1.
Forensic science
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Forensic scientists collect, preserve, and analyze scientific evidence during the course of an investigation. In addition to their role, forensic scientists testify as expert witnesses in both criminal and civil cases and can work for either the prosecution or the defense. While any field could technically be forensic, certain sections have developed over time to encompass the majority of forensically related cases, the word forensic comes from the Latin term forensis, meaning of or before the forum. The history of the term originates from Roman times, during which a charge meant presenting the case before a group of public individuals in the forum. Both the person accused of the crime and the accuser would give speeches based on their sides of the story, the case would be decided in favor of the individual with the best argument and delivery. This origin is the source of the two usages of the word forensic – as a form of legal evidence and as a category of public presentation. In modern use, the term forensics in the place of science can be considered correct. However, the term is now so closely associated with the field that many dictionaries include the meaning that equates the word forensics with forensic science. The ancient world lacked standardized forensic practices, which aided criminals in escaping punishment, Criminal investigations and trials heavily relied on forced confessions and witness testimony. However, ancient sources do contain several accounts of techniques that foreshadow concepts in science that were developed centuries later. The first written account of using medicine and entomology to solve criminal cases is attributed to the book of Xi Yuan Lu, written in China by Song Ci in 1248, during the Song Dynasty. In one of the accounts, the case of a person murdered with a sickle was solved by an investigator who instructed everyone to bring his sickle to one location, flies, attracted by the smell of blood, eventually gathered on a single sickle. In light of this, the murderer confessed, methods from around the world involved saliva and examination of the mouth and tongue to determine innocence or guilt, as a precursor to the Polygraph test. In ancient India, some suspects were made to fill their mouths with dried rice, similarly, in Ancient China, those accused of a crime would have rice powder placed in their mouths. In ancient middle-eastern cultures, the accused were made to lick hot metal rods briefly, in 16th-century Europe, medical practitioners in army and university settings began to gather information on the cause and manner of death. Ambroise Paré, a French army surgeon, systematically studied the effects of violent death on internal organs, two Italian surgeons, Fortunato Fidelis and Paolo Zacchia, laid the foundation of modern pathology by studying changes that occurred in the structure of the body as the result of disease. In the late 18th century, writings on these began to appear. Two examples of English forensic science in individual legal proceedings demonstrate the use of logic
2.
Physiology
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Physiology is the scientific study of normal mechanisms, and their interactions, which operate within a living system. A sub-discipline of biology, its focus is in how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. Given the size of the field, it is divided into, among others, animal physiology, plant physiology, cellular physiology, microbial physiology, bacterial physiology, and viral physiology. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to those who make significant achievements in this discipline by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In medicine, a state is one occurring from normal body function, rather than pathologically. Physiological studies date back to the ancient civilizations of India and Egypt alongside anatomical studies, the study of human physiology as a medical field dates back to at least 420 BC to the time of Hippocrates, also known as the father of medicine. Hippocrates incorporated his belief called the theory of humours, which consisted of four basic substance, earth, water, air. Each substance is known for having a corresponding humour, black bile, phlegm, blood and yellow bile, Hippocrates also noted some emotional connections to the four humours, which Claudis Galenus would later expand on. The critical thinking of Aristotle and his emphasis on the relationship between structure and function marked the beginning of physiology in Ancient Greece. Like Hippocrates, Aristotle took to the theory of disease. Claudius Galenus, known as Galen of Pergamum, was the first to use experiments to probe the functions of the body, unlike Hippocrates though, Galen argued that humoral imbalances can be located in specific organs, including the entire body. His modification of this theory better equipped doctors to more precise diagnoses. Galen was also the founder of experimental physiology, and for the next 1,400 years, Galenic physiology was a powerful and influential tool in medicine. Jean Fernel, a French physician, introduced the term physiology, inspired in the work of Adam Smith, Milne-Edwards wrote that the body of all living beings, whether animal or plant, resembles a factory. Where the organs, comparable to workers, work incessantly to produce the phenomena that constitute the life of the individual, in more differentiated organisms, the functional labor could be apportioned between different instruments or systems. In 1858, Joseph Lister studied the cause of blood coagulation and inflammation that resulted after previous injuries and he later discovered and implemented antiseptics in the operating room, and as a result decreases death rate from surgery by a substantial amount. The Physiological Society was founded in London in 1876 as a dining club, the American Physiological Society is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1887. The Society is, devoted to fostering education, scientific research, in 1891, Ivan Pavlov performed research on conditional reflexes that involved dogs saliva production in response to a plethora of sounds and visual stimuli
3.
Forensic anthropology
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Forensic anthropology is the application of the anatomical science of anthropology and its various subfields, including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy, in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable, Forensic anthropologists are also instrumental to the investigation and documentation of genocide and mass graves. Along with forensic pathologists, forensic dentists, and homicide investigators, using physical markers present on a skeleton, a forensic anthropologist can potentially determine a victims age, sex, stature, and ancestry. The methods used to identity a person from a skeleton relies on the past contributions of various anthropologists, through the collection of thousands of specimens and the analysis of differences within a population, estimations can be made based on physical characteristics. Through these, a set of remains can potentially be identified, today, forensic anthropology is a well established discipline within the forensic field. Anthropologists are called upon to investigate remains and to identify individuals from bones when other physical characteristics which could be used to identify a body no longer exist. Forensic anthropologists work in conjunction with forensic pathologists to identify remains based on their skeletal characteristics, in addition to these duties, forensic anthropologists often assist in the investigation of war crimes and mass fatality investigations. Anthropologists have also helped victims of genocide in countries around the world. War crimes anthropologists have helped investigate include the Rwandan Genocide and the Srebrenica Genocide, the use of anthropology in the forensic investigation of remains grew out of the recognition of anthropology as a distinct scientific discipline and the growth of physical anthropology. The field of anthropology began in the United States and struggled to obtain recognition as a legitimate science during the years of the twentieth century. Earnest Hooton pioneered the field of anthropology and became the first physical anthropologist to hold a full-time teaching position in the United States. He was a committee member of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists along with its founder Aleš Hrdlička. Hootons students created some of the first doctoral programs in physical anthropology during the early 20th century, in addition to physical anthropology, Hooton was a proponent of criminal anthropology. Now considered a pseudoscience, criminal anthropologists believed that phrenology and physiognomy could link a persons behavior to specific physical characteristics, the use of criminal anthropology to try to explain certain criminal behaviors arose out of the eugenics movement, popular at the time. The study of information helped shape anthropologists understanding of the human skeleton. Another prominent early anthropologist, Thomas Wingate Todd, was responsible for the creation of the first large collection of human skeletons in 1912. In total, Todd acquired 3,300 human skulls and skeletons,600 anthropoid skulls and skeletons, todds contributions to the field of anthropology remain in use in the modern era and include various studies regarding suture closures on the skull and timing of teeth eruption in the mandible. Todd also developed age estimates based on characteristics of the pubic symphysis
4.
Bloodstain pattern analysis
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The use of bloodstains as evidence is not new, however, the application of modern science has brought it to a higher level since the 1970s and 80s. New technologies, especially advances in DNA analysis, are available for detectives and criminologists to use in solving crimes, the science of bloodstain pattern analysis applies scientific knowledge from other fields to solve practical problems. Bloodstain pattern analysis draws on the disciplines of biology, chemistry. A report released by The National Academy of Sciences calls for more standardization within the field, the report highlights the ability of blood spatter analysts to overstate their qualifications and the reliability of their methods in the court room. Bloodstain pattern analysis has been used informally for centuries, but the first modern study of blood stains was in 1895. Dr. Eduard Piotrowski of the University of Kraków published a paper titled On the formation, form, direction, a number of publications describing various aspects of blood stains were published, but his publication did not lead to a systematic analysis. LeMoyne Snyders widely used book Homicide Investigation also briefly mentioned details that later bloodstain experts would expand upon. The second modern origin of the study of bloodstain pattern analysis is the Sam Sheppard case in 1954 and his research resulted in his publication of the first modern treatise on bloodstain analysis, entitled Flight Characteristics and Stain Patterns of Human Blood. The first formal training course was given by MacDonnel in 1973 in Jackson. In 1983, the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts was founded by a group of blood stain analysts to develop the emerging field of bloodstain pattern analysis. Blood is a tissue that is circulated within the body to assist other parts of the body and this connective tissue has specialized cells that allow it to carry out its complex functions. For a healthy person, approximately 8% of their weight is blood. For a 70 kg individual, this equates to 5.6 L, Blood contains three components or blood cells that are suspended within plasma. The three components are erythrocytes, leukocytes, and trombocytes, erythrocytes, also known as red blood cells, are transporters. The role of erythrocytes is to transport oxygen, to do this, they contain great quantities of hemoglobin, which carry oxygen molecules and give blood its distinct red colour. Blood that has passed through the heart and been oxygenated tends to have a shade of red as opposed to blood that is returning to the heart. There are about 30 trillion erythrocytes circulating in the blood at any given time. Leukocytes, also known as blood cells, are the bodys defenders
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Forensic dentistry
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Forensic dentistry or forensic odontology is the application of dental knowledge to those criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system. Forensic dentistry is the handling, examination and evaluation of dental evidence. The evidence that may be derived from teeth is the age and this is done using dental records including radiographs, ante-mortem and post-mortem photographs and DNA. Forensic odontology is derived from Latin, meaning a forum or where legal matters are discussed, the other type of evidence is that of bite marks, left on either the victim, the perpetrator, or on an object found at the crime scene. Bite marks are found on children who are abused. Following the closure of the MSc course at the University of Glamorgan and this is at the University of Dundee in Scotland, which currently has a very limited intake. Forensic odontology is the study of dental applications in legal proceedings, the subject covers a wide variety of topics including individual identification, mass identification, and bite mark analysis. The study of odontology in a case can be a piece of incriminating evidence or an aspect of wide controversy. There have been many cases throughout history which have use of bite marks as evidence. Bite marks are seen in cases involving sexual assault, murder. Biting is often a sign of the perpetrator seeking to degrade the victim while also achieving complete domination, bite marks can be found anywhere on a body, particularly on soft, fleshy tissue such as the stomach or buttocks. In addition, bite marks can be found on objects present at the scene of a crime, bite marks are commonly found on a suspect when a victim attempts to defend him/herself. His bite marks and the marks of other people were compared to the victims marks. The judges readily accepted the bite marks as evidence and this was the first time in what would become the United States that bite marks were used as evidence to solve a crime and he was later convicted and hanged. About two decades later, he was exonerated by the State, and his children compensated for the wrongful execution, another early case was Doyle v. State, which occurred in Texas in 1954. The bite mark in case was on a piece of cheese found at the crime scene of a burglary. The defendant was asked to bite another piece of cheese for comparison. A firearms examiner and a dentist evaluated the bite marks independently, the conviction in this case set the stage for bite marks found on objects and skin to be used as evidence in future cases
6.
DNA phenotyping
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DNA phenotyping is the process of predicting an organism’s phenotype using only genetic information collected from genotyping or DNA sequencing. This term, also known as molecular photofitting, is used to refer to the prediction of a person’s physical appearance and/or biogeographic ancestry for forensic purposes. Predictive modeling is used to build a mathematical model for making trait predictions about new subjects. Biogeographic ancestry determination methods have been developed within the genetics community. Another approach is to assay ancestry informative markers, SNPs that vary in frequency between the human populations. Beginning in 2009, academic groups developed and reported on predictive models for eye color and, more recently, more recently, companies such as Parabon NanoLabs and Identitas have begun offering forensic DNA phenotyping services for U. S. and international law enforcement. Traditional DNA profiling, sometimes referred to as DNA fingerprinting, uses DNA as a biometric identifier, like an iris scan or fingerprint, a DNA profile can uniquely identify an individual with very high accuracy. For forensic purposes, this means that investigators must have identified and obtained DNA from a potentially matching individual. DNA phenotyping is used when investigators need to narrow the pool of individuals or identify unknown remains by learning about the person’s ancestry. When the suspected individual is identified, traditional DNA profiling can be used to prove a match, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, a series of murders were committed in Louisiana. Eyewitness statements and FBI profiling indicated the perpetrator was likely a Caucasian male and this testing indicated the ancestry of the suspect was 85% sub-Saharan African and 15% Caucasian, pointing to an African-American individual and changing the direction of the investigation. Within two months, police arrested Derrick Todd Lee, who was convicted for two of these murders. On 30 June 2015, NBC Nightly News featured a DNA phenotyping composite, also produced by Parabon, of a suspect in the 1988 murder of April Tinsley near Fort Wayne, snow’s identity and her use of the bottle were revealed only after the composite had been produced. The investigation had previously focused on a group of Hispanic males with whom Bouzigard was last seen, Snapshot analysis indicates the suspect is predominantly European, with fair skin, green or possibly blue eyes and brown or black hair. Sheriff Mancuso told the media, “This totally redirects our whole investigation and will move this case in a new direction. ”Florida police chiefs from Miami Beach, Miami, Coral Gables and Miami-Dade jointly released a Snapshot composite of the “Serial Creeper” on 10 September 2015. For more than a year, the perpetrator has been spying on and sexually terrorizing women, and police believe he is connected to at least 15 crimes, possibly as many as 40. In a Miami Beach attack on 18 August 2015, which was first reported to the public on 23 September 2015, the victim’s body was found on 23 April 1985 in a metal trash container at the construction site of the Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, MD. Police estimate the homicide occurred approximately five months before the body was discovered, investigators long believed one person committed both crimes because of their many similarities, however, recent DNA testing proved two individuals were separately involved, one in each case
7.
DNA profiling
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DNA profiling is a forensic technique used to identify individuals by characteristics of their DNA. A DNA profile is a set of DNA variations that is very likely to be different in all unrelated individuals. DNA profiling should not be confused with full genome sequencing, DNA fingerprinting has also been widely used in the study of animal and floral populations and has revolutionized the fields of zoology, botany, and agriculture. Although 99. 9% of human DNA sequences are the same in every person, enough of the DNA is different that it is possible to one individual from another. DNA profiling uses repetitive sequences that are variable, called variable number tandem repeats, in particular short tandem repeats, also known as microsatellites. VNTR loci are very similar between closely related individuals, but are so variable that unrelated individuals are extremely unlikely to have the same VNTRs. The modern process of DNA profiling was developed in 1984 by Sir Alec Jeffreys while working in the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester, developed by Professor of Genetics Sir Alec Jeffreys, the process begins with a sample of an individuals DNA. A common method of collecting a sample is the use of a buccal swab. Samples obtained from blood relatives can provide an indication of an individuals profile, a reference sample is then analyzed to create the individuals DNA profile using one of a number of techniques, discussed below. The DNA profile is then compared against another sample to determine there is a genetic match. The first methods for finding out genetics used for DNA profiling involved RFLP analysis, DNA is collected from cells, such as a blood sample, and cut into small pieces using a restriction enzyme. This generates thousands of DNA fragments of differing sizes as a consequence of variations between DNA sequences of different individuals, the fragments are then separated on the basis of size using gel electrophoresis. The separated fragments are transferred to a nitrocellulose or nylon filter. The DNA fragments within the blot are permanently fixed to the filter, radiolabeled probe molecules are then added that are complementary to sequences in the genome that contain repeat sequences. These repeat sequences tend to vary in length among different individuals and are called variable number tandem repeat sequences or VNTRs, the probe molecules hybridize to DNA fragments containing the repeat sequences and excess probe molecules are washed away. The blot is then exposed to an X-ray film, fragments of DNA that have bound to the probe molecules appear as dark bands on the film. The Southern blot technique is laborious, and requires large amounts of undegraded sample DNA, also, Karl Browns original technique looked at many minisatellite loci at the same time, increasing the observed variability, but making it hard to discern individual alleles. These early techniques have been supplanted by PCR-based assays, developed by Kary Mullis in 1983, a process was reported by which specific portions of the sample DNA can be amplified almost indefinitely
8.
Forensic entomology
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It is the application and study of insect and other arthropod biology to criminal matters. It also involves the application of the study of arthropods, including insects, arachnids, centipedes, millipedes, Forensic entomology can be divided into three subfields, urban, stored-product and medico-legal/medico-criminal entomology. Historically, there have been accounts of applications for, and experimentation with. The concept of forensic entomology dates back to at least the 13th century, however, only in the last 30 years has forensic entomology been systematically explored as a feasible source for evidence in criminal investigations. Sung Tzu was a Judicial Intendant who lived in China 1188-1251 AD, in 1247 AD Sung Tzu wrote a book entitled Washing Away of Wrongs as a handbook for coroners. In this book Sung Tzu depicts several cases in which he notes on how a person died. He explains in detail on how to examine a corpse both before and after burial and he also explains the process of how to determine a probable cause of death. The main purpose of book was to be used as a guide for other investigators so they could assess the scene of the crime effectively. In 1668, Italian physician Francesco Redi disproved the theory of spontaneous generation, the accepted theory of Redis day claimed that maggots developed spontaneously from rotting meat. In an experiment, he used samples of rotting meat that were fully exposed to the air, partially exposed to the air. Redi showed that both fully and partially exposed rotting meat developed fly maggots, whereas rotting meat that was not exposed to air did not develop maggots. This discovery completely changed the way people viewed the decomposition of organisms and prompted further investigations into insect life cycles, Dr. Louis François Etienne Bergeret was a French hospital physician, and was the first to apply forensic entomology to a case. In a case report published in 1855 he stated a general life cycle for insects, nevertheless, these assumptions led him to the first application of forensic entomology in an estimation of post-mortem interval. His report used forensic entomology as tool to prove his hypothesis on how, the first systematic study in forensic entomology was conducted in 1881 by Hermann Reinhard, a German medical doctor who played a vital role in the history of forensic entomology. He exhumed many bodies and demonstrated that the development of different types of insect species could be tied to buried bodies. Reinhard conducted his first study in east Germany, and collected many Phorid flies from this initial study, reinhards works and studies were used extensively in further forensic entomology studies. In his second book he did work on the theory of predictable waves. By counting numbers of live and dead mites that developed every 15 days and comparing this with his initial count on the infant, in this book he asserted that exposed corpses were subject to eight successional waves, whereas buried corpses were only subject to two waves
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Forensic podiatry
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In the course of an investigation, forensic podiatrists may examine footprints, footwear, or analyze and compare the gait of unknown individuals. In the early 1970s Dr. Norman Gunn DPM, a physician based in Canada was the first podiatrist to undertake case work. In the early 1990s Dr. John DiMaggio DPM began forensic podiatry casework in the US, in September 2003, an organization was formed called the American Society of Forensic Podiatry. In July 2007, with the help of ASFP members, a forensic podiatry sub-committee was established within the structure of the International Association for Identification, in 2013 a Forensic Podiatry group was started at New York College of Podiatric Medicine under the auspices of Dr. Bryan B. In addition to the group a formal class covering the aspects of Forensic Podiatry is being held at New York College of Podiatric Medicine open to their Podiatrist candidates, students exit the class with an in depth knowledge of Forensic Podiatry and other legal knowledge applicable to current cases. Also in 2013, a student forensic podiatry group was started at Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, in 2016, a Forensic Podiatry Club was started at the Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine, created by Elizabeth Ansert. In the United Kingdom the term forensic podiatry is undertaken by specialized podiatrists, all of which are regulated by the Health, from 2009 group of forensic podiatrists have been involved with the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences who have developed a competency test for podiatrists specializing in this field. Other forensic podiatrists advise the College of Podiatry - this group set up in 2012 is the Forensic Podiatry Special Advisory Group, in general terms Forensic podiatry is the application of podiatry knowledge to legal matters. Forensic podiatry casework is usually undertaken at the request of law enforcement agencies, Forensic podiatry currently has four sub-specialties, • Barefoot prints Barefoot prints are sometimes found at crime scenes, creating the potential to link the footprints with the perpetrator. This area of forensic identification has multidisciplinary potential, employing techniques such as footprint ridge detail, • Footwear Footwear can be associated with scenes of crime in a number of ways. Because criminals need to enter and leave a crime scene, there is the potential for them to evidence of their footwear. There may then be the task of linking the footwear to an individual, particularly in the case of denied ownership. Footwear can also be linked to a scene through the presence of trace evidence associated with the crime scene such as DNA or fibres. This area of work is multidisciplinary, involving contributions from a variety of forensic specialists, Forensic Gait Analysis can be used evidentially and for investigative purposes. Where a perpetrator has been recorded on CCTV or other video footage and this work can be completed by Forensic podiatrists and other experts in human function. Biometric gait identification systems are undergoing development. • Identification from Podiatry records Clinical Podiatry records can be used in the identification of deceased persons and this work would be carried out at the request of forensic pathologists, police agencies, mass disaster agencies and other professional groups working in the field. The specialist nature of work makes it the exclusive domain of the Podiatry profession
10.
Forensic toxicology
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The primary concern for forensic toxicology is not the legal outcome of the toxicological investigation or the technology utilized, but rather the obtainment and interpretation of results. A toxicological analysis can be done to various kinds of samples, determining the substance ingested is often complicated by the bodys natural processes, as it is rare for a chemical to remain in its original form once in the body. A urine sample is urine that has come from the bladder, urine is less likely to be infected with viruses such as HIV or Hepatitis B than blood samples. Many drugs have a concentration and can remain for much longer in urine than blood. Collection of urine samples can be taken in a way which does not require professionals for collection. Urine is used for analysis as it cannot give any indication of impairment due to the fact that drug presence in urine only indicates prior exposure. A blood sample of approximately 10 ml is usually sufficient to screen, hair is capable of recording medium to long-term or high dosage substance abuse. Chemicals in the bloodstream may be transferred to the hair and stored in the follicle. Head hair grows at rate of approximately 1 to 1.5 cm a month, testing for drugs in hair is not standard throughout the population. The darker and coarser the hair the more drug that will be found in the hair, if two people consumed the same amount of drugs, the person with the darker and coarser hair will have more drug in their hair than the lighter haired person when tested. This raises issues of racial bias in substance tests with hair samples. Other bodily fluids and organs may provide samples, particularly samples collected during an autopsy, a common autopsy sample is the gastric contents of the deceased, which can be useful for detecting undigested pills or liquids that were ingested prior to death. In highly decomposed bodies, traditional samples may no longer be available, the vitreous humour from the eye may be used, as the fibrous layer of the eyeball and the eye socket of the skull protects the sample from trauma and adulteration. Other common organs used for toxicology are the brain, liver, using it as a guide to the time of death, however, is theoretically unsound and presents many practical difficulties, although it may have limited applicability in some exceptional instances. Generally, using stomach contents as a guide to time of death involves a degree of imprecision and is thus liable to mislead the investigator. Characteristic cell types from plants can be used to identify a victims last meal. However, her stomach contents did not match the limited menu of the restaurant, the investigation led to the apprehension of a man whom the victim knew, and with whom she had shared her actual final meal. Time since death can be approximated by the state of digestion of the stomach contents, all these factors affect the rate at which food passes through the digestive tract
11.
Social science
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Social science is a major category of academic disciplines, concerned with society and the relationships among individuals within a society. It in turn has many branches, each of which is considered a social science, the social sciences include economics, political science, human geography, demography, psychology, sociology, anthropology, archaeology, jurisprudence, history, and linguistics. The term is sometimes used to refer specifically to the field of sociology. A more detailed list of sub-disciplines within the sciences can be found at Outline of social science. Positivist social scientists use methods resembling those of the sciences as tools for understanding society. In modern academic practice, researchers are often eclectic, using multiple methodologies, the term social research has also acquired a degree of autonomy as practitioners from various disciplines share in its aims and methods. Social sciences came forth from the philosophy of the time and were influenced by the Age of Revolutions, such as the Industrial Revolution. The social sciences developed from the sciences, or the systematic knowledge-bases or prescriptive practices, the beginnings of the social sciences in the 18th century are reflected in the grand encyclopedia of Diderot, with articles from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and other pioneers. The growth of the sciences is also reflected in other specialized encyclopedias. The modern period saw social science first used as a distinct conceptual field, Social science was influenced by positivism, focusing on knowledge based on actual positive sense experience and avoiding the negative, metaphysical speculation was avoided. Auguste Comte used the term science sociale to describe the field, taken from the ideas of Charles Fourier, following this period, there were five paths of development that sprang forth in the social sciences, influenced by Comte on other fields. One route that was taken was the rise of social research, large statistical surveys were undertaken in various parts of the United States and Europe. Another route undertaken was initiated by Émile Durkheim, studying social facts, a third means developed, arising from the methodological dichotomy present, in which social phenomena were identified with and understood, this was championed by figures such as Max Weber. The fourth route taken, based in economics, was developed and furthered economic knowledge as a hard science, the last path was the correlation of knowledge and social values, the antipositivism and verstehen sociology of Max Weber firmly demanded this distinction. In this route, theory and prescription were non-overlapping formal discussions of a subject, around the start of the 20th century, Enlightenment philosophy was challenged in various quarters. The development of social science subfields became very quantitative in methodology, examples of boundary blurring include emerging disciplines like social research of medicine, sociobiology, neuropsychology, bioeconomics and the history and sociology of science. Increasingly, quantitative research and qualitative methods are being integrated in the study of action and its implications. In the first half of the 20th century, statistics became a discipline of applied mathematics
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Forensic psychiatry
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Forensic psychiatry is a sub-speciality of psychiatry and is related to criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry, Forensic psychiatrists work with courts in evaluating an individuals competency to stand trial, defences based on mental disorders, and sentencing recommendations. There are two areas of criminal evaluations in forensic psychiatry. These are Competency to Stand trial and Mental State at the Time of the Offence and this is the competency evaluation to determine that a defendant has the mental capacity to understand the charges and assist his attorney. In English and Welsh law, a concept is that of fitness to plead. Forensic psychiatrists are called to be expert witnesses in both criminal and civil proceedings. Expert witnesses give their opinion about a specific issue, often the psychiatrist will have prepared a detailed report before testifying. The primary duty of the witness is to provide an independent opinion to the court. An expert is allowed to testify in court with respect to matters of opinion only when the matters in question are not ordinarily understandable to the finders of fact be they judge or jury. This gives the court an opinion, and only an opinion, durham rule, Excuses a defendant whose conduct is the product of mental disorder. ALI test, Excuses a defendant who, because of a disease or defect. Not guilty by reason of insanity is one potential outcome in this type of trial and it is important to note that insanity is a legal and not a medical term. Often there will be a psychiatrist testifying for both the defense and the prosecution, Forensic psychiatrists are also involved in the care of prisoners, both those in jails and those in prisons, and in the care of the mentally ill who have committed criminal acts. These teams have dual responsibilities, to both the welfare of their clients and the safety of the public. The aim is not so much to predict as to prevent violence, risk assessment and management is a growth area in the forensic field, with much Canadian academic work being done in Ontario and British Columbia. The aim of this is to move away from prediction to prevention, by identifying and this may entail monitoring, treatment, rehabilitation, supervision, and victim safety planning and depends on the availability of funding and legal powers. These schemes may be based on published assessments such as the HCR-20, research in this area has been extended to the use of Bayesian networks, which are probabilistic graphical models typically designed to model cause and effect or dependent relationships. In 2015, two BN models were published with application to psychiatry for violence risk assessment and risk management purposes
13.
Forensic psychology
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Forensic psychology is the intersection between psychology and the justice system. Further, in order to be a witness, the forensic psychologist must understand the philosophy, rules. Primarily, they must understand the adversarial system, there are also rules about hearsay evidence and most importantly, the exclusionary rule. Lack of a grasp of these procedures will result in the forensic psychologist losing credibility in the courtroom. A forensic psychologist can be trained in clinical, social, organizational, generally, a forensic psychologist is designated as an expert in a specific field of study. The number of areas of expertise in which a forensic psychologist qualifies as an expert increases with experience, Forensic neuropsychologists are generally asked to appear as expert witnesses in court to discuss cases that involve issues with the brain or brain damage. They may also deal with issues of whether a person is competent to stand trial. Questions asked by the court of a forensic psychologist are generally not questions regarding psychology but are legal questions, for example, a forensic psychologist is frequently appointed by the court to assess a defendants competence to stand trial. The court also appoints a forensic psychologist to assess the state of mind of the defendant at the time of the offense. This is referred to as an evaluation of the defendants sanity or insanity at the time of the offense and these are not primarily psychological questions but rather legal ones. Thus, a forensic psychologist must be able to translate psychological information into a legal framework, Forensic psychologists may work with any party and in criminal or family law. In the United States, they may help with jury selection. Forensic psychologists may hold a Ph. D. or Psy. D. in clinical psychology, social psychology, organizational psychology, ideally, the psychologist would have some years of postdoctoral experience in forensic psychology and have training and supervision in forensic psychology. However, practices vary from state to state and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, in the United States legal system, the ultimate authority is the judge and the judge may select whomever he or she sees fit to qualify as an expert. In other countries, training and practitioner requirements vary, in the United Kingdom, for example, a person must obtain the Graduate Basis for Registration with the British Psychological Society—normally through an undergraduate degree. This would be followed by Stages 1 and 2 of the Diploma in Forensic Psychology, assessment occurs via examination, research, supervised practice, and the submission of a portfolio showing expertise across a range of criminological and legal applications of psychology. There are numerous positions and employment possibilities for forensic psychologists. They can be practiced at several different employment settings, academic forensic psychologists engage in teaching, researching, training, and supervision of students, and other education-related activities
14.
Forensic social work
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Forensic social work is the application of social work to questions and issues relating to law and legal systems. This specialty of the social work profession goes far beyond clinics and psychiatric hospitals for criminal defendants being evaluated and treated on issues of competency, a broader definition includes social work practice which in any way is related to legal issues and litigation, both criminal and civil. Forensic social worker may also be involved in policy or legislative development intended to improve social justice, the first appointed Psychiatric Social Worker in London was in 1936. The British Association of Psychiatric Social Workers was inaugurated only in 1930, most of the expertise in England and Wales has been concentrated within the Specialist Hospitals. At Broadmoor Hospital the first qualified mental health worker was not employed until 1969. Forensic social work has been done since at least 1899 coming out in part, of the settlement house movement, the social worker bridges the gap between the two worlds of hospital and community. In the U. K. the forensic social worker has several duties, including applications for hospital admission, the social worker fulfills the role of the Social Supervisor to specify suitable accommodations for discharged patients, and to assess risk. They provide specialist social care reports to the Mental Health First Tier Tribunal, Psychiatric social work Aarvold Report 1973. Home Office and Department of Health and Social Security “Report of the Review of Procedures for the Discharge, barker, Robert L. and Douglas M. Branson. Forensic Social Work, Legal Aspects of Professional Practice, Barnes M. Bowl R. & Fisher M.1990 “Sectioned, Social Services and the 1983 Mental Health Act”. Marian Barnes, Ric Bowl, Mike Fisher, sectioned, social services and the 1983 Mental Health Act. BASW2002 Code of Ethics Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work 1995 Forensic Social Worker, competence and Workforce Bluglass R.1992 “The Special Hospitals – should be closed” British Medical Journal Volume 305 p323-324. &Cope R.1995 “Practical Forensic Psychiatry” R. C. P, cochrane R.1983 “The Social Creation of Mental Illness”. The social creation of mental illness, Crichton J.1995 “ Psychiatric Patient Violence, Risk and Response” Duckworth edited by John Crichton. Psychiatric patient violence, risk & response, & Storey L.1999 “Nursing in Secure Environments”. London UKCC Dent S. Department of Health 1999 Local Authority Circular LAC23 Department of Health, Department of Health 2000 “After Care Under the Mental Health Act, 1983”. Gostin K.1983 “A Practical Guide to Mental Health Law”, larry Gostin, foreword by Lady Bingley, edited by Janet Manning. A practical guide to mental health law, Gostin K.1985 “Secure Provision” Tavistock, London
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Forensic accounting
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Forensic accounting, forensic accountancy or financial forensics is the specialty practice area of accounting that describes engagements that result from actual or anticipated disputes or litigation. The work performed and reports issued will often provide answers to the how, where, what, why, Forensic means suitable for use in a court of law, and it is to that standard and potential outcome that forensic accountants generally have to work. Forensic accountants, also referred to as forensic auditors or investigative auditors, all of the larger accounting firms, as well as many medium-sized and boutique firms and various police and government agencies have specialist forensic accounting departments. Financial forensic engagements may fall into several categories, Forensic accountants often assist in professional negligence claims where they are assessing and commenting on the work of other professionals. Forensic accountants are also engaged in marital and family law of analyzing lifestyle for spousal support purposes, determining income available for child support, engagements relating to criminal matters typically arise in the aftermath of fraud. They frequently involve the assessment of accounting systems and accounts presentation—in essence assessing if the numbers reflect reality, some forensic accountants specialize in forensic analytics which is the procurement and analysis of electronic data to reconstruct, detect, or otherwise support a claim of financial fraud. The main steps in forensic analytics are data collection, data preparation, data analysis, for example, forensic analytics may be used to review an employees purchasing card activity to assess whether any of the purchases were diverted or divertible for personal use. In the United Kingdom, relevant legislation is contained in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, in India there is a separate breed of forensic accountants called Certified Forensic Accounting Professionals. Forensic accountants may be involved in litigation support and investigative accounting. The American Board of Forensic Accounting was established in 1993, for more information please visit http, //abfa. us/ For effective learning, professionals will need expert training in the practices of forensic accounting. The American Board of Forensic Accounting offers the Forensic Accounting Review, http, //abfa. us/far/ The CRFAC is a valuable credential and covers the broad base of forensic accounting knowledge. Http, //abfa. us/resources/ The American Board of Forensic Accounting offers many programs, FACB plays several roles and one the roles is standardization of the examination and certification of forensic auditors globally. All certification is renewed on an annual basis, apart from practitioners certification, FACB is an oversight body which accredits prospective member organization before admission as part of quality checks. Persons with the FACB credential can practice as forensic auditors on a global scale, large accounting firms often have a forensic accounting department. Forensic accounting and fraud investigation methodologies are different than internal auditing, thus forensic accounting services and practice should be handled by forensic accounting experts, not by internal auditing experts. That is necessary if the fraud comes to trial, the jury will be made up of ordinary laypersons. On the other hand, internal auditors move on checklists that may not surface the evidence that the jury or regulatory bodies look for, the fieldwork may carry out legal risks if internal auditing checklists are employed instead asking to a forensic accountant and may result serious consultant malpractice risks
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Body identification
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Body identification is a subfield of forensic science wherein investigators need to identify a body. Forensic purposes are served by rigorous scientific forensic techniques. If a body is not badly decomposed or damaged, two persons who knew the deceased well should visually confirm the identity, of course, any formal investigation should reality check additional forensic and scientific evidence to reinforce or question the supposed identity of the victim. Reliable identification becomes increasingly difficult as time passes, in many cases, people who have died while serving in military branches remain unidentified due to how long their remains went undiscovered or due to various other causes. If unidentified bodies of people are returned to their country. In the United States, servicemen from each branch of the military supervise the delivery, while under examination, the unidentified person is placed in a white sheet until they are identified. After the persons body is identified, a funeral and burial place in accompaniment of members of the respective branch that the person served. Unidentified decedent Dump job Identification Naming the Dead, The final stages of DVI, archived from the original on 2011-03-02. The Police Association Journal, May 2009, pp. 16–17, retrieved 28 February 2011 Disaster Victim Identification INTERPOL Forensic Odontology
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Forensic chemistry
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Forensic chemistry is the application of chemistry and its subfield, forensic toxicology, in a legal setting. A forensic chemist can assist in the identification of materials found at a crime scene. Specialists in this field have an array of methods and instruments to help identify unknown substances. These include high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, atomic spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The range of different methods is important due to the nature of some instruments. Forensic chemists prefer using nondestructive methods first, to preserve evidence, along with other forensic specialists, forensic chemists commonly testify in court as expert witnesses regarding their findings. Forensic chemists follow a set of standards that have proposed by various agencies and governing bodies. Forensic chemists analysis can provide leads for investigators, and they can confirm or refute their suspicions, the identification of the various substances found at the scene can tell investigators what to look for during their search. During fire investigations, forensic chemists can determine if an accelerant such as gasoline or kerosene was used, if so, forensic chemists can also narrow down the suspect list to people who would have access to the substance used in a crime. For example, in investigations, the identification of RDX or C-4 would indicate a military connection as those substances are military grade explosives. On the other hand, the identification of TNT would create a wider suspect list, during poisoning investigations, the detection of specific poisons can give detectives an idea of what to look for when they are interviewing potential suspects. For example, an investigation that involves ricin would tell investigators to look for ricins precursors, forensic chemists also help to confirm or refute investigators suspicions in drug or alcohol cases. In suspected overdose cases, the quantity of the found in the persons system can confirm or rule out overdose as the cause of death. Throughout history, a variety of poisons have been used to murder, including arsenic, nightshade, hemlock, strychnine. Until the early 19th century, there were no methods to determine if a particular chemical was present. In 1836, one of the first major contributions to chemistry was introduced by British chemist James Marsh. He created the Marsh test for detection, which was subsequently used successfully in a murder trial. It was also during this time that forensic toxicology began to be recognized as a distinct field, mathieu Orfila, the father of toxicology, made great advancements to the field during the early 19th century
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Forensic facial reconstruction
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It is easily the most subjective—as well as one of the most controversial—techniques in the field of forensic anthropology. Despite this controversy, facial reconstruction has proved successful enough that research. In addition to remains involved in investigations, facial reconstructions are created for remains believed to be of historical value and for remains of prehistoric hominids. In the U. S. Currently, reconstructions are only produced to aid the process of identification in conjunction with verified methods. There are two types of identification in forensic anthropology, circumstantial and positive, circumstantial identification is established when an individual fits the biological profile of a set of skeletal remains. This type of identification does not prove or verify identity because any number of individuals may fit the same biological description. Positive identification, one of the foremost goals of forensic science, is established when a set of biological characteristics of an individual are matched with a set of skeletal remains. This type of identification requires the skeletal remains to correspond with medical or dental records, unique ante mortem wounds or pathologies, DNA analysis, Facial approximations often provide the stimuli that eventually lead to the positive identification of remains. Two-dimensional facial reconstructions are based on ante mortem photographs, and the skull, occasionally skull radiographs are used but this is not ideal since many cranial structures are not visible or at the correct scale. This method usually requires the collaboration of an artist and a forensic anthropologist, a commonly used method of 2D facial reconstruction was pioneered by Karen T. Taylor of Austin, Texas during the 1980s. Taylors method involves adhering tissue depth markers on a skull at various anthropological landmarks. Life-size or one-to-one frontal and lateral photographic prints are used as a foundation for facial drawings done on transparent vellum. Recently developed, the F. A. C. E. and C. A. R. E. S, computer software programs quickly produce two-dimensional facial approximations that can be edited and manipulated with relative ease. These programs may help speed the process and allow subtle variations to be applied to the drawing. Three-dimensional facial reconstructions are either, 1) sculptures created with modeling clay and other materials or 2) high-resolution, like two-dimensional reconstructions, three-dimensional reconstructions usually require both an artist and a forensic anthropologist. These computer approximations are usually most effective in victim identification because they do not appear too artificial, superimposition is a technique that is sometimes included among the methods of forensic facial reconstruction. It is not always included as a technique because investigators must already have some kind of knowledge about the identity of the remains with which they are dealing. Forensic superimpositions are created by superimposing a photograph of a suspected of belonging to the unidentified skeletal remains over an X-ray of the unidentified skull
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Fingerprint
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A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of fingerprints from a scene is an important method of forensic science. Fingerprints are easily deposited on surfaces by the natural secretions of sweat from the eccrine glands that are present in epidermal ridges. These are sometimes referred to as Chanced Impressions, in a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human or other primate hand. A print from the sole of the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges, deliberate impressions of fingerprints may be formed by ink or other substances transferred from the peaks of friction ridges on the skin to a relatively smooth surface such as a fingerprint card. Fingerprint records normally contain impressions from the pad on the last joint of fingers and thumbs, human fingerprints are detailed, nearly unique, difficult to alter, and durable over the life of an individual, making them suitable as long-term markers of human identity. Fingerprint analysis, in use since the early 20th century, has led to many crimes being solved and this means that many criminals consider gloves essential. In 2015, the identification of sex by use of a fingerprint test has been reported. A friction ridge is a portion of the epidermis on the digits. These are sometimes known as epidermal ridges which are caused by the interface between the dermal papillae of the dermis and the interpapillary pegs of the epidermis. These ridges may also assist in gripping surfaces and may improve surface contact in wet conditions. Before computerisation, manual filing systems were used in large fingerprint repositories, manual classification systems were based on the general ridge patterns of several or all fingers. This allowed the filing and retrieval of paper records in large collections based on friction ridge patterns alone, the most popular systems used the pattern class of each finger to form a key to assist lookup in a filing system. Classification systems include the Roscher system, the Juan Vucetich system, in the Henry system of classification, there are three basic fingerprint patterns, loop, whorl, and arch, which constitute 60–65%, 30–35%, and 5% of all fingerprints respectively. Ulnar loops start on the pinky-side of the finger, the closer to the ulna. Radial loops start on the thumb-side of the finger, the closer to the radius. Whorls may also have sub-group classifications including plain whorls, accidental whorls, double loop whorls, peacocks eye, composite, other common fingerprint patterns include the tented arch, the plain arch, and the central pocket loop. The system used by most experts, although complex, is similar to the Henry System of Classification
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Forensic firearm examination
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Forensic firearm examination is the forensic process of examining the characteristics of firearms as well as any cartridges or bullets left behind at a crime scene. Specialists in this field are tasked with linking bullets and cartridges to weapons and weapons to individuals, obliterated serial numbers can be raised and recorded in an attempt to find the registered owner of the weapon. Examiners can also look for fingerprints on the weapon and cartridges, known exemplars taken from a seized weapon can be directly compared to samples recovered from the scene using a comparison microscope. Striation images can also be uploaded to any existing national databases, furthermore, these markings can be compared to other images in an attempt to link one weapon to multiple crime scenes. Like all forensic specialties, forensic firearm examiners are subject to being called to testify in court as expert witnesses, the ability to compare ammunition is a direct result of the invention of rifling around the turn of the 16th century. By forcing the bullet to spin as it travels down the barrel of the weapon the bullets accuracy greatly increases, at the same time, the rifling leaves marks on the bullet that are indicative of that particular barrel. Prior to mass production of firearms, each barrel and bullet mold was made by gunsmiths making them unique. Further evidence that the maker was the perpetrator was found in his home. As manufacturing and automation replaced hand tools, the ability to compare bullets became impossible due to the standardization of molds within a specific company, however, experts in the field postulated that there were microscopic differences on each barrel left during the manufacturing process. Also, each bullet fired from a barrel would be printed with the same marks. One of the first uses of this knowledge was in 1915 to exonerate Charles Stielow of the murder of his neighbors. Stielow was sentenced to death and appealed to Charles S. Whitman, the Governor of New York, Whitman halted the execution until an inquiry could be conducted and after further examination it was shown that Stielows firearm could not have fired the bullets recovered from the victims. The invention of the microscope by Calvin Goddard and Phillip O. Gravelle in 1925 modernized the forensic examination of firearms. Simultaneous comparison of two different objects at the time allowed to closely examine striations for matches and therefore make a more definitive statement as to whether or not they matched. One of the first true tests of new technology was in the aftermath of the Saint Valentines Day Massacre in 1929. During the Prohibition Era, competing gang members were fighting over bootlegging operations within the city of Chicago, members of the Chicago Outfit and the Egans Rats led by Al Capone attempted to remove all competition from Chicago by eliminating the North Side Gang leader Bugs Moran. The massacre missed Moran, who was not present, but killed seven members of the North Side Gang, the murderers attempted to cover up their crime by posing as police officers, even dressing in police uniforms. Witnesses saw two officers leaving the scene, which implicated the Chicago police department as the perpetrators of the massacre, high levels of police corruption during that time period made it seem likely that the police department committed the killings
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Forensic footwear evidence
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Forensic footwear evidence can be used in legal proceedings to help prove that a shoe was at a crime scene. Footwear evidence is often the most abundant form of evidence at a crime scene, initially investigators will look to identify the make and model of the shoe or trainer which made an impression. This can be done visually or by comparison with evidence in a database, information about the footwear can be gained from the analysis of wear patterns which are dependent on angle of footfall and weight distribution. Detailed examination of footwear impressions can help to link a piece of footwear to a footwear imprint as each shoe will have unique characteristics. Footwear evidence can come in at least three forms, footwear outsole impressions, footwear impressions and footwear trace evidence. Footwear outsole impressions are impressions left on an object that was caused by contact with a piece of footwear, there can also be latent impressions not easily visible to the naked eye, on many different surfaces such as floor tiles, concrete or even carpet. Detection may require the use of additional specialized light sources such as portable ultraviolet lighting, recovery typically includes photography as well as lifting with gel or electrostatic dust lifters. Imprints of a persons foot can be left on the insoles inside footwear, the size and arrangement of foot and toe imprints can be used to determine whether a person has worn a piece of footwear. The analysis and comparisons of foot imprints is part of the discipline of forensic podiatry, footwear trace evidence is trace evidence that is recovered from footwear. Types of trace evidence that could be recovered include skin, glass fragments, body hair, fibers from clothing or carpets, soil particles, dust, the study of this trace evidence could be used to link a piece of footwear to a location or owner. DNA can be one of the factors in forensic footwear evidence. Using electrostatic lifting devices to lift dusty impressions, using physical or chemical enhancement methods to develop or enhance faint impressions. Footwear evidence occurs most often as either footwear impressions left in a surface, such as mud or as dust deposits. At violent crimescenes footmarks can be left as a result of a standing in blood. Footwear impressions can be lifted from surfaces with tools such as adhesive lifters, evidence left via impressions can generally be recovered utilizing a plaster cast. Initially the impression is isolated by framing the area with a solid boundary, following this a plaster mix can be gently poured inside the frame, it is generally considered not best practice to pour directly onto the impression. In some cases where the surface is not ideal for casting prior techniques can be utilised to gain a better cast of the impression, sand can often be fixed in place by applying an aerosol resin or glue although hair spray is often used. Wet mud impressions can be dried using a combination of pipetting water from the surface and applying hot air, footwear evidence can be recovered with use of 3D scanners
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Forensic arts
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Forensic art is any art used in law enforcement or legal proceedings. Not every forensic artist uses all of these skills, the term forensic comes from the Roman forum where law and politics were debated. From this beginning, the word now means anything pertaining to law or law enforcement or debate. The skill of facial approximation is closely associated and related to anthropology in that an artist specializes in the reconstruction of the remains of a human body. Generally this discipline focuses on the face for identification purposes. The forensic artist can create an approximation in a number of ways to include 2D, 3D. Forensic artists generally can add greater character and make their subjects come back to life, most forensic artists do the job as a collateral duty to their regular job in law enforcement, such as police officer, crime scene tech, etc. They do the work on salary, and normally are not paid extra for it, there are extremely few full-time forensic artist jobs to be had. Most full-time artists work in cities, or in state or federal agencies. Freelancing in forensic art is difficult to build as a career, as ties to law enforcement are a necessary part of the job. A well known Forensic Artist is Angela Montenegro from the television series Bones
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Glove prints
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Glove prints, also sometimes described as gloveprints or glove marks, are latent, fingerprint-like impressions that are transferred to a surface or object by an individual who is wearing gloves. Many criminals often wear gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints, which makes the crime investigation more difficult, although the gloves act as a protective covering for the wearers prints, the gloves themselves can leave prints that are just as unique as human fingerprints, thus betraying the wearer. After collecting glove prints, law enforcement can match them to gloves that they have collected as evidence as well as glove prints retrieved from other crime scenes. Since the advent of fingerprint detection, many criminals have resorted to the wearing of gloves during the commission of their crimes in order to avoid leaving their fingerprints as evidence, in earlier decades, investigators would dust for fingerprints only to find smears and smudges caused by gloves. Often in earlier decades these smudges were ignored because very little of their detail was retrievable. With the advent of latent fingerprint detection in the late 20th century, investigators started to collect, analyze, and record prints left at crime scenes that were created by the wearing of gloves. Glove prints can be as simple as marks caused by seams or folds in fabric of a glove, when gloves are collected as evidence their prints can be taken and compared to glove prints that were taken at crime scenes or from evidence. Also, many criminals would discard their gloves at crime scenes or hide them nearby. Today, latent fingerprints, as well as DNA and incriminating bacteria can also be recovered from the inside of these discarded gloves, in many jurisdictions the act of wearing gloves itself while committing a crime can be prosecuted as an inchoate offense. In 1971, the Metropolitan Police Service of London, England claims the first convictions based on glove print-evidence, glove-prints were found on a broken window and were later matched to the gloves of a suspect. Starting in early 2009, law enforcement in Derbyshire, East Midlands, the Glove Mark Working Group in Derbyshire includes the Derbyshire Police Department, the Home Office Scientific Development Branch, and Nottingham Trent University. Forensic scientists have even had success matching partial glove prints by using these databases, offenders may prefer a specific type of glove depending on its perceived inherent benefits. Latex, nitrile, plastic, rubber, or vinyl gloves are worn because they are thin, leather gloves possess pores that provides the wearer with an enhanced gripping ability. Leather gloves that are thin and tight-fitting provide both enhanced gripping and dexterity to the wearer, thin, latex, rubber, plastic, vinyl or nitrile gloves, These gloves are worn by criminals because of their tight, thin fit that allows the hands to remain dexterous. Because of the thinness of these gloves, fingerprints may pass through the material, leather gloves, These gloves are worn by criminals because the tactile properties of the leather allow for good grip and dexterity. These properties are the result of the present on the surface of the glove. The grain makes the surface of the unique to each glove. Over time, the pores and grain of leather gloves will pick up dirt, the dirt and grease can in return help to create prints on surfaces
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Palm print
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A palm print refers to an image acquired of the palm region of the hand. It can be either an image or offline image where the image is taken with ink. The palm itself consists of lines, wrinkles, and epidermal ridges. It differs to a fingerprint in that it contains other information such as texture, indents. Palm prints can be used for criminal, forensic, or commercial applications, media related to Palm prints at Wikimedia Commons
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Questioned document examination
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Questioned document examination is a term for a forensic science discipline pertaining to documents that are potentially disputed in a court of law. Its primary purpose is to provide evidence about a suspicious or questionable document using scientific processes, evidence might include alterations, the chain of possession, damage to the document, forgery, origin, authenticity, or other questions that come up when a document is challenged in court. Many QD examinations involve a comparison of the document, or components of the document. The most common type of examination involves handwriting wherein the examiner tries to address concerns about potential authorship. A document examiner is often asked to determine if a questioned item originated from the source as the known item. Likewise a forensic document examiner is not to be confused with a graphologist, many FDEs receive extensive training in all of the aspects of the discipline. As a result, they are competent to address a variety of questions about document evidence. However, this broad specialization approach has not been universally adopted, in some locales, a clear distinction is made between the terms forensic document examiner and a forensic handwriting expert/examiner. In such cases, the term refers to examiners who focus on non-handwriting examination types while the latter refers to those trained exclusively to do handwriting examinations. Even in places where the general meaning is common, such as North America or Australia. As the terminology varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, it is important to clarify the meaning of the used by any individual professing to be a forensic document examiner. A forensic document examiner is intimately linked to the system as a forensic scientist. Forensic science is the application of science to address issues under consideration in the legal system, FDEs examine items that form part of a case that may or may not come before a court of law. Common criminal charges involved in a document examination case fall into the white-collar crime category and these include identity theft, forgery, counterfeiting, fraud, or uttering a forged document. Questioned documents are important in other contexts simply because documents are used in so many contexts. For example, a person may commit murder and forge a suicide note and this is an example where a document is produced directly as a fundamental part of a crime. More often a questioned document is simply the by-product of normal business or personal activities. The American Society for Testing and Materials, International publishes standards for many methods, E30.02 was the ASTM subcomittee for Questioned Documents
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Vein matching
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Vein matching, also called vascular technology, is a technique of biometric identification through the analysis of the patterns of blood vessels visible from the surface of the skin. However, it can be used in conjunction with existing data in support of a conclusion. While other types of biometric scanners are more popular for security systems, fingerprint scanners are more frequently used, but Naito says they generally do not provide enough data points for critical verification decisions. Since fingerprint scanners require direct contact of the finger with the scanner, Vascular scanners do not require contact with the scanner, and since the information they read is on the inside of the body, skin conditions do not affect the accuracy of the reading. Vascular scanners also work with extreme speed, scanning in less than a second, as they scan, they capture the unique pattern veins take as they branch through the hand. Compared to the Retinal Scanner, which is more accurate than the vascular scanner, joe Rice, an automation controls engineer at Kodaks Annesley Factory, invented vein pattern recognition in the early 1980s in response to his bank cards and identity being stolen. The world was wedded to fingerprints and Iris patterns and Governments wanted open view biometrics for surveillance purposes, not a hidden, in the late 1990s BTG said they were dropping vein patterns through no commercial interest. This view was countered by a speaker from IBG who said there was insufficient information content in vein patterns for them to be used as a viable biometric. In 2002 Hitachi and Fujitsu launched vein biometric products and veins have turned out to be one of the most consistent, discriminatory, the data patterns are processed, compressed, and digitized for future biometric authentication of the subject. Finger scanning devices have been deployed for use in Japanese financial institutions, kiosks, mantra Softech marketed a device in India that scans vein patterns in palms for attendance recording. Fujitsu developed a version that does not require physical contact with the vein scanner for improved hygiene in the use of electronic point of sale devices. According to a 31, 000-word investigative report published in January 2011 by Georgetown University faculty and students, the FBI and the CIA used the matching technique on Mohammed in 2004 and again in 2007. Officials were concerned that his confession, which had obtained through torture, would not hold up in court. Some US hospitals, such as NYU Langone Medical Center, use a vein matching system called Imprivata PatientSecure, additional benefits include identifying unconscious or uncommunicative patients, and saving time and paperwork. Dr. Bernard A. Birnbaum, chief of operations at Langone
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Digital forensics
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Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science encompassing the recovery and investigation of material found in digital devices, often in relation to computer crime. The term digital forensics was used as a synonym for computer forensics but has expanded to cover investigation of all devices capable of storing digital data. Digital forensics investigations have a variety of applications, the most common is to support or refute a hypothesis before criminal or civil courts. Forensics may also feature in the sector, such as during internal corporate investigations or intrusion investigation. The typical forensic process encompasses the seizure, forensic imaging and analysis of digital media, investigations are much broader in scope than other areas of forensic analysis often involving complex time-lines or hypotheses. Prior to the 1980s crimes involving computers were dealt with using existing laws, the first computer crimes were recognized in the 1978 Florida Computer Crimes Act, which included legislation against the unauthorized modification or deletion of data on a computer system. Over the next few years the range of crimes being committed increased. It was not until the 1980s that federal laws began to incorporate computer offences, canada was the first country to pass legislation in 1983. This was followed by the US Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in 1986, Australian amendments to their crimes acts in 1989 and the British Computer Misuse Act in 1990. For example, in 1984 the FBI launched a Computer Analysis and Response Team, as well as being law enforcement professionals, many of the early members of these groups were also computer hobbyists and became responsible for the fields initial research and direction. One of the first practical examples of digital forensics was Cliff Stolls pursuit of hacker Markus Hess in 1986, stoll, whose investigation made use of computer and network forensic techniques, was not a specialized examiner. Many of the earliest forensic examinations followed the same profile, throughout the 1990s there was high demand for these new, and basic, investigative resources. The strain on central units lead to the creation of regional, during this period the science of digital forensics grew from the ad-hoc tools and techniques developed by these hobbyist practitioners. This is in contrast to other forensics disciplines which developed from work by the scientific community and it was not until 1992 that the term computer forensics was used in academic literature, a paper by Collier and Spaul attempted to justify this new discipline to the forensic science world. This swift development resulted in a lack of standardization and training, since 2000, in response to the need for standardization, various bodies and agencies have published guidelines for digital forensics. The Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence produced a 2002 paper, Best practices for Computer Forensics, the treaty has been signed by 43 nations and ratified by 16. The issue of training also received attention, commercial companies began to offer certification programs and digital forensic analysis was included as a topic at the UK specialist investigator training facility, Centrex. Despite this, digital analysis of phones has lagged behind traditional computer media, focus has also shifted onto internet crime, particularly the risk of cyber warfare and cyberterrorism
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Computer forensics
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Computer forensics is a branch of digital forensic science pertaining to evidence found in computers and digital storage media. Although it is most often associated with the investigation of a variety of computer crime. The discipline involves similar techniques and principles to data recovery, Evidence from computer forensics investigations is usually subjected to the same guidelines and practices of other digital evidence. It has been used in a number of cases and is becoming widely accepted as reliable within U. S. In the early 1980s personal computers became more accessible to consumers, at the same time, several new computer crimes were recognized. The discipline of computer forensics emerged during this time as a method to recover, since then computer crime and computer related crime has grown, and has jumped 67% between 2002 and 2003. Today it is used to investigate a variety of crime, including child pornography, fraud, espionage, cyberstalking, murder. The scope of an analysis can vary from simple information retrieval to reconstructing a series of events. In a 2002 book Computer Forensics authors Kruse and Heiser define computer forensics as involving the preservation, identification, extraction, documentation and interpretation of computer data. They go on to describe the discipline as more of an art than a science, indicating that forensic methodology is backed by flexibility and extensive domain knowledge. However, while several methods can be used to evidence from a given computer the strategies used by law enforcement are fairly rigid. In court, computer forensic evidence is subject to the requirements for digital evidence. This requires that information be authentic, reliably obtained, and admissible, different countries have specific guidelines and practices for evidence recovery. In the United Kingdom, examiners often follow Association of Chief Police Officers guidelines that help ensure the authenticity and integrity of evidence, while voluntary, the guidelines are widely accepted in British courts. Towards the end of period, Rader sent letters to the police on a floppy disk. Metadata within the documents implicated an author named Dennis at Christ Lutheran Church, joseph E. Duncan III, A spreadsheet recovered from Duncans computer contained evidence that showed him planning his crimes. Prosecutors used this to show premeditation and secure the death penalty, sharon Lopatka, Hundreds of emails on Lopatkas computer lead investigators to her killer, Robert Glass. Corcoran Group, This case confirmed parties duties to preserve digital evidence when litigation has commenced or is reasonably anticipated, hard drives were analyzed by a computer forensics expert who could not find relevant emails the Defendants should have had
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Forensic data analysis
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Forensic Data Analysis is a branch of Digital forensics. It examines structured data with regard to incidents of financial crime, the aim is to discover and analyse patterns of fraudulent activities. Data from application systems or from their underlying databases is referred to as structured data, unstructured data in contrast is taken from communication and office applications or from mobile devices. This data has no overarching structure and analysis thereof means applying keywords or mapping communication patterns, Analysis of unstructered data is usually referred to as Computer forensics. The analysis of large volumes of data is performed in a separate database system run by the analysis team. Live systems are usually not dimensioned to run extensive individual analysis without affecting the regular users, on the other hand, it is methodically preferable to analyze data copies on separate systems and protect the analysis teams against the accusation of altering original data. Due to the nature of the data, the analysis focuses more often on the content of data than on the database it is contained in, if the database itself is of interest then Database forensics are applied. After an initial analysis phase using methods of data analysis the following phase is usually highly iterative. Starting with a hypothesis on how the perpetrator might have created an advantage the data is analyzed for supporting evidence. Following that the hypothesis is refined or discarded, the combination of different databases, in particular data from different systems or sources is highly effective. These data sources are either unknown to the perpetrator or he/she can not manipulate them afterwards, Data Visualization is often used to display the results. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-50313-847-0, christian Hlavica, Uwe Klapproth, Frank Hülsberg et al, Tax Fraud & Forensic Accounting. Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-83491-429-3
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Database forensics
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Database forensics is a branch of digital forensic science relating to the forensic study of databases and their related metadata. The discipline is similar to computer forensics, following the normal process and applying investigative techniques to database contents. Cached information may also exist in a servers RAM requiring live analysis techniques, alternatively, a forensic examination may focus on identifying transactions within a database system or application that indicate evidence of wrongdoing, such as fraud. Software tools can be used to manipulate and analyse data and these tools also provide audit logging capabilities which provide documented proof of what tasks or analysis a forensic examiner performed on the database. Currently many database software tools are in general not reliable and precise enough to be used for work as demonstrated in the first paper published on database forensics. There is currently a book published in this field, though more are destined. Additionally there is a subsequent SQL Server forensics book by Kevvie Fowler named SQL Server Forensics which is well regarded also, the forensic study of relational databases requires a knowledge of the standard used to encode data on the computer disk. A documentation of standards used to encode information in well-known brands of DB such as SQL Server, farmer and Venema,1999, http, //www. porcupine. org/forensics/forensic-discovery/appendixB. html Sarbanes Oxley section 404 – enforce financial standards to limit chance of fraud
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Mobile device forensics
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Mobile device forensics is a branch of digital forensics relating to recovery of digital evidence or data from a mobile device under forensically sound conditions. The use of phones in crime was widely recognised for some years, a proliferation of phones and other digital devices on the consumer market caused a demand for forensic examination of the devices, which could not be met by existing computer forensics techniques. Mobile devices can be used to save several types of information such as contacts, photos, calendars and notes. Smartphones may additionally contain video, email, web browsing information, location information, for example, cell site analysis following from the use of a mobile phone usage coverage, is not an exact science. g. As a result, forensic examiners must use a different forensic process compared to computer forensics, storage capacity continues to grow thanks to demand for more powerful mini computer type devices. Not only the types of data but also the way mobile devices are used constantly evolve, hibernation behaviour in which processes are suspended when the device is powered off or idle but at the same time, remaining active. As a result of these challenges, a variety of tools exist to extract evidence from mobile devices. As a field of forensic examination of mobile devices dates from the late 1990s. The role of phones in crime had long been recognized by law enforcement. With the increased availability of such devices on the consumer market, early efforts to examine mobile devices used similar techniques to the first computer forensics investigations, analysing phone contents directly via the screen and photographing important content. However, this proved to be a process, and as the number of mobile devices began to increase. However, this type of software could write to the phone as well as reading it, some forensic examiners found that they could retrieve even deleted data using flasher or twister boxes, tools developed by OEMs to flash a phones memory for debugging or updating. However, flasher boxes are invasive and can change data, can be complicated to use, for physical forensic examinations, therefore, better alternatives remained necessary. To meet these demands, commercial tools appeared which allowed examiners to recover phone memory with minimal disruption, over time these commercial techniques have developed further and the recovery of deleted data from proprietary mobile devices has become possible with some specialist tools. As mobile device technology advances, the amount and types of data that can be found on a device is constantly increasing. Evidence that can be recovered from a mobile phone may come from several different sources, including handset memory, SIM card. Traditionally mobile phone forensics has been associated with recovering SMS and MMS messaging, as well as logs, contact lists. Nowadays mostly flash memory consisting of NAND or NOR types are used for mobile devices, external memory devices are SIM cards, SD cards, MMC cards, CF cards, and the Memory Stick
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Network forensics
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Unlike other areas of digital forensics, network investigations deal with volatile and dynamic information. Network traffic is transmitted and then lost, so network forensics is often a pro-active investigation, Network forensics generally has two uses. The first, relating to security, involves monitoring a network for anomalous traffic, an attacker might be able to erase all log files on a compromised host, network-based evidence might therefore be the only evidence available for forensic analysis. The second form relates to law enforcement, in this case analysis of captured network traffic can include tasks such as reassembling transferred files, searching for keywords and parsing human communication such as emails or chat sessions. Two systems are used to collect network data, a brute force catch it as you can. Network forensics is a new field of forensic science. The growing popularity of the Internet in homes means that computing has become network-centric, Network forensics can be performed as a standalone investigation or alongside a computer forensics analysis. Marcus Ranum is credited with defining Network forensics as the capture, recording, compared to computer forensics, where evidence is usually preserved on disk, network data is more volatile and unpredictable. Investigators often only have material to examine if packet filters, firewalls and this approach requires large amounts of storage. Stop, look and listen – This is where each packet is analyzed in a way in memory. This approach requires a processor to keep up with incoming traffic. Applying forensic methods on the Ethernet layer is done by eavesdropping bit streams with tools called monitoring tools or sniffers, the most common tool on this layer is Wireshark and tcpdump where tcpdump works mostly on unix-like operating systems. These tools collect all data on this layer and allows the user to filter for different events, with these tools, website pages, email attachments, and other network traffic can be reconstructed only if they are transmitted or received unencrypted. An advantage of collecting this data is that it is connected to a host. If, for example the IP address or the MAC address of a host at a time is known. To establish the connection between IP and MAC address, it is useful to take a look at auxiliary network protocols. The Address Resolution Protocol tables list the MAC addresses with the corresponding IP addresses, to collect data on this layer, the network interface card of a host can be put into promiscuous mode. In so doing, all traffic will be passed to the CPU, however, if an intruder or attacker is aware that his connection might be eavesdropped, he might use encryption to secure his connection
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Forensic photography
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Crime scene photography differs from other variations of photography because crime scene photographers usually have a very specific purpose for capturing each image. Crime scenes can be sources of physical evidence that is used to associate or link suspects to scenes, victims to scenes. It is the basic tenet of why crime scenes should be investigated, anything found at a crime scene can be physical evidence. In scientific crime scene investigation, the first activities at the scene are essential for the successful preservation of the physical evidence. The first responder and ultimately the crime scene investigator have the obligation to make the scene secure and ensure that any further activities at the scene do not change the evidence, the use of a multilevel security method would accomplish this task. The preliminary scene survey is the first on-scene activity, precautions are taken for transient and conditional evidence during the survey. All forensic photography must consider three elements at a scene, the subject, the scale, and a reference object. Also, the overall forensic photographs must be shown a neutral, common photography related to creative and artistic photography often shows their results in a different way. Creative and artistic photographs are perfectly fine, however, the forensic photography is different. For people who were at the crime scene, forensic photos will help refresh their memory as time goes by. People who could not be present at the crime scene, it provides them with the opportunity to see the crime scene. Furthermore, the photos can be utilized by law enforcement professionals who will become involved with crime. Judge, jury, attorney and witnesses can reuse and utilize forensic photos for lawful evidence or references, sometimes, Forensic photos can be only way to collect lawful evidences, following points should be considered, Document the crime scene and the evidence within the crime scene. These images can then be used as examination-quality photographs by experts/analysts from the forensic laboratory. Crime scenes are the source of the evidence that is used to associate or link suspects to scenes, victims to scenes. Any item found at a scene can be physical evidence. Includes physiological fluids, plants, and some biological pathogens, chemical evidence — any evidence with identifiable chemicals present. Patterned evidence — any evidence with a pattern or predictable pattern of appearance, trace evidence — any evidence of such a small size so as to be overlooked, not easily seen or not easily recognized
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Forensic engineering
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Forensic engineering is the investigation of materials, products, structures or components that fail or do not operate or function as intended, causing personal injury or damage to property. The consequences of failure are dealt with by the law of product liability, the field also deals with retracing processes and procedures leading to accidents in operation of vehicles or machinery. The subject is applied most commonly in civil law cases, although it may be of use in law cases. It can also involve investigation of intellectual property claims, especially patents, as the field of engineering has evolved over time, so has the field of forensic engineering. Early examples include investigation of bridge failures such as the Tay rail bridge disaster of 1879, many early rail accidents prompted the invention of tensile testing of samples and fractography of failed components. Vital to the field of engineering is the process of investigating and collecting data related to the materials, products. This involves inspections, collecting evidence, measurements, developing models, obtaining exemplar products, often testing and measurements are conducted in an Independent testing laboratory or other reputable unbiased laboratory. Failure mode and effects analysis and fault tree analysis methods also examine product or process failure in a structured and systematic way, however, all such techniques rely on accurate reporting of failure rates, and precise identification, of the failure modes involved. There is some common ground between forensic science and forensic engineering, such as scene of crime and scene of accident analysis, integrity of the evidence, both disciplines make extensive use of optical and scanning electron microscopes, for example. They also share use of spectroscopy to examine critical evidence. Radiography using X-rays, or neutrons is also useful in examining thick products for their internal defects before destructive examination is attempted. Often, however, a hand lens may reveal the cause of a particular problem. Trace evidence is sometimes an important factor in reconstructing the sequence of events in an accident, for example, tire burn marks on a road surface can enable vehicle speeds to be estimated, when the brakes were applied and so on. Ladder feet often leave a trace of movement of the ladder during a slipaway, thus an acetal resin water pipe joint suddenly failed and caused substantial damages to a building in which it was situated. Analysis of the joint showed traces of chlorine, indicating a stress corrosion cracking failure mode, the failed fuel pipe junction mentioned above showed traces of sulfur on the fracture surface from the sulfuric acid, which had initiated the crack. Extracting physical evidence from digital photography is a technique used in forensic accident reconstruction. Camera matching, photogrammetry, and photo rectification techniques are used to create three-dimensional, overlooked or undocumented evidence for accident reconstruction can be retrieved and quantified as long as photographs of such evidence are available. By using photographs of the accident scene including the vehicle, lost evidence can be recovered, Forensic materials engineering involves methods applied to specific materials, such as metals, glasses, ceramics, composites and polymers
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Fire investigation
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Fire investigation, sometimes referred to as cause and origin investigation, is the analysis of fire-related incidents. After firefighters extinguish a fire, an investigation is launched to determine the origin, Investigations of such incidents require a systematic approach and knowledge of basic fire science. In common with many disciplines, one of the early tasks of fire investigation is often to determine whether or not a crime has been committed. The difficulty of determining whether arson has occurred arises because fire often destroys the key evidence of its origin, many fires are caused by defective equipment, such as shorting of faulty electrical circuits. Car fires can be caused by faulty fuel lines, and spontaneous combustion is possible where organic wastes are stored, a fire investigator looks at the fire remains, and obtains information to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the fire. One of the aspects of fire investigation is the multi-disciplinary basis of the investigators job. For example, if there is a gas appliance at the origin of the fire, Fire investigators sometimes work with forensic engineers, such as forensic electrical engineers when examining electrical appliances, household wiring, etc. In the United States, fire investigators often refer to NFPA921, Guide for Fire, also, Kirks Fire Investigation by John D. DeHaan and David J. Icove has long been regarded as the primary textbook in the field of fire investigation. It is currently in its seventh edition, the mere act of extinguishing a fire can destroy potential evidence of arson or what is also known as an Incendiary fire. A fire investigation was once compromised by a fire fighter turning off the knobs on a gas stove in the interests of safety after a fire was knocked down. Though there were no criminal issues involved in fire, this incident of spoliation created a lack of closure for the family and feelings of distrust. Principal among these is a 16-point list of areas in which an investigator is required to have education beyond high school level. Both certification programs rely heavily on the content of NFPA1033, both also require an application process detailing the investigators education, training, and experience, and successfully challenging a written examination. NFPA921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, example of an actual Arson Investigation Report
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Detection of fire accelerants
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Detection of fire accelerants is the process that a fire investigator uses to determine if fire accelerants were used at a fire scene. This process involves a combination of field work and laboratory analysis by fire investigators and chemists. In order for an identification of a fire accelerant to occur both field work and laboratory analysis must take place. This is because when a fire accelerant is used only ignitable liquid residues remain at the scene and it is the chemists job to identify these ILRs and the investigators job to determine if they were used as fire accelerants or just present at the scene under normal circumstances. It is common for the fire accelerant and ignitable liquid to be used synonymously. Ignitable liquids are not always fire accelerants, they may just be present at the scene under normal circumstances, gasoline is the most common fire accelerant used but it could also be present at a scene as an ignitable liquid due to gasoline being a common fuel. Although ignitable liquids are the most common fire accelerants it is possible to have other chemicals being used as a fire accelerant, gases such as propane or natural gas could also be used to accelerate a fire. Detecting the use of a fire accelerant at a scene can be the difference between classifying a fire as accidental or as an arson. Once a case is determined to be an arson, the detection of fire accelerants will hold strong evidentiary value which the prosecutor can use during the trial should someone be charged. Determining the origin of a fire is one of the first tasks that a fire investigator must complete while at the scene. This is completed because the origin will have the highest probability of containing any ILRs left from the use of fire accelerant and this is logical because accelerants would be the first materials ignited as they have a lower ignition temperature than any other materials. Once the origin is determined the investigators must decide if fire accelerants were used at this scene, often the first and most common way of determining if accelerants were used is by completing a visual inspection of the scene and specifically the origin. A trained investigator would look for cues like intense localized burning or pour patterns to indicate the use of accelerants, accelerant detecting canines can also be used to determine if accelerants were used at a scene and pinpoint the location of use. These canines have been trained to detect levels of ILRs. Detection with portable hydrocarbon sniffers is a recent method which is more readily being used by investigators and these are handheld electronic devices that sample the vapors at a scene and will give a reading for the concentration of hydrocarbons it is detecting. By comparing the concentration of hydrocarbons in the area to known levels of ILR free areas an investigator will be able to determine if ILRs are present at the scene and they will then take samples from the areas that are showing the highest concentrations. As in other investigations, part of the job is to collect evidence from the scene to further the investigation. The samples collected by an investigator will be analyzed in a laboratory for the presence of any ILRs which could have been used as accelerants
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Fractography
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Fractography is the study of the fracture surfaces of materials. Fractographic methods are used to determine the cause of failure in engineering structures, especially in product failure. In material science research, fractography is used to develop and evaluate theoretical models of growth behavior. One of the aims of fractographic examination is to determine the cause of failure by studying the characteristics of a fractured surface, different types of crack growth produce characteristic features on the surface, which can be used to help identify the failure mode. The overall pattern of cracking can be more important than a crack, however, especially in the case of brittle materials like ceramics. An important aim of fractography is to establish and examine the origin of cracking, optical microscopy or macrophotography are often enough to pinpoint the nature of the failure and the causes of crack initiation and growth if the loading pattern is known. Common features that may cause crack initiation are inclusions, voids or empty holes in the material, contamination, hachures, are the lines on fracture surfaces which show crack direction. The broken crankshaft shown at right failed from a surface defect near the bulb at lower centre, the single crack growing up into the bulk material by small steps. The crankshaft also shows hachures which point back to the origin of the fracture, some modes of crack growth can leave characteristic marks on the surface that identify the mode of crack growth and origin on a macro scale e. g. beachmarks or striations on fatigue cracks. The areas of the product can also be revealing, especially if there are traces of sub-critical cracks. They can indicate that the material was faulty when loaded, or alternatively, a cusp is formed where brittle cracks meet, as shown on the picture of a failed catheter. The cusp was formed by brittle failure of the catheter on a breast implant in silicone rubber, the origin of the cracks is at the shoulder at the left-hand side. Identifying such features will allow a fracture surface map to be made of the surface being studied, the implant failed because of overload, all the imposed loads being concentrated at the connection between the catheter and the bag holding salt solution. As a result, the patient reported loss of fluid from the implant, USB microscopes are especially useful for examining fracture surface features since they are small enough to be hand-held. A variety of sizes and resolution are available commercially at low cost. The camera cable plugs into the computer via a USB plug, a schematic fracture surface map is a valuable result of visual or microscopic examination. It seeks to isolate and identify the features on the surface which show how the product failed, such a map can be a valuable way of presenting information which shows clearly how a crack was initiated and grew with time. In the case of the failed breast implant catheter, the path was very simple
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Forensic linguistics
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It is a branch of applied linguistics. The discipline of linguistics is not homogenous, it involves a range of experts. The phrase forensic linguistics first appeared in 1968 when Jan Svartvik, during the early days of forensic linguistics in the United Kingdom, the legal defense for many criminal cases questioned the authenticity of police statements. At the time, customary police procedure for taking suspects statements dictated that it be in a specific format, statements by witnesses are very seldom made in a coherent or orderly fashion, with speculation and backtracking done out loud. The delivery is often too fast-paced, causing important details to be left out, early work of forensic linguistics in the United States concerned the rights of individuals with regard to understanding their Miranda rights during the interrogation process. An early application of linguistics in the United States was related to the status of trademarks as words or phrases in the language. In the 1980s, Australian linguists discussed the application of linguistics and sociolinguistics to legal issues and they discovered that a phrase such as the same language is open to interpretation. Aboriginal people have their own understanding and use of English, something that is not always appreciated by speakers of the dominant version of English, the Aboriginal people also bring their own culturally based, interactional styles to the interview. The range of topics within forensic linguistics is diverse, but research occurs in the following areas and that includes the study of text types and forms of analysis. Any text or item of spoken language can potentially be a text when it is used in a legal or criminal context. It can also refer to the attempts at making legal language more comprehensible to laypeople. Intonational emphasis, voice pitch and the extent to which there is cooperation between the caller and the recipient at any one time are very important in analysing an emergency call. Full cooperation includes frank and timely responses, urgency plays a role in emergency calls, so hesitations, signs of evasiveness, and incomplete or overly short answers indicate that the caller might be making a false or hoax call. A genuine call has distinctive interlocking and slight overlap of turns, the recipient trusts the caller to provide accurate information and the caller trusts the recipient to ask only pertinent questions. If the caller uses a pitch at the end of every turn, it might represent a lack of commitment. The call ideally moves from nil knowledge on the part of the recipient to an amount of knowledge in a minimum possible period of time. This makes the emergency call unlike any other kind of service encounter, threat is a counterpart of a promise and is an important feature in a ransom demand. Ransom demands are also examined to identify genuine and false threats
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Forensic materials engineering
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An important aspect is the analysis of trace evidence such as skid marks on exposed surfaces, where contact between dissimilar materials leaves material traces of one left on the other. Provided the traces can be analysed successfully, then an accident or crime can often be reconstructed, another aim will be to determine the cause of a broken component using the technique of fractography. Metal and alloy surfaces can be analyzed in a number of ways, including by spectroscopy, such solutions attack the surface preferentially, so isolating features or inclusions of one composition, enabling them to be seen much more clearly than in the polished but untreated surface. Metallography is a technique for examining the microstructure of metals. SEM can often be critical in determining failures modes by examining fracture surfaces, the origin of a crack can be found and the way it grew assessed, to distinguish, for example, overload failure from fatigue. Crankshaft fatigue for example is a failure mode for engine parts. The example shows just two such zones, the slow crack at the base, the fast at the top, hard products like ceramic pottery and glass windscreens can be studied using the same SEM methods used for metals, especially ESEM conducted at low vacuum. Fracture surfaces are especially valuable sources of information because surface features like hachures can enable the origin or origins of the cracks to be found, analysis of the surface features is carried out using fractography. The position of the origin can then be matched with likely loads on the product to show how an accident occurred, defects such as foreign particles will often occur near or at the origin of the critical crack, and can be readily identified by ESEM. Thermoplastics, thermosets, and composites can be analyzed using FTIR and UV spectroscopy as well as NMR, failed samples can either be dissolved in a suitable solvent and examined directly or as a thin film cast from solvent or cut using microtomy from the solid product. The slicing method is preferable since there are no complications from solvent absorption, fractured products can be examined using fractography, an especially useful method for all fractured components using macrophotography and optical microscopy. Many plastics are susceptible to attack by active chemicals like chlorine, present at low levels in water supplies. ESEM is especially useful for providing elemental analysis from viewed parts of the sample being investigated and it is effectively a technique of microanalysis and valuable for examination of trace evidence. On the other hand, colour rendition is absent, and there is no information provided about the way in which elements are bonded to one another. Specimens will be exposed to a vacuum, so any volatiles may be removed, rubber products are often safety-critical parts of machines, so that failure can often cause accidents or loss of function. Failed products can be examined with many of the generic polymer methods, attenuated total reflectance infra-red spectroscopy is useful because the product is usually flexible so can be pressed against the selenium crystal used for analysis. Simple swelling tests can help to identify the specific elastomer used in a product. Often the best technique is ESEM using the X-ray elemental analysis facility on the microscope, although the method only provides elemental analysis, it can provide clues as to the identity of the elastomer being examined
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Forensic polymer engineering
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Forensic polymer engineering is the study of failure in polymeric products. The topic includes the fracture of plastic products, or any reason why such a product fails in service. One aspect is the analysis of evidence such as skid marks on exposed surfaces. Provided the traces can be analyzed successfully, then an accident or crime can often be reconstructed, thermoplastics can be analysed using infra-red spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and the environmental scanning electron microscope. Failed samples can either be dissolved in a solvent and examined directly or be a thin film cast from solvent or cut using microtomy from the solid product. Infra-red spectrosocpy is especially useful for assessing oxidation of polymers, such as the degradation caused by faulty injection moulding. The spectrum shows the characteristic carbonyl group produced by oxidation of polypropylene and it was a critical part of a crutch, and when it failed, the user fell and injured herself very seriously. The spectrum was obtained from a thin film cast from a solution of a sample of the plastic taken from the failed forearm crutch, microtomy is preferable since there are no complications from solvent absorption, and the integrity of the sample is partly preserved. Thermosets, composites and elastomers can often be examined using only microtomy owing to the nature of these materials. Fractured products can be examined using fractography, a useful method for all broken components using macrophotography. Scanning electron microscopy or ESEM is especially useful for examining fracture surfaces and it is effectively a technique of microanalysis and valuable for examination of trace evidence. On the other hand, colour rendition is absent in ESEM, specimens will be exposed to a partial vacuum, so any volatiles may be removed, and surfaces may be contaminated by substances used to attach the sample to the mount. Many polymers are attacked by specific chemicals in the environment, and serious problems can arise, including road accidents, Polymer degradation leads to sample embrittlement, and fracture under low applied loads. Polymers for example, can be attacked by aggressive chemicals, and if under load, perhaps the oldest known example is the ozone cracking of rubbers, where traces of ozone in the atmosphere attack double bonds in the chains of the materials. Elastomers with double bonds in their chains include natural rubber, nitrile rubber and they are all highly susceptible to ozone attack, and can cause problems like vehicle fires and tyre blow-outs. Nowadays, anti-ozonants are widely added to polymers, so the incidence of cracking has dropped. However, not all safety-critical rubber products are protected, and, since only ppb of ozone will start attack, another highly reactive gas is chlorine, which will attack susceptible polymers such as acetal resin and polybutylene pipework. There have been examples of such pipes and acetal fittings failing in properties in the USA as a result of chlorine-induced cracking
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Forensic statistics
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Forensic statistics is the application of probability models and statistical techniques to scientific evidence, such as DNA evidence, and the law. In contrast to statistics, to not engender bias or unduly draw conclusions. This ratio of probabilities is then used by juries or judges to draw inferences or conclusions, computer programs have been implemented with forensic DNA statistics for assessing the biological relationships between two or more people. Although the precise origin of this remains unclear, it is apparent that the term was used in the 1980s and 1990s. Among the first forensic statistics conferences were two held in 1991 and 1993, blood stains are an important part of forensic statistics, as the analysis of blood drop collisions may help to picture the event that had previously gone on. Commonly blood stains are a shape, because of this blood stains are usually easy to determine the blood droplets angle through the formula “α = arcsin d/a”. In this formula a and d are simply estimations of the axis of the ellipse, from these calculations, a visualization of the event causing the stains is able to be drawn, and alongside further information such as the velocity of the entity that caused such stains. Introduction to Statistics for Forensic Scientists, John Wiley and Sons
. PMID 17664437.
