scene investigation unit for the police department in richmond, california, one of the most dangerous cities in america. >> everyone thinks that when you tell them that you're a csi, that you're like what they see on tv. the real csi is dealing with blood, getting dirty underneath a car, smelling things that you don't want to smell, seeing things that you don't want to see. you see the worst that humans are capable of doing to one another. there's evidence that needs to be collected, documented, processed. it's about taking the time to find the small things that are going to wind up being a big thing down the road. >> bergman: things like fingerprints-- one of the most widely used of all forensic techniques. for over a century, fingerprints have been used to identify criminals, from petty thieves to international terrorists. (explosion, people shouting) (second explosion, screaming) (third explosion) in 2004, a series of explosions in the subways of madrid killed or injured nearly 2,000 people. when the dust settled, the spanish authorities found several partial fingerprints on a bag of detonators. >> now, at the time, the spanish national police did not identify