Every day, man is coming up with new developments and inventions in different fields. This is due to the innovativeness, intellectualism and credibility that is contained in the human mind. The developments have been made in, somewhat, very crucial fields like medicine. One of the most important inventions was the realization of forensic science in the broader field of science and technology. This technology is greatly being used in crime monitoring and control and has brought about benefits since the evidence collected during the investigation brings out the naked truth. This paper tries to explain how forensic science has greatly contributed to the field of criminology.
For the technology to be maximized appropriately, it must follow specific channels of which some may be involved while some not. Several stages should be followed promptly of which include: identifying the specific scene where the crime took place, discovering the crime itself, that is the type of crime, recording the crime incident and finally searching for the evidence needed keeping in mind that the truth will come out at long last (Entrant 2004). The act of discovering the scene of crime is somehow not challenging. Taking for example the case of a tragic accident involving two personal vehicles, identifying the scene is a straightforward technique since it will show out itself clearly by the presence of glass breaks all over and blood spit if possible. Apart from that, taking the example of a robbery crime, the scene can be identified by the presence of housebreak or violence that further lead to loss of property, injuries of people or death in case of resistance.
Discovering the type of crime committed is affected in several ways. Citizens of any country are informed of any strange occurring of which they see by themselves or hear from other primary and secondary sources and of which Patriotic citizens will report to higher authorities in the legal sector of their own country. Sometimes police officers, themselves, discover the crimes during the day-to-day patrols they carry out in different areas. Once at the crime scene, police officers should assist in life-saving of the live victims, if any. The victims who are in danger should be protected by the police officers by rushing them to the hospital, if need be. Police officers should make sure that they put on defensive gargets during the operation, as protective hand gloves to make sure that the fingerprints don’t come in actual contact with the victim’s body. During the operation, the police officers should take into account the extent of the crime, which simply implies the stretch of the area in which the crime took place.
Taking the example of the murder case, the murder area will be where the murder is committed and the scene where the corpse is found, in the case where the corpse is transported from the area of crime, not forgetting the mode of carriage of the corpse in this case. Sealing the scene is another area of great importance during the investigation. This helps in the preservation of important evidence and the identification of suspects and witnesses. This is done by enclosing the area to avoid entry and exit of people and the section should be accessible only to the relevant personnel thus making crime scene management easier. In the process, evidence should not be contaminated since this may give wrong results. Evidence contamination may be avoided by minimizing the number of personnel at only the specific access points during entry and exit. Information is collected from witnesses and suspects who are detained to avoid mingling with the rest of the people (Entrant, 2004). Many times, there may be difficulties in identifying the type of crime. These can be avoided right from the start, at the time of discovering the scene of the crime. Therefore, at the scene of the crime, ‘crime investors’ should be immediately deployed to seal it so that it cannot be contaminated. Evidence at the crime scene should be documented not forgetting that the media should be kept away and any evidence should not be provided to them since they can distort information before a thorough investigation is carried out and results released (Vienna, 2008).
Since the human memory cannot store all evidence, technology has been developed to enhance forensic science. After the crime scene has been dealt with properly and the necessary assessments made, forensic photographers need to take the initiative by taking photographs from the crime scene. They have to make sure that they record the original scene situation and how it was discovered. The recording is done because no one can revisit the scene during the court sessions, and even if one does so, all the necessary evidence could have been either flawed or completely lost. Therefore, the photographs collected help to clearly recreate the scene as well as show the lasting time limit of the evidence (West Yorkshire Police, n.d.). This facilitates analysis in the forensic laboratory. The recording is done in several ways some of which include taking photographs by means of video cameras and digital cameras. The 35mm cameras are the most commonly used cameras by forensic photographers. Digital cameras store their information on a memory card rather than a film. This enhances the capacity of storage since digital cameras store as much information when compared to mere cameras. Digital cameras are recommended since photographs can be viewed directly instead of undergoing processing. When it comes to video cameras, they make the scene more realistic than digital cameras. The motions of the pictures provide more evidence of what was not caught during the real crime scene and absenter of other police officers (Cuthbert, 1958).
Usage of the cameras further demands high levels of expertise from forensic photographers in terms of exactness, angle and balance of the scene when recorded (Entrant, 2004). The recording is not only done by the above methods but also through sketching, voice recording, video recording and use of artifacts. The recorded information is not left to fade but is preserved for further evidence. When evidence that was found on loose and scattered writings is collected and arranged systematically. It is then stored in plastic bags which are sealed properly-becoming airtight. This is done to avoid contamination. Fingerprints are also taken on a sensitive clean piece of paper and stored properly in an archive. Soil samples are also collected since the chemical composition of the soil varies from place to place. This is done, especially, in the case of murder. When a person is killed and the corpse is found in a far-off place from the place of origin with soil in fingernails and under the soles of the feet (Bodziak, 1990).
Evidence constitutes every other step mentioned above since it is where the real truth is laid out. This is done by analyzing the DNA evidence. The DNA is placed in isolation from an evidence sample containing DNA of which its origin is unknown, the processing of the DNA takes place for results to be obtained, determining the DNA types comparing it and interpreting the test results from both the known and unknown samples. The DNA analysis is carried out in four different ways: polymerase chain reaction analysis (PCR), short tandem repeat analysis (STR), y- chromosome analysis and mitochondrial analysis.
The collected DNA samples are then processed to provide the required results. The DNA is first collected from its biological source material which is then measured to find out the amount of DNA recovered. After the isolation, copying of the specific regions is done by polymerase chain reaction, which produces millions of copies for each DNA segment present. Due to this, minute amounts of DNA are present for examination thus short tandem repeat analysis is carried out to increase the DNA test. The polymerase chain reaction products are then placed in isolation, by slab gel and capillary electrophoresis, and detected to characterize the short tandem repeat analysis region being examined. The DNA is then placed in the respective database ready for matching. This is done by comparing the DNA sample to other samples present. Taking the example of forensic investigation, a comparison is made on the evidence found at the scene and the suspects’ known profile. Another cause may be that of a child. His genotype may be compared to the parents being investigated. It will be considered that the sample of the origins is different source if no similarities and matches are identified. Matching of samples is an indication that there was only one source. From these, a case report is generated which typically includes the random match probability (Butler, n.d.)
In conclusion, this new invention in the field of crime monitoring has greatly contributed to a decline in the number of crimes being committed. Even if one commits a crime and dies, since the necessary evidence is provided, the truth lays out itself. The same has been used in ‘the FBI crime lab’ documentary in the United States of America. This has a great impact on any countries security. Before its invention, a suspect is detained till death before proven guilty!, but thanks to Forensic Science.
Reference List
Bodziak, W. (1990). Footwear Impression Evidence, Elsevier: New York.
Butler. (n.d). Forensic DNA Typing: Biology, Technology, and Genetics of STR Markers. Web.
Explore Forensics. (n.d.). 2010, Web.
Cuthbert, C. (1958). Science and the Detection of Crime, Hutchinson: London.
Entrant, T. (2004). Forensic Science. Web.
Vienna. (2008). How to Identify a Ritualistic Crime Scene. Web.
West Yorkshire Police. (n.d.). Crime Recording. 2010. Web.