Appraising the Forensic Services in Crime Investigation: A Study on Police Officers from Gamo Zone in SNNPR, Ethiopia

Abstract

Criminal investigation is an art of uncovering the truth for the purpose of successful detection and prosecution. A successful and reliable investigation to stand for the justice requires a competent investigator and the use of technological aids from forensic and other scientific disciplines. This paper investigates the common perception among the police officers at different designation levels working in the Gamo region, SNNPR on the application of forensic services in crime investigation. The major objectives of this study are to a) Identify the level of awareness on forensic service among the crime investigation officers and b) To identify the lacunae in implementation of forensic services in crime investigation process. The sample size of 70 police officers in all categories of Constable, SubInspector, Inspector, Deputy Commissioner in the Gama zonal region were included as respondents of the study. A purposive sampling method was adopted and structured questionnaire was used for the data collection. Statistical interpolation of the results was done using SPSS software. This study identified the lack of awareness among the police officers working in lower hierarchy level (<50%) on various forensic services, specialized forensic divisions, and application of forensic approaches during crime investigation. A positive correlation was observed with respect to the designation of officers and the lack of awareness among the police officers. Majority (<65%) of the police officers were not aware of the existence of fingerprinting division in the country. There exists a poor communication between key actors in the criminal justice system and financial resources not directed at the front end of the forensic process. The outcomes of this study would facilitate the identification of the lacunae in implementation of forensic services in the crime investigation process. This study emphasizes the need for immediate attention on managing the forensic illiteracy among police officers, mainly on the field such as fingerprint analysis, criminal investigation methods and cybercrime. It is the need of hour to promote the establishment of forensic wing at Gamo zonal level law enforcement.