Peterson, Quentin

This interview was recorded via Zoom on September 21st, 2020 and it covers the following themes: 

b. 1954 

  • A brief overview of childhood, interest in science, military service, college in Kansas, and early chemistry lab career.  Application with Tucson Police Department to work in forensics in 1980.  

  • Increasing criminalization of intoxicated driving in the 1980s. 

  • The Tucson Police Department lab in the early 1980s. Peterson’s focus on DUIs and time spent testifying in court.  

  • DUI laws and their impact upon the legal system. Judges’ skepticism of new types of chemical evidence. Changing community attitudes towards drunk driving. Mothers Against Drunk Driving. 

  • Stories about paint analysis, the challenges of sharing evidence and retesting old samples in DUI cases, and drug identification. 

  • Changes in crime lab work over Peterson’s career: the rise of DNA analysis and the appearance of computers in the lab. 

  • Retirement from TPD in 2007. The influence of television shows like Crime Scene Investigation on applicants for lab jobs. 

Aengus Anderson