Alyssa Berriesford

 
Vice President - Region 2 (Mountain)
alyssa.berriesford@coloradosprings.gov

Colorado Springs, CO (USA)

Alyssa Berriesford is a Senior Crime Scene Investigator with the Colorado Springs Metro Crime Lab. She started her forensics career in 2017 as a laboratory intern with the Douglas County Crime Lab and was hired with the Colorado Springs Police Department as a Crime Scene Investigator later that year. She has extensive experience in crime scene investigations, primarily focusing on violent crimes, many of which included complex bloodstain and trajectory documentation. She has testified as an expert witness numerous times in the areas of crime scene investigation, trajectory analysis, and bloodstain pattern analysis. 

Ms. Berriesford holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry with a Criminalistics concentration from the Metropolitan State University of Denver and a Master of Science Degree in Forensic Science with a Graduate Certificate in Forensic DNA and Serology from the University of Florida. 

She started her training in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis in 2018 when she attended her first Bloodstain Pattern Analysis course. During her tenure, Ms. Berriesford acted as the primary trainer for four newly hired Crime Scene Investigators in addition to assisting with the training of additional personnel within the unit. This training included field training specializing in crime scene processing, bloodstain documentation, and trajectory analysis. In addition, Ms. Berriesford has provided several basic bloodstain pattern analysis courses and crime scene processing courses to the Crime Scene Unit, Investigations Divisions and new recruit Training Academies for the local police department and sheriff's office. 

Ms. Berriesford was promoted to Senior Crime Scene Investigator and Crime Scene Unit Technical Leader in 2022, where she was responsible for updating training manuals and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the Crime Scene Unit and authoring training manuals and SOPs for the Bloodstain Pattern Analysis section, ensuring compliance with the laboratory's ANAB ISO 17025 Accreditation Standards. 

Ms. Berriesford is internationally certified as a Crime Scene Analyst and Bloodstain Pattern Analyst through the International Association for Identification (IAI). She has been a member of the IABPA since 2018 and is also a member of the IAI, Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction (ACSR), and Rocky Mountain Association for Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (RMABPA). Ms. Berriesford is a 2022 Daniel Rahn Grant recipient for her research in the effects of temperature and humidity on spatter stain deposition.