Crime scene investigations are a hit on TV, but the real thing is at the Connecticut Forensic Crime Laboratory in Meriden.

On Friday, News 12 Connecticut got rare access to see how the lab works – and how new technology is keeping innocent people out of prison.

From the outside, the state crime lab looks like a non-descript school building. But inside, dozens of highly-trained scientists and technicians are using cutting-edge technology to solve crimes faster than ever.

In one room, a technician is firing a gun into a barrel – two stories deep and filled with 600 pounds of water.

“We would then take those test fires, whether they’re bullets or they’re cartridge cases, and then compare them on a microscope – a comparison microscope – with the evidence that’s found at the scene from a victim,” said Joseph Rainone, the Forensic Science Lab’s assistant director of Identification.

Next door, a room is filled with hundreds of firearms – including an Uzi – to use for comparison. Down the hall, a different team is spraying a handgun for fingerprints. And in another lab, a computer can now render 3D models of bullets used in violent crimes. Within minutes, a new database can match a bullet used in Connecticut to crimes up and down the east coast.

But the biggest developments are in DNA testing, which has advanced dramatically over the past few years.

“Back in the day, you’d need a quarter-sized blood stain,” said Michael Morganti, a forensic science examiner. “We now can get DNA profiles from what we call ‘touch samples’ – basically not visible. If someone touches a surface, we’re able to swab that surface and get their profile.”

Beyond all the gadgets and futuristic science, the technology is keeping innocent people out of prison. James Tillman, of Glastonbury, spent 16 years in prison for a 1988 rape and kidnapping that he didn’t commit.

“I knew I didn’t do it,” he said. “I didn’t do it. So it’s like, ‘OK, how do I prove my innocence?’”

Tillman and the Connecticut Innocence Project finally earned his release in 2006, thanks to advances in DNA testing. But it was a very long road.

“It was disappointment after disappointment after appeal,” Tillman said. “It was a relief to get out.”

During the tour, Tillman got to see new rapid DNA technology that build a complete DNA profile – and can clear a suspect – in just 90 minutes.

“If this machine was out when I was out, and I put my DNA in there, I wouldn’t have been in jail that many years,” he told a lab technician.

Two years after Tillman’s release, DNA testing also led to the real suspect in Tillman’s case.

Others are getting justice faster too. Technological advancements, along with more funding and staff, have allowed the Forensic Crime Laboratory to completely erase a backlog of 12,000 cases dating back to 2013.