SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — Taking advantage of an old elementary school, the Unified Police Department now has its own forensics and crime lab facility where analysts can conduct many tests, including fingerprints, firearms ballistics, and cell phone downloads.
The facility provides detectives with critical information quicker than ever.
Officer Carrie Rigby is a former violent crimes detective with Unified Police.
“Obviously we’ve become very reliant on our forensics unit. We work hand in hand with them on every single case," explained Ofc. Carrie Riby, a former violent crimes detective with the department.
“If we have a gun or any other piece of evidence, we’re going to DNA process it, we’re going to fingerprint it," added analyst Lauren Koncar. "We have a lot of the tools here that help us do all of that.”
Analysts can also test-fire handguns and rifles in a Bullet Water Recovery System, which helps match ballistics in firearms-related cases. Koncar said that’s important because shell casings are similar to fingerprints, with each one being distinctive after it’s been fired.
The forensics team can also tap into cell phones seized as evidence.
“They’re looking for this certain date range, wanting to find this or that text message or this picture," Koncar shared.
That type of evidence proved to be critical in THE Unified Police investigation into Terrence Trent Vos. Vos murdered his girlfriend, Shandon Scott, in 2021, shooting her multiple times while driving on Interstate 80.
Vos denied his involvement, but evidence from his phone helped secure a guilty verdict last year, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Rigby was lead detective on the Vos case.
“If we didn’t have that in-house, somebody may not have told us that this is available.
This is something that’s been plugged in, and we now have the ability to get into that cell phone now," she said.
Koncar said it’s a rewarding, team effort.
“It’s really cool to get the detectives to respond to you and tell you, ‘The fingerprint that you found is what helped us solve this case," she said.