hiii! i want to know if anyone could share what the background check is like when getting hired to be a CIVILLIAN CSI??? like how strict is the drug history policy?

I'm supporting a NASA-funded contract looking at whether a piece of space-developed sample collection tech has any use outside of its original application. Before I go further down that path I wanted to get a reality check from people who actually do this for a living, since I'm not in forensics myself.

For anyone who collects biological evidence (touch DNA, trace, bodily fluids, etc.) - what's the most annoying part of your current swabbing/wipe process? Is it sample loss, time, consistency between techs, chain of custody, something else entirely? And has swabbing ever actually failed you - lost a sample, degraded evidence, inconsistent results or is it basically a solved problem at this point and any "better" method is solving a problem nobody has?

Genuinely trying to learn here, not selling anything. Appreciate any war stories or gripes.

This technology was originally developed for space use and curious if it has any legs in other fields, and forensics came up as a possible fit. Wanted to get real feedback before assuming that's true.

The short version: it's a collection method that grabs a sample in one step - no swab-then-transport-media, no vacuum step - aiming to reduce sample loss and manual handling.