"CSI" Fourth-Season Premiere Event Honors California Forensic Science Institute at Cal State L.A.

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"CSI" Fourth-Season Premiere Event Honors California Forensic Science Institute at Cal State L.A.
Posted on: 09/18/2003

LOS ANGELES -- A special screening of the fourth-season premiere episode of television's No. 1 series, Emmy Award-nominated "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," was held Monday night at the Museum of Television & Radio in honor of the year-old California Forensic Science Institute at Cal State LA. The Institute is the academic, research and in-service training arm of the Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory, soon to be built on the Cal State LA campus.

At the event, the cast of "CSI," along with real life criminologists, celebrated the success of the series and the impact it has had on education. During the evening, CSI stars William Petersen (Gil Grissom) and Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows) spoke about the establishment of a CSI endowment to support the California Forensic Science Institute.

The California Forensic Science Institute builds on a unique partnership -- California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State L.A.), the Los Angeles Police Department, the County Sheriff's Department, and the California Department of Justice -- that will operate a state-of-the-art regional crime laboratory on the university's campus. The Institute brings together experts from the university, law enforcement partners and private sector scientists in collaborative projects that research the application of improved technology and the development of evidence databases. The Institute also provides forensic science internships and research opportunities in the crime lab for the next generation of criminalists, as well as in-service training for current professionals to meet pressing public safety needs.

Cal State L.A.'s renowned programs include the only laboratory-based graduate criminalistics program west of the Mississippi. The unique partnership of the university with local and state law enforcement agencies serves as a model program for applied research and development, and for education for professionals in the field and future criminalists.

Source: Cal State LA