Commentary on the need for a research culture in the forensic sciences

Asked to comment on a collective discussion paper by Jennifer L. Mnookin et al., this Commentary identifies difficulties the authors encountered in defining or agreeing on the subject matter "forensic science" and its perceived deficiencies. They conclude that there is a need for a research culture, whereas this Commentary calls for the development of a forensic science culture through the development of forensic science education fed by research dedicated to forensic science issues. It is a call for a change of emphasis and, perhaps, of paradigm.

Forensic science - A true science ?

While the US jurisprudence of the 1993 Daubert requires judges to question not only the methodology behind, but also the principles governing, a body of knowledge to qualify it as scientific, can forensic science, based on Locard's and Kirk's Principles, pretend to this higher status in the courtroom ? Moving away from the disputable American legal debate, this historical and philosophical study will screen the relevance of the different logical epistemologies to recognize the scientific status of forensic science. As a consequence, the authors are supporting a call for its recognition as a science of its own, defined as the science of identifying and associating traces for investigative and security purposes, based o its fundamental principles and the case assesment and interpretation process that follows with its specific and relevant mode of inference.

Forensic science on trial - what is the law of the land ?

Based on a plenary lecture presented at the Tenth ANZFSS meeting of Forensic science in Sydney (September 2010), this article identifies some of the difficulties arising from the confrontation of forensic science with the law : a science defined by its specialities rather its object (the trace) and through the eyes of the law rather than those of science. This situation has historical roots that are highlighted and potential solutions for the future lie in fundamental and cultural developments within forensic science itself.

Considerations on the ASTM Standards 1789-04 and 1422-05 on the Forensic Examination of Ink

The ASTM standards on Writing Ink Identification (ASTM 1789-04) and on Writing Ink Comparison (ASTM 1422-05) are the most up-to-date guidelines that have been published on the forensic analysis of ink. The aim of these documents is to cover most aspects of the forensic analysis of ink evidence, from the analysis of ink samples, the comparison of the analytical profile of these samples (with the aim to differentiate them or not), through to the interpretation of the result of the examination of these samples in a forensic context. Significant evolutions in the technology available to forensic scientists, in the quality assurance requirements brought onto them, and in the understanding of frameworks to interpret forensic evidence have been made in recent years. This article reviews the two standards in the light of these evolutions and proposes some practical improvements in terms of the standardization of the analyses, the comparison of ink samples, and the interpretation of ink examination. Some of these suggestions have already been included in a DHS funded project aimed at creating a digital ink library for the United States Secret Service.

Supporting interdisciplinary case studies: development and implementation of a joint learning environment for students in forensic science and criminal law

Scientific reporting and communication is a challenging topic for which traditional study programs do not offer structured learning activities on a regular basis. This paper reports on the development and implementation of a web application and associated learning activities that intend to raise the awareness of reporting and communication issues among students in forensic science and law. The project covers interdisciplinary case studies based on a library of written reports about forensic examinations. Special features of the web framework, in particular a report annotation tool, support the design of various individual and group learning activities that focus on the development of knowledge and competence in dealing with reporting and communication challenges in the students' future areas of professional activity.

What is the value of forensic science? : an overview of the effectiveness of forensic science in the Australian criminal justice system project

Forensic science is increasingly relied upon by law enforcement to assist in solvingcrime and gaining convictions, and by the judicial system in the adjudication ofspecific criminal cases. However, the value of forensic science relative to the workinvolved and the outcome of cases has yet to be established in the Australiancontext. Previous research in this area has mainly focused on the science andtechnology, rather than examining how people can use forensic services/science tothe best possible advantage to produce appropriate justice outcomes. This fiveyearproject entails an investigation into the effectiveness of forensic science inpolice investigations and court trials. It aims to identify when, where and howforensic science can add value to criminal investigations, court trials and justiceoutcomes while ensuring the efficient use of available resources initially in theVictorian and the ACT criminal justice systems and ultimately across Australiaand New Zealand. This paper provides an overview of the rationale and aims ofthe research project and discusses current work-in-progress.

Bayesian Networks and the Value of the Evidence for the Forensic Two-Trace Transfer Problem

Forensic scientists face increasingly complex inference problems for evaluating likelihood ratios (LRs) for an appropriate pair of propositions. Up to now, scientists and statisticians have derived LR formulae using an algebraic approach. However, this approach reaches its limits when addressing cases with an increasing number of variables and dependence relationships between these variables. In this study, we suggest using a graphical approach, based on the construction of Bayesian networks (BNs). We first construct a BN that captures the problem, and then deduce the expression for calculating the LR from this model to compare it with existing LR formulae. We illustrate this idea by applying it to the evaluation of an activity level LR in the context of the two-trace transfer problem. Our approach allows us to relax assumptions made in previous LR developments, produce a new LR formula for the two-trace transfer problem and generalize this scenario to n traces.

Situating forensic traces in time

Situating events and traces in time is an essential problem in investigations. To date, among the typical ques- 21¦tions issued in forensic science, time has generally been unexplored. The reason for this can be traced to the 22¦complexity of the overall problem, addressed by several scientists in very limited projects usually stimulated 23¦by a specific case. Considering that such issues are recurrent and transcending the treatment of each trace 24¦separately, the formalisation of a framework to address dating issues in criminal investigation is undeniably 25¦needed. Through an iterative process consisting of extracting recurrent aspects discovered from the study of 26¦problems encountered by practitioners and reported in the literature, common mechanisms were extracted 27¦and provide understanding of underlying factors encountered in forensic practise. Three complementary ap- 28¦proaches are thus highlighted and described to formalise a preliminary framework that can be applied for the 29¦dating of traces, objects, persons and indirectly events.

Education and Training in Forensic Intelligence: a New Challenge

From recent calls for positioning forensic scientists within the criminal justice system, but also policing and intelligence missions, this paper emphasizes the need for the development of educational and training programs in the area of forensic intelligence, It is argued that an imbalance exists between perceived and actual understanding of forensic intelligence by police and forensic science managers, and that this imbalance can only be overcome through education. The challenge for forensic intelligence education and training is therefore to devise programs that increase forensic intelligence awareness, firstly for managers to help prevent poor decisions on how to develop information processing. Two recent European courses are presented as examples of education offerings, along with lessons learned and suggested paths forward. It is concluded that the new focus on forensic intelligence could restore a pro-active approach to forensic science, better quantify its efficiency and let it get more involved in investigative and managerial decisions. A new educational challenge is opened to forensic science university programs around the world: to refocus criminal trace analysis on a more holistic security problem solving approach.

The Discrimination of Colored Acrylic, Cotton, and Wool Textile Fibers Using Micro-Raman Spectroscopy. Part 1 : In Situ Detection and Characterization of Dyes

Raman spectroscopy has been applied to characterize fiber dyes and determine the discriminating ability of the method. Black, blue, and red acrylic, cotton, and wool samples were analyzed. Four excitation sources were used to obtain complementary responses in the case of fluorescent samples. Fibers that did not provide informative spectra using a given laser were usually detected using another wavelength. For any colored acrylic, the 633-nm laser did not provide Raman information. The 514-nm laser provided the highest discrimination for blue and black cotton, but half of the blue cottons produced noninformative spectra. The 830-nm laser exhibited the highest discrimination for red cotton. Both visible lasers provided the highest discrimination for black and blue wool, and NIR lasers produced remarkable separation for red and black wool. This study shows that the discriminating ability of Raman spectroscopy depends on the fiber type, color, and the laser wavelength.