Psst! Wanna know a secret? I'll bet you didn't know that two of the world's best crime laboratories are not run by police, federal agencies or even the Bat Man, but are actually owned by the Target Corporation. Yes, that's the very same Target that sells you laundry detergent and dog treats, and now you know they operate two of the world's most advanced forensics laboratories in the world. The best part? These labs are located in secret back rooms of operating Target stores, while shoppers are blissfully unaware of their existence.
Located in the bowels of two US Target stores (specifically Las Vegas and Minneapolis) the Target forensics labs employ world-class experts in forensic science and maintains a myriad of specialized equipment. Target's labs are fully accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, of which there are only 390 such labs in North America. These unusual crime solving powerhouses are used to solve crimes such as theft, cyber-crime, fraud, murder and rape. But why would a retail store go to all the trouble and the huge expense of maintaining a world class crime lab, let alone TWO labs? Well, when you have a chain of over 1,800 discount super stores, each brimming with expensive technology and other tempting goodies, you're going to attract a lot of criminals and related criminal activity.
Target stores are host to hundreds of serious crimes each week, ranging from armed robbery, internal theft, sexual assault and murder. Local police forces are often already overburdened with other serious cases and their forensics labs are usually running at max capacity. The average police force's forensics laboratory is massively backlogged with evidence to process and usually have hundreds of crimes waiting to be solved. If Target had to wait for the police to solve every crime that affects their company or takes place in one of their stores - they would be waiting a long, long time. Target realized it was much more effective to do the forensic work themselves; being a private company they have the ability to spend far more money on forensics resources than the police do on comparable labs.
Target now has more up-to-date equipment than many large police departments or even regional crime labs. Once sufficient evidence has been found and matched to a potential suspect, Target delivers their findings to authorities for further review and potential prosecution. Because Target labs are certified, the forensic evidence can be used in a trial just like any other crime labs findings. Most of the forensics work conducted at Target's labs involves digital forensics, like examining CCTV footage, recovering deleted files from smartphones, reconstructing hard drives and analyzing internet traffic used in hacking cases. Target has recently invested in hardened Faraday cages - designed to isolate mobile devices and to stop data from being remotely erased on suspect devices. In addition to tech forensics, Target labs still perform traditional forensics tasks such as fingerprint analysis, facial recognition and now DNA profiling.
Target has become so good at forensics (and more importantly fast) that police forces from all over the United States are sending their evidence directly to Target, instead of their own labs. Amazingly, Target works these cases for free. A Target technician recently said that one-quarter of crimes solved by Target's forensics labs are not related to Target in any way; Target still does not ask for any compensation or consideration for its efforts.
In a recent case, police in Houston asked Target to help them solve a brutal arson case, in which a mother and her two children had been burned to death. Investigators had reached a dead end with their investigation and chances were getting slim they would solve the heinous crime. A Houston detective got the idea to send a damaged CCTV tape from a nearby gas station to Target's forensics lab for analysis. The tape was badly wrinkled and unplayable, but Target's expert video analysts carefully placed the tape between two pieces of rice paper and ironed it. The technicians then digitally enhanced the resulting footage to recover usable images and video. Detectives were able to identify a local high school student purchasing a can of gas just moments before the arson attack occurred. Using the recovered CCTV footage, prosecutors were able to convict the teenager of both arson and murder.
So next time you are in a Target store picking up a package of tube socks, think about the secret Bat Cave crime lab working in the background to keep you safe. And if you are a criminal, know that the Target Corporation has become very, very good at targeting (no pun intended) bad guys with both traditional crime fighting methods and high tech digital know-how.
Source: https://corporate.target.com/article/2012/02/an-unexpected-career-target-forensic-services-labo