MIDLAND, Texas — From podcasts to TV Shows, True Crime has become hugely popular.
One of those shows is the CSI franchise.
"We definitely play a key role in the department," Midland Police Department Crime Scene Investigator Selena Barrera said. "It's definitely not a job for everyone."
In real life, there are about 900 police agencies with full-time crime scene investigator teams. This includes the Midland Police Department, which has a five-person team.
All of whom, are women.
The team includes supervisor Rhiannon Fry, who has been with the CSI unit for 13 years and has been the supervisor for two and a half years.
There are four Crime Scene Investigators: Selena Barrera, who has been there three years, Andrea Rojas, who has been there two years, Jacqueline Cervantes, who has been there one and a half years and Arianna Barerra, who has been there for six months.
"But it's definitely a privilege to be able to be in this field and represent all women doing something in the STEM field," Selena said. "I am a very big girly girl. "And I don't think anybody ever anticipated me to do something in this field because I like pink and glitter and dressing up and makeup and hair stuff."
And these five ladies were all inspired to become CSI members through TV shows like X-Files, Forensic Files and Bones.
Even one classic TV show you wouldn’t expect.
"I originally got into the kind of mystery solving I guess you could say from Scooby-Doo," Arianna said. "I was obsessed with it as a kid. [...] I just love the idea of like catching the bad guys, you know, following the clues and that kind of thing. And then so whenever I got older and in high school, I took a forensics class and that kind of I was like, oh wow, this is like a real thing."
And while these shows are all fictional, what these ladies do on an everyday basis is real.
"We always tell people that just because it's not a story that's in the news, doesn't mean that we're not working every day," Selena said.
"Mainly what goes into being a crime scene investigator is having the desire to make a difference," Fry said. "You have to have a very problem-solving analytical mind. You have to be able to handle stress well. [...] You have to be confident in your skills to be able to go out and know that you have the capability to process that scene in the way that you need to."
Some days they’ll be behind the desk writing reports, other days they’re examining fingerprints.
But sometimes...
"I've had a case a couple years ago where I was called out in reference to human remains," Selena said. "But we arrived on scene and sure enough, we had a human head. It was just the skull. And so, we had to process the scene. We took photos of it and just seeing a skull and in its natural state was pretty interesting."
It’s scenarios like these that make this job difficult for some.
"More so because of some of the gory stuff," Selena said. "Some of the smelly things, you know, we've gone on scenes before with some officers and they'll admit to us, 'you guys got some strong stomachs' or 'it's impressive what you guys do. We appreciate what you guys do.'"
Luckily with this group, there is a built-in sisterhood.
"One of the things that makes this department and this unit unique is that even though we can't always talk about things with other people, we can rely on each other," Selena said. "And that's one of the things that benefits us of having an all-female unit."
Even if not, everyone is from West Texas.
"I was born and raised in North Jersey," Rojas said. "I moved all the way to West Texas for work. Because when you're moving somewhere new where you don't know anyone, really like the whole sisterhood thing, really played a lot into my job because not only was I dealing with the stress of work, but the stress of moving and learning to live on my own. And these ladies definitely, definitely help me out quite a bit."
"Everybody gets along, we have a lot of fun in the office. We joke around. We also rely on each other," Fry said. "If someone's having a bad day, if someone's going through something in their personal life. I think the fact that we're all women, we can all relate to each other really well. So, it's been a really great experience."
And even though it might not be the most glamorous job at times...
"But you find what you're looking for and you forget everything," Selena said. "You forget the smells, you forget everything else, and all you're excited about is the fact that you found it. You found what you're looking for and so as nasty as it is, it's also very rewarding."
MPD is going to be posting a job opening in the CSI unit soon. Applicants don’t have to be a woman, but that opening will be posted on the city’s website in the next few months under the Police Department tab.