to people that I like my job. For me to get up and come to work each morning, I don't dread it at all. It's a joy. I enjoy what I do. Contentment with my job is the greatest thing. The hardest part of the job is leaving it at the office.

I think it's cool that we are a state agency that helps out with all the different police agencies, but not specifically affiliated with any police agency. Here we are truly unbiased.

I doubt the public understands what we do. They hear that a DNA match was found, but don't know how. They're typically misinformed about what happens.

Gloria D. Hill holds a bachelor's degree from Hampton University and a master's in forensic science from Virginia Commonwealth University.