The term forensic is used often among television crime dramas but what is it? Forensic, as defined by Oxford Dictionary of English, is “relating to or denoting the application of scientific methods and techniques to the investigation of crime (Stevenson). This science has led to the capture of many criminals. DNA testing has been a large part of this forensic science, however forensics played a large role prior to DNA testing being developed. Fingerprinting, blood typing, and trace evidence were three of the forensic tests in use before DNA testing that helped identify a suspect. Fingerprinting is a technique that has been in use for a long time. In 1880, a Scottish doctor, Henry Faulds, first suggested to the British that fingerprints …show more content…
This type of science is focused on the study of Antigens in the blood and how specific antibodies places blood into separate groups. The blood groups most commonly used in this science are from the ABO system (“serology, forensic”). Karl Landsteiner is the scientist who developed this system. In 1902 he conducted an experiment in which he discovered that human blood could be placed into four groups, which he named A, B, AB, and O (“Landsteiner, Karl”). With this system, blood from a crime scene could be compared to a suspect’s blood and could confirm or disprove that the blood could have potentially come from him or her. This science has become relatively obsolete after the foundation of DNA testing (“serology, forensic”). In my opinion Blood Typing could be considered the groundwork for DNA testing, because they are both used in a very similar way. They both take into effect that blood can be identified to a specific person or group of persons. DNA testing has taken this quite a bit further by also taking other bodily fluids and particles into account. DNA can also incriminate a single person as opposed to a …show more content…
Trace evidence, also known as transfer evidence, can be characterized by small particles left behind by someone or something. This can include fibers, glass, oil, and even dust (“trace evidence”). The idea of this being used came from a French scientist named Edmund Locard. He was very interested in microscopic elements, especially dust, and developed a lab to study these microscopic specks. His study led to the development of the Locard’s Exchange Principle, which says “every contact leaves a trace (“Locard, Edmund”). These particles are examined by the use of microscopy. Microscopy can be accomplished by using many instruments but the basis is putting light through a lens to magnify the image (“microscopy”). I believe trace evidence can be crucial to an investigation. The fact that scientists can microscopically match fibers from carpet to a specific car is fascinating and intriguing. Trace evidence also seems to be easily left behind, where as fingerprints can be concealed with rubber gloves and blood is not always left at crime
Forensic science is a key aspect of Criminal Justice that helps rid the streets of lunatics and murderers. One of the most important fields of forensic science is blood spatter analysis. Under the Crime Scene Investigation, analysts gather the information that could eventually lead to a victim’s killer. Basic and complex information can be found when analyzing blood. We can learn what kind of weapon was used, the time of death of a victim and other important facts that can help a case. The pattern that the blood gives off give forensic scientists the tools that they need to help solve cases.
DNA is the blueprint of life. It stores our genetic information which is what is in charge of how our physical appearance will look like. 99.9% of human DNA is the same in every person yet the remaining .1% is what distinguishes each person (Noble Prize). This small percentage is enough to make each person different and it makes identifying people a lot easier when its necessary. DNA not only serves to test relationships between people it also helps in criminal cases. DNA testing in criminal cases has not been around for many years if fact it was not until the early 1990s when the use of DNA testing for criminal cases was approved and made available. By comparing the DNA of a suspect and that found in the crime scene a person can either be convicted of a crime or they can be exonerated. This method of testing gained more publicity in the 1984 case of Kirk Noble Bloodsworth a man who had been convicted of the rape and first degree murder of a nine year old girl in Maryland. His case was a milestone in the criminal justice system since it involved the use of new technology and it also raised the question of how many people had been wrongly incarcerated for a crime they did not commit.
Trace evidence was first discovered by Edmond Locard. Edmond Locard was born in 1877, and founded the Institute of Lyon’s Institute of Criminalistics. He is also known for advancing the science of fingerprints. In 1910 he was authorized to start a small forensic laboratory in the Palais de Justice which he directed until 1951.While there he worked on criminal identification methods including poroscopy- the microscopic examination of fingerprints; analyses of body fluids, hair and skin; and graphometry or handwriting analysis. He is the man responsible for coming up with the theory that when two objects come in contact with each other they leave some kind of material matter behind. This theory was later called Locard’s Exchange Principle. The idea is that the evidence can be used to associate objects, individuals or locations with one another." A person typically loses about 100 hairs a day. These hairs may be of evidentiary value to show contact between two people. With an adequate hair standard, a trace chemist will be able to microscopically compare a...
Forensic Psychology is a specialized practice by psychologists in areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, and neuropsychology. You will be engaged regularly as an expert and primarily proposed to offer professional psychological expertise to the judicial system.
The criminal justice system has changed a lot since the good old days of the Wild West when pretty much anything was legal. Criminals were dealt with in any fashion the law enforcement saw fit. The science of catching criminals has evolved since these days. We are better at catching criminals than ever and we owe this advancement to forensic science. The development of forensic science has given us the important techniques of fingerprinting and DNA analysis. We can use these techniques to catch criminals, prove people's innocence, and keep track of inmates after they have been paroled. There are many different ways of solving crimes using forensic evidence. One of these ways is using blood spatter analysis; this is where the distribution and pattern of bloodstains is studied to find the nature of the event that caused the blood spatter. Many things go into the determination of the cause including: the effects of various types of physical forces on blood, the interaction between blood and the surfaces on which it falls, the location of the person shedding the blood, the location and actions of the assailant, and the movement of them both during the incident. Another common type of forensic evidence is trace evidence. This is commonly recovered from any number of items at a crime scene. These items can include carpet fibers, clothing fibers, or hair found in or around the crime scene. Hairs recovered from crime scenes can be used as an important source of DNA. Examination of material recovered from a victim's or suspect's clothing can allow association to be made between the victim and other people, places, or things involved in the investigation. DNA analysis is the most important part of forensic science. DNA evidence can come in many forms at the crime scene. Some of these forms include hair; bodily fluids recovered at the crime scene or on the victim's body, skin under the victim's fingernails, blood, and many others. This DNA can be the basis of someone's guilt or innocence; it has decided many cases in the twentieth century. As the times continue to change and the criminals get smarter we will always need to find new ways to catch them. Forensic science is the most advanced method yet, but is only the beginning. As the field of science grows so will the abilities of the
Once a crime has been committed the most important item to recover is any type of evidence left at the scene. If the suspect left any Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at the crime scene, he could then be linked to the crime and eventually charged. A suspect’s DNA can be recovered if the suspect leaves a sample of his or her DNA at the crime scene. However, this method was not always used to track down a suspect. Not too long ago, detectives used to use bite marks, blood stain detection, blood grouping as the primary tool to identify a suspect. DNA can be left or collected from the hair, saliva, blood, mucus, semen, urine, fecal matter, and even the bones. DNA analysis has been the most recent technique employed by the forensic science community to identify a suspect or victim since the use of fingerprinting. Moreover, since the introduction of this new technique it has been a la...
Evidence shows that investigations of crime scene went on as far back as prehistoric times (Taylor 1). From evidence it shows that early men would take their fingerprints by pressing their fingers into clay or into rock (Taylor 1). Ancient Babylonians used this way for business and to try to save them for a mean of identification. Also, the prints were used for other official needs.
Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) is one of many specialties in the field of forensic science; the science of bloodstain pattern analysis use scientific knowledge from other fields to solve problems. BPA also uses the scientific method to examine bloodstain evidence at a crime scene where blood is present by gathering information, observing, documenting, analyzing, evaluating, and technical or peer reviewing. A bloodstain pattern analysis job is to collect, categorize and interpret the shape and distribution of bloodstains within a crime scene (Peschel, 2011). Bloodstain patterns can reconstruct a crime scene and then determine the crime as an accident, homicide, or suicide; the blood can also identify the location, quality and intensity of an external force. The purpose of a BPA’s is to determine bloodstain patterns and to recreate the action that caused the blood.
Forensic evidence is “evidence obtained by scientific methods …. and used in court.” Most evidence collected can be classified as either transient evidence or tangible evidence. Common types of transient evidence includes hair, fibers and glass, fingerprints, shoe prints, bare foot impressions and tire impressions, bodily fluids and skin cells, as well as gunshot residue. Some forms of tangible evidence would be firearms, fired and unfired bullets and cartridges, tool marks, drugs and drug paraphernalia, physical documents such as checks and receipts, and computers, cell phones and other devices.
...A. Maria, Ruth M. Robin. (2009). Latent prints: a perspective on the state of the science. Forensic Science Communications. 11.4.
...he case of forensics. You can go beyond the normal reality of blood spatter (?.. how does or where did blood spatter come into play here). The species of a set of bones can be determined through forensics anthropology. The sex of a skeleton. The age of a person and by studying the bones you can find a person’s age. Forensics Anthropology, (2014)
As far back as 1832, James Marsh was the first to use forensics at trial to give evidence as a chemist in 1832. Since that time forensic science and evidence has come a long way in various ways and technology to help in determine if the suspect is guilt or not, through such things as DNA testing, blood, and fingerprints. The first forensic police crime lab was created in 1910. The contributions of Dr. Edmond Locard, a French scientist and criminologist, proposed that “everything leaves a trace”. This principle is still valid today as it was so many years ago. No matter how small, the specialized trained technicians and investigators can take these methods and go to a crime scene to get evidence. “Forensic science is the application of sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering to matters of law.” (Office of Justice, 2017) These different sciences can help achieve and assist in solving a case. Forensic science has also the ability to prove that a crime was committed, it can find the elements of the crime, it can help place the suspect at the scene and whether the suspect had any contact with the victim. However, in the last several years the techniques and with the use of technology the evidence that forensic science uncovers can also exonerate an innocent individual who has been falsely accused of the
Bloodstain pattern analysis is a forensic discipline that deals with the physics of the blood, and determines the bloodstains left at crime scenes using visual pattern recognition. It is used to shed light on the reconstruction of a crime scene which includes the cause of death starting with homicide, suicide, accident, and identifying areas with high possibility of the offender leaving his or her DNA samples. There are documented descriptions of bloodstain shapes at crime scenes that date back to past centuries, but it was the Samuel Sheppard case in 1955, that prompted advances in this field. Bloodstain pattern analysis is employed worldwide by scientists, police officials and medics in an interdisciplinary manner. Both the blood itself and the surfaces on which the bloodstains are found are important in the assessment of bloodstains. The umbrella organization for bloodstain pattern analysts is the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (IABPA), which offers various forms of membership. The name of the method (bloodstain pattern analysis) is often abbreviated to BPA.
“The word ‘forensics’ means “connected with the courtroom”; so forensic science is, therefore, concerned with gathering hard evidence that can be presented in a trial” (Innes 9). Forensic science is a science that is applied specifically to legal matters, whether criminal or civil. “Few areas in the realm of science are as widespread and important as forensic science” (Hunter 12). Forensics is the one science that is most commonly used in everyday life. It is also a branch of science that incorporates other branches of science such as biology, chemistry, and etc. Since it is used almost every day “No one can dispute the importance of the contributions to society made by forensic science; the ability to solve crime is undeniably important” (Hunter 13). Forensic science has given criminal investigation a new edge. “Advances in science have opened the door for more effective evidence discovery, howev...
When it comes to a crime, criminals are able to cover up many types of evidence. One piece of evidence that is almost impossible to cover up is prints. Because of the difficulty behind covering prints, they are the most important part of solving a crime. The types of prints range from Fingerprints to palm prints and even lip prints can be used to solve a crime. Prints are the most important piece of evidence because prints are left everywhere anyone touches, they are not easily covered up, all prints are unique, and because many parts of your body produce prints without you even trying. When talking about the importance of prints it is vital to notice that prints serve many roles and for the most part the average person doesn’t know any more about prints than what they have seen on CSI or other television shows. With enough research it is found that prints are more complex, interesting, and unique than might be thought.