Forensics Introduction Unit

**Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)**

* Protects from criminals, criminal organizations, illegal use and trafficking of firearms, illegal use/possession of explosives, acts of arson/bombing, terrorism, illegal dist of alcohol/tobacco.
* Integrated Ballistic Identification System

**Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)**

* Provides forensic exams, technical support, expert witness testimony
* High tech crime lab

**Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)**

* Provide scientific, technical and admin support to criminal justice system to assist w enforcement of controlled substances
* Identify substances and determine amount

**The U.S. Postal Inspection Service**

* Protect US Postal Service, employees, infrastructure, and customers
* Enforce laws defending the mail system from illegal/dangerous use
* Trace criminal suspects to provide testimony

Entomology

use of insects and their inhabitation of dead bodies at different stages of decomposition to aid investigations

Psychiatry

eval person’s mental health and competency to stand trial

Photography

document crime scene for visual aid

Radiology

x-rays to uncover forged things eg fake art

Pathology

determining cause of death and identity of a person (autopsies)

Chemistry

analyzes controlled substances as evidence in trial

Medicine

medical knowledge such as cause of injury/death, link medical science and legal issues in cases.

resolve insurance claims, suits of medical misconduct, determine paternity of child.

Odontology

analysis of teeth to identify remains

Anthropology

identify decomposed/burned/mutilated bodies using bones

Toxicology

measures alcohol, drugs and other toxic substances in biological specimen.

study how drugs modify tissues and organs to rule out things like suicide or poisoning

Ballistics

analysis of bullets to determine firearm, connect injury to a person

CSI Effect

* Exaggerated portrayal of forensic science in media
* Leads to unrealistic expectations of what forensic science can acheive
* Affects police (over-collect evidence), attorneys/juries (need unnecessary tests for “unreasonable” doubt), forensic labs, the public (guilty walk free, innocent jailed)

Forensic science

application of science to criminal and civil laws

* can’t be 100% accurate
* cant always analyze all evidence (limitations)

Criminalistics

application of science to answer questions regardig the examination and comparison of physical evidence

Modus Operandi

method the crime was conducted

* Stabbing, shooting, hitting, stealing, etc

Corpus delecti

the body of the crime

* actual body, body part
* object (eg house/vehicle) that was damaged due to the crime

Line search

* Large areas (eg fields, woods)
* Least effective

Grid search

* Large areas (eg fields, woods)
* More effective bc double check

Zone search

* Smaller areas (eg room, home, backyard)

Spiral search

* Smaller areas looking for small items (eg shell casing, hair)
* Only search alone method

What to do when arriving at crime scene?

* Call for backup (police, EMS, fire dept, etc)
* Provide medical attention until someone more qualified appears
* Secure scene (est a perimeter and prevent ppl from leaving or entering)

How to record the crime scene?

* Detailed notes
* Take pictures (establishing shots, long range, medium, close ups)
* Video
* Rough sketch (must include dimensions, furniture, arrows to show photo locations, items of interest/evidence

How to collect evidence?

* MARK AND PHOTOGRAPH before collecting
* Get standard reference sample (eg clean vs bloody carpet)

Consequences of bad evidence collection

* lab fails to investigate
* evidence is thrown out by judge or exposed as questionable by attorney
* insufficient evidence for case
* Guilty ppl go free, innocent ppl jailed