Target Crime Lab
File this one under “really random factoids.” In the Wikipedia article about Target is a paragraph that caught me completely off guard:
In 2006, The Washington Post revealed that Target is operating two sophisticated criminal forensics laboratories, one at their headquarters in Minneapolis, the other in Las Vegas, NV. Originally, the lab was created as an internal need for the company to investigate instances of theft and fraud and other criminal actions that have occurred on its own properties. Eventually, the company began offering pro bono services to law enforcement agencies across the country. Target’s Forensic Services has assisted agencies at all levels of government, including Federal agencies such as the United States Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The labs have become such a popular resource for law enforcement that Target has had to restrict the cases it assists in to only violent felonies.
So, let’s say there’s a violent crime in North Minneapolis. There’s a good chance that the forensics lab owned by Target will be processing some of the crime scene materials… for free. I can’t decide if this is really cool, really weird, or both.