Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Forensics

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“Bloodstain pattern analysis is a forensic discipline that deals with the physics of the blood and assesses bloodstains left at crime scenes using visual pattern recognition.” (Brodbeck, 2012, pg. 51) This branch is crucial to forensics. Using the established methods, deciphering a bloodstain is essential to many crime scenes. Forensics applies medical knowledge to legal situations. It includes many branches, all important to the overall crime scene investigation. In violent crimes that left bloodstains, bloodstain pattern analysis is a vital branch of forensics. It has many uses within the branch. The use of bloodstain pattern analysis is useful in many aspects of forensics.
Forensics has been used many times throughout history, though has …show more content…

Although forensics is a very useful study, it does not apply to all crimes. It does, however, apply to many crimes. Any crime leaving evidence of some kind can use forensics. It is mostly used for violent crimes, murders, kidnappings, and drug cases. As with any profession, there is a set procedure to be followed when working forensics. Breaking this procedure could be disastrous for the case. The procedure differs slightly at each crime scene, but there is a basic procedure that can be adjusted as necessary. The first step in the procedure is to secure the crime scene and all of the evidence. The evidence needs to be secured in order of their sensitivity. Photographs are taken of the crime scene using rulers for scale. The scene is then searched for any remaining evidence of DNA, which is also secured and studied. Some serious crimes, such as murder, easily become well known throughout the world. This allows other professionals and students to study these cases. This is especially common with famous serial killers. One well known murder case involves Jack the Ripper. In 1888, London doctors were allowed to study the wound patterns left in his victims. This caused the case to go by faster. Samuel Sheppard, known for the murder of his wife, was acquitted ten years after conviction. P.L Kirk, a criminologist form the University of California, gave an expert testimony against Sheppard using forensics and blood splatter analysis. He went on to develop a research project, one 240 of his publications, describing the case and giving his knowledge of

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