Homicide

The popular television show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigations has been on the air for 12 years, and it has brought forth the behind-the-scenes actions of criminal investigations, even if its portrayals are not always scientifically accurate. This has caused an interest in the forensic sciences that has led most people to a skewed view of how a criminal investigation actually works. The reality of a criminal investigation is that it is generally more tedious and difficult than the theory of criminal investigation would have you believe. By examining the forensic and investigative procedures of the case of Pamela Foddrill, it is apparent that the theory of criminal investigation was not representative of the procedures concerning examination

When people usually hear the word forensics they usually automatically visualize crime scenes filled with things that can vary from blood, bullets, fingerprints ect. Unfortunately, it is not as cut and dry as you think, you're only seeing a small piece of the picture. The subject of forensics itself is very broad and actually involves a variety of different sciences all mixed together including, biology, chemistry, genetics, toxicology, phonetics, medicine, engineering, anthropology and many more. It is one of the fields of law enforcement, were technology and crime-solving all come together as one. Gathering the information needed to figure out what happened and the methods used to connect pieces of evidence to the crime scene were also not

“Forensic science has become in the early 21st century what the space race was in the 1960s- an accessible and inspiring (Gaensslen) into the world of science” (Gaensslen ix). This may be true but forensic has not always existed forever. Many people began hearing about forensic science during the 1990s when many of crime shows became popular. In actuality forensic science goes as far back as ancient China. Sculptors used fingerprints to identify their artwork from that of others. This may not be what forensics has evolved into but it had to begin somewhere. The first text reference of forensics first showed up in Hsi Duan Yu, which was published in about 700 CE (Hunter 18). It noted that many bodies have various characteristics that make them different. Many of the early forensic advances took place in the 1700 and 1800s. In 1784 the physical matching of evidence began. It was first used in the case of John Toms to link him and a piece of pistol wadding to a murder (Lotter). From then on forensics began to grow exponentially. “A major landmark in forensic science, the discovery that

Forensic science in the 1940s - 1970s is still being used today to determine the suspect of a crime. During the late 1900s, Forensic scientist began to determine different pieces of evidence that could lead them to the suspect of a crime. Scientist began to realized that they could use technology to help them identify suspects of a murder. According to Elkins Kelly, “ Forensic science is a broad field that includes the discipline of pathology, psychiatry, engineering, computer science, toxicology, odontology, anthropology, and botany, as well as the chemical, physical and biological sciences.”(Kelly,1). Scientist have identified new ways to determine the suspect of crimes. Voice recordings became very essential in the 1940s -1970s as evidence

A thirst for knowledge can lead to many great achievements in life and provide a tremendous understanding of a subject that was unfamiliar or ambiguous to most people, which benefits society. The more that people understand and study a subject, the subject becomes more simple and straightforward. When people strive for information, people are now able to stop and keep atrocious behaviors at bay. In the non-fiction book, “The Killer of Little Shepard,” written by Douglas Star is an engaging book about the development of forensic science that lead to the birth of modern forensics. The author gives great details on how the formation towards modern forensics while telling the story of a serial killer- Joseph Vacher- in late 19th century France;

In my opinion the law enforcement should keep going to find the unresolved homicide because if it was on of there family members they would want them to keep finding out who did it for justice.Just because it is not one of there own you still have to find out who did it because there are families out there still wondering who killed their loved one and they want that person to go to prison and stop them from killing someone else's loved ones.Even if it takes years for law enforcement to find there killer you have to find out who it was and if the family tells you just to give up then you can but overall it depends on the families.For example in the article “Open Cases: Why one-third of murders in America go unresolved” by Martin Kaste.He interviews a lady named Delica Turner and she said “ I think that the Police just give up”, her husband was murdered and they still haven't found out who it was.

After doing their job in he crime scene, the evidence they took will be taken to the forensic scientist. Crime scene investigators will look at the photographs and connect their theories based on the crime that occurred. The forensic scientists will also examine the victim’s clothes, while the medical examiner will analyze the victim’s body for more clues and evidence that they may find and they will all be doing this in the crime lab. The things they may find could be hair, fiber, semen, blood, another person’s DNA, bruises and many more. After the forensic scientists

I have always loved suspenseful whodunit television shows, movies, and books that use forensic science to crack the cases. My favorite television show is The First 48, my favorite movie is The Silence of the Lambs, and my favorite book is The Body Farm. Therefore, I was excited to have the opportunity to take this course and learn even more about the subject of forensics. This essay gives a summary of N. E. Genge’s book, The Forensic Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation, and includes the things I disliked and liked about the book.

The world used to be a place filled with questions and answers that could not be found. As the years have gone by, evidence at a crime scene has become progressively more understood and the world is now a place filled with questions that there are answers to. To get where detectives are today, it took years of experiments, building and knowledge of technology that expanded the mind to places that are hard to believe. Technology is the basis of what it takes to find the vastest amount of information that evidence can provide. It can hold, prove and find information that in past years, could not. Due to the advances in technology, specifically through DNA, fingerprinting and lighting systems, crime scene evidence collection has grown tremendously.

Is there such a thing as the perfect crime? In 1979, US Army captain Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that three “Hippies” broke into his house and attacked him and stabbed his wife and daughters. Despite the Army captain’s careful attempts to conceal evidence, Forensic Scientists were able to prove that MacDonald himself was guilty. Police Lab shows how Forensic Scientists gather and analyze evidence, examine weapons and bodies and use DNA testing and other techniques to help solve crime. Twenty real-life case studies show that Forensic Scientists in action and demonstrate the fascinating secrets of police labs.

As the first responding officer to a homicide crime scene my job would be to protect the crime scene from entry of unnecessary or unauthorized persons so that physical evidence will not be altered, moved, destroyed, lost, or contaminated. So any person or persons still on the crime scene when I arrive will be asked to remove themselves or be escorted away from the crime scene and the crime scene will be roped off with official police tape. My job would not be to examine the contents of the scene but to make sure police officers, including supervisory personnel, who do not have a specific or valid reason for being at the crime scene to be regarded as unauthorized persons and not be permitted in. This is called safeguarding the crime scene, and by doing this I would be identifying and documenting the presence of the officials entering the crime scene by maintaining a Crime Scene Sign-In procedure to assure crime scene integrity and prevent unauthorized personnel.

Forensic science has been a revelation in law enforcement. After the first American forensic lab was established in 1929 by the Los Angeles police department, using forensic sciences has been pretty much used in every major crime investigation (What is Forensic Science, p.1). What exactly is forensic science? According to an article put out by the University of Western Australia, "Forensics is the term given to an investigation of a crime using scientific means. It is also used as the name of the application of scientific knowledge to legal matters" (What is Forensic Science, p.1). Forensics is fairly open ended;

There are more than 400 forensic laboratories in the US and close to the same amount in Europe. A man by the name of Tjin-A-Tsoi is a chief executive officer for the Netherlands Forensic Institute. He’s accomplished a lot throughout his life including his PhD in theoretical physics. According to Tjin-A-Tsoi, forensic science has become the playmaker in many types of investigations. People who have lost a loved one in a tragic unsolved case deserve to know answers and thats where forensic science comes in. These are the people that gather the evidence, run some tests, and solve for the answers. If it wasn't for forensic scientist, attorneys would not have reliable evidence to support their case. There are a number of reasons why forensic science has become dominant figure towards investigations, but nothing surpasses the reliability and rapid response this department

Forensic in Latin means ¨public forum¨ which refers to anything to do with courts of law. Forensic science uncovers details about a piece of evidence and helps the police understand what took place at the crime scene. Forensic science began at an early time. The first forensic book was written in 1248 in China. The book was called ¨Hsi Duan Yu¨ The washing away of wrongs. In 1590 Hollands Zacharias Janssen created the world's first microscope, it used two or more lenses (¨Forensics: solving the crimes¨). During the 1700s it became important for the use of studying of blood and microorganisms (¨Forensics: solving the crimes¨). A forensic fire investigator James Marsh of England found a method for detecting arson in 1836 (¨Police Lab¨). The system

The origins of forensic science can be traced back thousands of years. The first mention of scientific method being used in regards to solving crimes can be found as early as the Egyptians (Jost, 2009) . This timeline of forensic science can be further traced to ancient Greeks where the famous Greek physician Hippocrates gave testimony