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Forensic Science
Forensic Science is the application of science to those criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.
Forensic science is a multidisciplinary subject, drawing principally from chemistry and biology, but also from physics, geology, psychology, social science, etc.
The term evidence implies anything that tends to disprove or establish a fact of the case.
Sherlock Holmes is a famous, brilliant, fictional detective of the late 19th century, created by British author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sherlock Holmes
Applied the principles of serology Fingerprinting Fire-arm identification Questioned-document examination
Timeline
http://www.forensicdna.com/Timeline020702.pdf. The Forensic Science Timeline can also be found as an appendix in our recently published book Principles and Practice of Forensic Science: The Profession of Forensic Science http://forensicdna.com/Bookstore/index.html See also the Forensic Science Bibliography http://forensicdna.com/Bibliography.html This is a work in progress Please e-mail comments and suggestions http://forensicdna.com/~emailforms/emailtimeline.html This work is copyright of Norah Rudin and Keith Inman
Timeline
AD 66: Nero murders his wife and presents her head on a dish to his mistress. She identifies the head as Neros wife by two discolored front teeth. 1149: King Richard I of England creates the job of coroner to investigate questionable deaths.
Timeline
1732: Luigi Galvanio discovers that the human nervous system transmits information electrically; this is the basis of current lie detection equipment.
Timeline
1879: Alphonse Bertillon, a French police employee, devised the first system of personal identification. This science was called anthropometry in which a systematic procedure of taking a series of body measurements can be the means of distinguishing one individual from another. He is known as the father of criminal identification
Timeline
1892: (Sir) Francis Galton published Fingerprints, the first comprehensive book on the nature of fingerprints and their use in solving crime. His work went on to describe the basic principles that form the present system of identification by fingerprints.
Timeline
1903: At Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, Kansas, Will West, a new inmate, was initially confused with a resident convict William West using anthropometry. They were later (1905) found to be easily differentiated by their fingerprints. For a historical clarification, please see http://www.scafo.org/library/110105.htm
Timeline
1957: The growth stages of skeletal bones are identified by Americans Thomas Mocker and Thomas Stewart, forming the basis of forensic anthropology.
Timeline
1977: Fuseo Matsumur, a trace evidence examiner at the Saga Prefectural Crime Laboratory of the National Police Agency of Japan, notices his own fingerprints developing on microscope slides while mounting hairs from a taxi driver murder case. He relates the information to coworker Masato Soba, a latent print examiner. Soba would later that year be the first to develop latent prints intentionally by Superglue fuming. (1977): The FBI introduced the beginnings of its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) with the first computerized scans of fingerprints.
Timeline
1978: Britains Yorkshire Ripper case highlights the value of computers in investigating serial killings and leads to the development of psychological profiling techniques in the following decade. 1979 Bite mark evidence is key in convicting serial killer Theodore Ted Bundy. 1984: (Sir) Alec Jeffreys developed the first DNA profiling test. It involved detection of a multilocus RFLP pattern. He published his findings in Nature in 1985.
Timeline
1987: DNA profiling was introduced for the first time in a U.S. criminal court. Based on RFLP analysis performed by Lifecodes, Tommy Lee Andrews was convicted of a series of sexual assaults in Orlando, Florida.
Because of the independent development of crime labs in the America, a wide variation of the total services offered at a forensic lab in a given community can be different than those in another community.
Variations in local laws Budgetary and staff limitations Different capabilities and functions of the organization to which the lab is attached
Basic Services
Physical Science department:
Applies the principles and techniques of:
Chemistry Physics Geology
Basic Services
Biology Unit:
Biologists and biochemists
Identification and DNA profiling of dried bloodstains and other bodily fluids Comparison of hairs and fibers Identification and comparison of botanical materials
Wood Plants
Basic Services
Firearms Unit:
Examination of firearms, discharged bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition of all types. Also exam garments and other items
To detect firearm discharge residue Approximate the distance from a target at which a weapon was fired
The basic principles of firearm examination are also applied to the comparison of marks made by tools
Basic Services
Document Examination Unit:
Handwriting Typewriting
Used to ascertain source and/or authenticity
Analysis of paper and ink Examination of indented writings Obliterations Erasures Burned or charred documents
Other Units
Photography Unit:
Examine and record physical evidence Aids in the preparation of photographic exhibits for the courtroom presentations
Evidence-Collection Unit:
Special trained personnel (civilian and/or police) that collect and preserve physical evidence from the crime scene
Forensic pathology Forensic anthropology Toxicology Odontology DNA Forensic botany Forensic Engineering Computer Forensics Impressions specialist Soil Analyst Forensic Entomologist
Document Analysis Hair/Fiber/Paint Analysis Ballistics Serology Trace Evidence Specialist Arson/Explosives Expert Fingerprints Forensic Vet