COVER STORY .

German Madera

Forensic Scientist, Police Department


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Published: Apr 29, 2009

German Madera, 48

Forensic Scientist, Police Department

Salary: $56,617

Union: DC 47

German Madera wanted to be a veterinarian, but it turned out he was allergic to most animals. So he fell into chemistry. Born in Puerto Rico, Madera grew up in Fairmount and attended Lincoln University. Upon graduating, he got a job with the Water Department analyzing samples, then moved over to the Police Department. He figured he'd work there for a year. That was 20 years ago.

Madera's job is to analyze substances confiscated by police to determine if they're "controlled" (illegal). This may sound a bit redundant — if the police take a baggy of a white powder substance off someone standing on a corner, isn't it likely a drug? But there are several reasons it's important, beyond legal necessity. First, people do sell fake substances and pass them off as drugs, and when they do, it's a big problem — if someone's selling baggies of baking soda, there's likely to be a shooting. And second, if police raid a house, they'll take everything that might be a drug. Is this bag of flour really flour?

To figure this out, Madera runs a series of tests on each sample (one involves a full molecular breakdown); sometimes he has to go to court to testify about the result. He's watched the drug scene in Philly evolve from cocaine to crack and back again, with heroin going up and down and marijuana present "all the time." "If the Grateful Dead is here," he says, "we start seeing a lot of mushrooms and LSD."

The work has gotten a bit repetitive for Madera, and he's considering mortician school. But he likes the people he works with. He owns a suburban-style home near Temple, where his daughter will start school in the fall. Though he knows there's more money in the private industry, in his line of work, he says, "you have job stability, 'cause there's always gonna be drugs."