Forbes had a really interesting story today about a forensics lab that has been getting called on by police stations across the US for help, especially when analysis of footage from surveillance cameras is needed or video tape needs to be restored before it can be analyzed, since that's their speciality, though they've also been called on to help with fingerprint analysis and tracking cell phones among other things. The surprising part? This lab doesn't belong to any law enforcement agency, nor is it affiliated with any university or scientific association. It's owned and operated by, get this, Target!

Not only is Target getting called on to help out with cases, specifically murder, sexual assault and armed robbery, but they do the work on a volunteer basis. You read that right, they do not charge the police departments they're helping. All they ask for is one of the departmental patches (like the cops wear on the shoulder of their uniform) which they put on a display in their main office. So far, they have 136 patches in their collection, and have done so much work that they had to open a 2nd office to help with the volume of work.

We hear so much about evil corporations, it's kind of nice to see one that - in at least one way - is actually trying to do something that's actually in the public good.