ABSTRACT
The focus of this essay is to understand how fingerprints are used in forensic science specifically crime scenes to help in apprehending criminals. The evolution of forensic science over time has enabled detectives to crack cases with ease by use of fingerprints to identify criminals or victims.
INTRODUCTION
Forensic science
Forensic is a Greek word meaning ‘of the forum'. Forensic science can, therefore, be defined as the application of science to public matters. It could also be defined as the application of science to civil and criminal law.
The scope of forensic science
Science is wide and therefore one might wonder which science is related to forensics. Here are several science areas where the application of forensics is relevant.
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This is commonly known as postmortem examination or autopsy.
Anthropology
Forensic anthropology deals with skeletal remains determining whether they belong to humans or animals. By examining the bones, anthropologists can tell which part of the body, age, race or what caused an injury if there is any on the bones. They also work with skulls and can help identify a missing person through face reconstruction using plastic or wooden pegs and clay.
Odontology
This entails the use dental formula to identify a victim who is unrecognizable such as crash victims or use of bite marks in a crime scene to identify a culprit. It can also be used to tell if facial injuries are as a result of a fall or a fist.
Engineering
This is used to investigate accidents as a result of mechanical or structural faults. It can be used when a building collapses or in road accidents. Forensic engineers reconstruct accidents to determine who caused the accident, direction of impacts, and speed.
Entomology
This is the study of insects in a crime scene to determine how long the body has been there, if the body was poisoned, or determine if the person had taken cocaine prior to their
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Ridge characteristics are also known as minutiae
In individual's lifetime, the fingerprint remains unchanged
Ridge patterns on fingerprints allow their systematic classification
Fingerprints can be categorized into three; plastic prints, latent, and patent fingerprints. Plastic prints are found on soft surfaces such as soaps, wet paint, and wax, among others. Patent (visible) fingerprints are found on several surfaces be their porous or non-porous, and soft or dry surfaces. Latent or invisible fingerprints are as a result of the deposit of body fluids such as sweat and body's natural oils are deposited on other surfaces.
Patent fingerprints are collected through photography. Latent fingerprints are collected by dusting the surface with fingerprint powder and any prints are photographed. An adhesive tape is then used to lift the prints from the surface.
Where fingerprint powder does not work or is not effective, another method known as fuming is applied. In fuming, chemical fumes are used where they react with organic substances found in fingerprints such as amino acids. With this method, indelible prints that were invisible
middle of paper ... ... he text (Genge). Forensic science is a fascinating subject and one that offers a broad range of careers, including evidence custodians, criminalists, document examiners, firearms/toolmark examiners, forensic laboratory technicians, latent print examiners, and photo technicians—just to name a few (Genge 276). Some jobs require extensive college classes, while others offer the opportunity to learn on the job.
Forensic anthropology is the study of bones in relation to a criminal investigation. Some have probably seen it used on television, but this is not an accurate portrayal of what this truly is. Many times, this area of forensic science is hidden from the public eye; people only get to see all of the glamorous parts. What they do not see is all of the hard work and effort that is put in to get the job correctly done. This career is a rare decision for someone to choose, because of the lack of opportunity for employment positions as well as the low income per year; however, it is an extremely fascinating occupation. Forensic anthropology has been known to help many organizations, including museums, and law enforcement agencies.
In order to understand Forensic Anthropology we must break it down into the components. According to Oxford American Dictionary the term Forensic is significant to the use of scientific methods to investigate a crime. Anthropology is defined by Oxford American Dictionary as the study of societies, cultures, and human origins. The combination of both, Forensic and Anthropology, consists of applying the principles which are introduced by Anthropologists to solving a crime. Forensic Anthropology is currently a small field but is expected to grow in the upcoming years due how it is being portrayed in books, television shows, classes, and many other resources. The usage of this field is becoming crucial because of how gruesome the crimes being committed by criminals are becoming. Although Forensic Anthropology is currently a small field it requires a lot of education, carries plenty of job responsibilities, and continues to aid in the solving of crimes.
The criminal justice system has changed a lot since the good old days of the Wild West when pretty much anything was legal. Criminals were dealt with in any fashion the law enforcement saw fit. The science of catching criminals has evolved since these days. We are better at catching criminals than ever and we owe this advancement to forensic science. The development of forensic science has given us the important techniques of fingerprinting and DNA analysis. We can use these techniques to catch criminals, prove people's innocence, and keep track of inmates after they have been paroled. There are many different ways of solving crimes using forensic evidence. One of these ways is using blood spatter analysis; this is where the distribution and pattern of bloodstains is studied to find the nature of the event that caused the blood spatter. Many things go into the determination of the cause including: the effects of various types of physical forces on blood, the interaction between blood and the surfaces on which it falls, the location of the person shedding the blood, the location and actions of the assailant, and the movement of them both during the incident. Another common type of forensic evidence is trace evidence. This is commonly recovered from any number of items at a crime scene. These items can include carpet fibers, clothing fibers, or hair found in or around the crime scene. Hairs recovered from crime scenes can be used as an important source of DNA. Examination of material recovered from a victim's or suspect's clothing can allow association to be made between the victim and other people, places, or things involved in the investigation. DNA analysis is the most important part of forensic science. DNA evidence can come in many forms at the crime scene. Some of these forms include hair; bodily fluids recovered at the crime scene or on the victim's body, skin under the victim's fingernails, blood, and many others. This DNA can be the basis of someone's guilt or innocence; it has decided many cases in the twentieth century. As the times continue to change and the criminals get smarter we will always need to find new ways to catch them. Forensic science is the most advanced method yet, but is only the beginning. As the field of science grows so will the abilities of the
Once a crime has been committed the most important item to recover is any type of evidence left at the scene. If the suspect left any Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at the crime scene, he could then be linked to the crime and eventually charged. A suspect’s DNA can be recovered if the suspect leaves a sample of his or her DNA at the crime scene. However, this method was not always used to track down a suspect. Not too long ago, detectives used to use bite marks, blood stain detection, blood grouping as the primary tool to identify a suspect. DNA can be left or collected from the hair, saliva, blood, mucus, semen, urine, fecal matter, and even the bones. DNA analysis has been the most recent technique employed by the forensic science community to identify a suspect or victim since the use of fingerprinting. Moreover, since the introduction of this new technique it has been a la...
Forensic Science, recognized as Forensics, is the solicitation of science to law to understand evidences for crime investigation. Forensic scientists are investigators that collect evidences at the crime scene and analyse it uses technology to reveal scientific evidence in a range of fields. Physical evidence are included things that can be seen, whether with the naked eye or through the use of magnification or other analytical tools. Some of this evidence is categorized as impression evidence2.In this report I’ll determine the areas of forensic science that are relevant to particular investigation and setting out in what method the forensic science procedures I have recognized that would be useful for the particular crime scene.
Forensics Anthropology is the study that goes beyond the human skeleton. A forensics anthropologist can find out. How a person lived, the food that person ate, and the overall make-up of a human. The use of forensics has grown in recent years, it is used to solve crimes and locate missing persons. Snow, (1982) Forensics anthropology is not a new science. The first case forensics anthropology was used on was the Jezebel case, dating back to the nineteenth century. This case involved a person, who was thrown from a window. Snow, (1982) The remains found in this case were the skull, feet, and the palm of the victim’s hands.
This information will aid greatly in gaining an understanding of what took place at a crime scene. For instance, if investigators were directed to a scene of reports of criminal activity at a gun store and discovered that a glass window had been broken and one specific case inside this building had been shattered, they can infer that something had been stolen. By collecting, preserving and analyzing prints that were found at this scene, investigators can conclude that the store had been robbed and by analyzing the prints found they can determine who the culprit was by comparing their fingerprints to the prints located in the AFIS
“Bloodstain pattern analysis is a forensic discipline that deals with the physics of the blood and assesses bloodstains left at crime scenes using visual pattern recognition.” (Brodbeck, 2012, pg. 51) This branch is crucial to forensics. Using the established methods, deciphering a bloodstain is essential to many crime scenes. Forensics applies medical knowledge to legal situations.
As far back as 1832, James Marsh was the first to use forensics at trial to give evidence as a chemist in 1832. Since that time forensic science and evidence has come a long way in various ways and technology to help in determine if the suspect is guilt or not, through such things as DNA testing, blood, and fingerprints. The first forensic police crime lab was created in 1910. The contributions of Dr. Edmond Locard, a French scientist and criminologist, proposed that “everything leaves a trace”. This principle is still valid today as it was so many years ago. No matter how small, the specialized trained technicians and investigators can take these methods and go to a crime scene to get evidence. “Forensic science is the application of sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering to matters of law.” (Office of Justice, 2017) These different sciences can help achieve and assist in solving a case. Forensic science has also the ability to prove that a crime was committed, it can find the elements of the crime, it can help place the suspect at the scene and whether the suspect had any contact with the victim. However, in the last several years the techniques and with the use of technology the evidence that forensic science uncovers can also exonerate an innocent individual who has been falsely accused of the
A forensic scientist analyzes different types of evidence from scenes or incidents, writes reports, and testifies in court as an expert witness. Being a forensic scientist is a very detailed oriented profession and they usually work some sort of a lab setting. Occasionally they may visit crime scenes or numerous accidents to help revamp the crime, gather evidence, or preserve data, but this is a very small part of their duties and is usually saved for a crime scene examiner. Forensic scientist may work for the federal or local government, forensic labs, police departments, hospitals, universities or as an independent forensic science consultant. Some specialist in Forensics Sciences are; Forensic Scientist, Forensic Pathologist, Forensic Anthropologist, Forensic Entomologist,
investigators take from the crime scene. With scientific methods it helps investigators to produce a
“The word ‘forensics’ means “connected with the courtroom”; so forensic science is, therefore, concerned with gathering hard evidence that can be presented in a trial” (Innes 9). Forensic science is a science that is applied specifically to legal matters, whether criminal or civil. “Few areas in the realm of science are as widespread and important as forensic science” (Hunter 12). Forensics is the one science that is most commonly used in everyday life. It is also a branch of science that incorporates other branches of science such as biology, chemistry, and etc. Since it is used almost every day “No one can dispute the importance of the contributions to society made by forensic science; the ability to solve crime is undeniably important” (Hunter 13). Forensic science has given criminal investigation a new edge. “Advances in science have opened the door for more effective evidence discovery, howev...
Part B: The evidential value of fingerprints within a Legal Context When it comes to criminal investigations, fingerprints are of extreme evidentiary value. When one asks what evidential value is, it is considered to be as what can be achieved with the collected evidence in a forensic laboratory and later which is presented in court. When it comes to evidential value of fingerprints within a legal context, in court, the presence or absence of information about the context in which the evidence is found in, can affect the value of the evidence itself. Sir Galton, as previously discussed in the history section, defined three basic principles when he studied the uniqueness and the individuality of friction skin ridges.
Through forensic science, scientist are able to pinpoint an exact cause of death which allows them to determine if it was accidental, homicidal, or natural causes. It also proves the innocence of a person by analyzing the DNA found at a crime scene. Along with