Forensic Science History Paper

Forensic science is the application of science to criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.

• The first system of personal identification was called anthropometry. It distinguished one individual from another based on a series of bodily measurements.

• Forensic science owes its origins to individuals such as Bertillon, Galton, Lattes, Goddard, Osborn, and Locard, who developed the principles and techniques needed to identify and compare physical evidence.

• Locard’s exchange principle states that, when two objects come into contact with each other, a cross-transfer of materials occurs that can connect a criminal suspect to his or her victim.

• The development of crime laboratories in the United States has been characterized by rapid growth accompanied by a lack of national and regional planning and coordination.

• Four major reasons for the increase in the number of crime laboratories in the United States since the 1960s are as follows: (1) The requirement to advise criminal suspects of their constitutional rights and their right of immediate access to counsel has all but eliminated confessions as a routine investigative tool. (2) There has been a staggering increase in crime rates in the United States. (3) All illicit-drug seizures must be sent to a forensic laboratory for confirmatory chemical analysis before the case can be adjudicated in court. (4) DNA profiling was developed and is now often required.

• The technical support provided by crime laboratories can be assigned to five basic services: the physical science unit, the biology unit, the firearms unit, the document examination unit, and the photography unit.

• Some crime laboratories offer optional services such as toxicology, fingerprint analysis, polygraph administration, voice-print analysis, and crime-scene investigation.

• Special forensic science services available to the law enforcement community include forensic pathology, forensic anthropology, forensic entomology, forensic psychiatry, forensic odontology, forensic engineering, and forensic computer and digital analysis.

• A forensic scientist must be skilled in applying the principles and techniques of the physical and natural sciences to analyzing evidence that may be recovered during a criminal investigation.

• The cases Frye v. United States and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. set guidelines for determining the admissibility of scientific evidence into the courtroom.

• An expert witness evaluates evidence based on specialized training and experience.

• Forensic scientists participate in training law enforcement personnel in the proper recognition, collection, and preservation of physical evidence