Forensic Science Service Research Articles

Elements of a forensic intelligence model

Intelligence began as a military tool and has been in practice for centuries. Relatively speaking, forensic intelligence is in its infancy as the focus of forensic science has traditionally been the courts and the resolution of crime. The focus for forensic intelligence is crime prevention, crime disruption and a reduced fear of crime and there is an emphasis on quick results. The usual chronic backlogs that haunt forensic science prevent quick results and so the default position is courts and crime resolution. However, in a number of jurisdictions in Australia, the introduction of at-scene or on-submission triaging and the digital capture, transmission and comparison of fingerprints is leading to a marked reduction in turnaround times for forensic science results; particularly those that are effective sources of intelligence. Aspects of forensic science service delivery such as organisational structure and culture, IT capability, the relationship between police and scientists and interim reporting need to be re-considered as key elements in a forensic intelligence model. However, forensic intelligence should not stand on its own. It should become an integral part of the overall investigative tool and intelligence-led strategies.

The Market Future for Forensic Science Services in England and Wales

The creation of a competitive market to provide Forensic Science Services (FSSs) to the police within England and Wales has resulted in some notable gains but current trends are now attracting predictions of potential disaster. This article describes the background to the present arrangements and provides an analysis of predicaments exacerbated by the closure of the FSS—namely the regulatory gap, the justice deficit, market instability, and threats to research and development. Drawing on Gallop’s professional experience as a forensic scientist and both authors’ involvement in the Independent Police Commission, this article argues that a free market will inevitably result in compromises to the criminal justice system. Suggestions are posed for a managed market to avert disaster.

Direct amplification of casework bloodstains using the Promega PowerPlex(®) 21 PCR amplification system.

A significant number of evidence items submitted to Forensic Science Service Tasmania (FSST) are blood swabs or bloodstained items. Samples from these items routinely undergo phenol:chloroform:isoamyl alcohol organic extraction and quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) testing prior to PowerPlex(®) 21 amplification. This multi-step process has significant cost and timeframe implications in a fiscal climate of tightening government budgets, pressure towards improved operating efficiencies, and an increasing emphasis on rapid techniques better supporting intelligence-led policing. Direct amplification of blood and buccal cells on cloth and Whatman FTA™ card with PowerPlex(®) 21 has already been successfully implemented for reference samples, eliminating the requirement for sample pre-treatment. Scope for expanding this method to include less pristine casework blood swabs and samples from bloodstained items was explored in an endeavour to eliminate lengthy DNA extraction, purification and qPCR steps for a wider subset of samples. Blood was deposited onto a range of substrates including those historically found to inhibit STR amplification. Samples were collected with micro-punch, micro-swab, or both. The potential for further fiscal savings via reduced volume amplifications was assessed by amplifying all samples at full and reduced volume (25 and 13μL). Overall success rate data showed 80% of samples yielded a complete profile at reduced volume, compared to 78% at full volume. Particularly high success rates were observed for the blood on fabric/textile category with 100% of micro-punch samples yielding complete profiles at reduced volume and 85% at full volume. Following the success of this trial, direct amplification of suitable casework blood samples has been implemented at reduced volume. Significant benefits have been experienced, most noticeably where results from crucial items have been provided to police investigators prior to interview of suspects, and a coronial identification has been successfully completed in a short timeframe to avoid delay in the release of human remains to family members.

Hair analysis to demonstrate administration of amitriptyline, temazepam, tramadol and dihydrocodeine to a child in a case of kidnap and false imprisonment

Amitriptyline, temazepam, tramadol and dihydrocodeine are prescription-only-medications that are rarely prescribed to children. Each of these drugs has a sedative effect on the central nervous system; their combined use could cause an exacerbation of the sedative effects. Amitriptyline (a tricyclic antidepressant) can be prescribed to treat nocturnal enuresis; temazepam (a hypnotic) can be used as a premedicant in inpatient and day-case surgery; tramadol (a synthetic opioid analgesic) is used to treat moderate or severe pain, though it is not recommended for children under the age of 12 years and dihydrocodeine (opioid analgesic), which is available in combination with acetaminophen (Co-dydramol®), is not recommended for children under the age of 4 years; in children over 4 years, a reduced dose is necessary. The North West Forensic Science Service Laboratory, Euxton, Lancashire, was asked by a British police force to analyze three separate hair samples, which had been collected from a young child following their discovery as a result of a large scale kidnap and false imprisonment investigation. After decontamination and segmentation (20 x 1-cm section), two of the three hair specimens were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry after alkaline (pH 9.5) extraction using methylene chloride/isopropanol/n-heptane (25:10:65, v/v/v). The entire length of each hair specimen tested positive for amitriptyline and nortriptyline (7–314 pg/mg amitriptyline; 7–318 pg/mg nortriptyline), temazepam (2–29 pg/mg), tramadol (60–2000 pg/mg) and dihydrocodeine (10–90 pg/mg) demonstrating that the child had ingested these drugs on more than one occasion prior to the kidnap. In this case, the child's mother and the mothers' partner were found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. There are very few studies citing the concentrations of these drugs in children – especially children's hair samples. This case demonstrates the added value of hair testing and emphasizes the importance of using hair samples to complement conventional analysis.

Medico-Legal Death Investigation Systems in the Pacific and Creating a Stronger Pacific Disaster Victim Identification Network

Introduction: The Pacific Island Countries (PICs) consist of 20,000 to 30,000 scattered islands spread across 8.5 million square kilometers of Ocean. There are three ethnogeographic distinct sub-groupings in the Pacific and they are Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. The evolution of the global Medico-Legal Death Investigation (MDI) system has produced the Coroner's, Medical examiner's and the newer European Continental systems. However, the PICs maintain post-colonial mixed medico-legal systems. Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) is an important part of the MDI system. Objective: To review the MDI systems in the PICs and the recommend measures accordingly to strengthen the network for DVI in the Pacific. Methods: This is a qualitative research paper focusing on independent self-governing PICs from Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. Discussion: The PICs criminal codes, legal systems and post-colonial adaption of MDI systems are emerging. There are also many developmental limitations for MDI systems in the PICs. Despite the profound historical evidence of disasters of varying magnitudes, the Pacific MDI and DVI network exists as an informal one through personal acquaintance. Therefore, this demands a better and effective MDI system in the PICs particularly with regards to DVI. Conclusion: The need to fortify and better the DVI network in the Pacific will depend on good regional indicators. There is a crucial need for the operatives of the MDI system in the PICs to form a link through intergovernmental participation and association with other Pacific networks to drive the sustained development of the national and regional MDI system. Through this collaboration the Pacific DVI network could also be established centrally in a PIC that has a steady Forensic Science Service. Upcoming Forensic experts could operate out of this central location to serve the PICs accordingly. This eventually will achieve a standard practice and regionalization of the Pacific MDI network.

Forensic science service provider models: data-driven support for better delivery options

There are a variety of models for the delivery of forensic science analysis in service to the justice system. In answer to the question as to whether there is a ‘best’ option for the delivery of forensic science services, New Zealand’s Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) has been offered as a model which demonstrates a comparative advantage over the delivery of forensic services in more traditional models. The support for that assertion rests in the ability of the ESR to react at the speed of business and avoid bureaucratic drag found too often in the public sector. This efficiency argument addresses one dimension of the search for ‘best’ delivery. The second dimension involves the discovery of the optimal scale of operation to take efficiency and turn it into cost effectiveness.

Familial searching: A specialist forensic DNA profiling service utilising the National DNA Database® to identify unknown offenders via their relatives—The UK experience

The National DNA Database (NDNAD) of England and Wales was established on April 10th 1995. The NDNAD is governed by a variety of legislative instruments that mean that DNA samples can be taken if an individual is arrested and detained in a police station. The biological samples and the DNA profiles derived from them can be used for purposes related to the prevention and detection of crime, the investigation of an offence and for the conduct of a prosecution. Following the South East Asian Tsunami of December 2004, the legislation was amended to allow the use of the NDNAD to assist in the identification of a deceased person or of a body part where death has occurred from natural causes or from a natural disaster. The UK NDNAD now contains the DNA profiles of approximately 6 million individuals representing 9.6% of the UK population. As the science of DNA profiling advanced, the National DNA Database provided a potential resource for increased intelligence beyond the direct matching for which it was originally created. The familial searching service offered to the police by several UK forensic science providers exploits the size and geographic coverage of the NDNAD and the fact that close relatives of an offender may share a significant proportion of that offender's DNA profile and will often reside in close geographic proximity to him or her. Between 2002 and 2011 Forensic Science Service Ltd. (FSS) provided familial search services to support 188 police investigations, 70 of which are still active cases. This technique, which may be used in serious crime cases or in 'cold case' reviews when there are few or no investigative leads, has led to the identification of 41 perpetrators or suspects. In this paper we discuss the processes, utility, and governance of the familial search service in which the NDNAD is searched for close genetic relatives of an offender who has left DNA evidence at a crime scene, but whose DNA profile is not represented within the NDNAD. We discuss the scientific basis of the familial search approach, other DNA-based methods for eliminating individuals from the candidate lists generated by these NDNAD searches, the value of filtering these lists by age, ethnic appearance and geography and the governance required by the NDNAD Strategy Board when a police force commissions a familial search. We present the FSS data in relation to the utility of the familial searching service and demonstrate the power of the technique by reference to casework examples. We comment on the uptake of familial searching of DNA databases in the USA, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. Finally, following the adverse ruling by the European Court of Human Rights against the UK in regard to the S & Marper cases and the consequent introduction of the Protection of Freedoms Act (2012), we discuss the impact that changes to regulations concerning the storage of DNA samples will have on the continuing provision of familial searching of the National DNA Database in England and Wales.

Criminal Justice, Science and the Marketplace: The Closure of the Forensic Science Service in Perspective

Despite hesitant beginnings the Forensic Science Service (FSS) prospered institutionally, as the dominant supplier of forensic science services to the police, after the introduction of neoliberal policies. This ended when the FSS overreached itself and the intensification of neoliberal policies created an incongruity between its organisational objectives and those of its clients. The fortunes of UK forensic science and the FSS diverged long before its closure. Academic and learned society evidence to a Select Committee inquiry into this event, and the influence that this had on the Committee's report, illustrates this change. This expert testimony also explains the importance of the normative, epistemic and professional aspirations of criminal justice practitioners for ensuring the value of forensic science to criminal justice. We argue that the risks threatening scientific evidence, particularly recurrent problems of under-funding and unequal access for the defence, may be masked by older narratives of neoliberalism or too narrow an institutional focus.

A “Gold Standard” Forensic Laboratory Model

ABSTRACT What might a “gold standard” or perfect public forensic laboratory model be? Is there such a thing as a perfect model? Public forensic laboratories can be set up and operated in a variety of ways but no single, exemplary structure exists. This article addresses such questions about forensic laboratories as, “To which agency in local, state or federal government should a forensic laboratory be placed?”, “Is there such a thing as an appropriate level of service?”, and “Is the present system of delivering forensic science services within the criminal justice system the most efficient or effective arrangement?”, in the discussion of what a model forensic laboratory might look like.

The Forensic Sciences: Ideally, How Might They be Delivered?

ABSTRACTIt may reasonably be argued that the existing “non-system” delivery of forensic science services in the United States described in the report is because it was never planned or developed as a system. There never has been a conceptual model for an ideal, effective, efficient, reliable forensic science delivery system. Developing such a model would be a substantial challenge and would require a significant effort by knowledgeable creative stakeholders. One such model, the conceptualization of an ideal forensic science delivery system, is described in this article.

Assessing Healthcare Facilities Preparedness for Mass Fatalities Incident

Background: Any healthcare facility must be prepared to handle a dramatic increase in deaths that can be produced by a catastrophic disaster. A mass fatality incident (MFI) will significantly increase the usual number of deaths that hospitals or forensic science services can manage on a daily basis. A survey was conducted to assess the hospital emergency department level of preparedness to deal with an MFI. Objective: To examine healthcare facilities level of preparedness for an MFI and morgue capacity. Methods: A total of 39 out of a sample of 44 hospitals participated in the study. Seven questionnaires were administered to explore: hospital general characteristics; emergency plans; equipment and infrastructure; collaborative agreements; personnel trainings; emergency communications; laboratory facilities; treatment protocols; security; and, epidemiologic surveillance. Results: Three-fourths (79.5%) of the healthcare facilities reported having a morgue, their average storage capacity was of three bodies. More than two-thirds (66.7%) of the institutions stated that they could not increase their morgue’s capacity. Most installations without a morgue do not possess an agreement with any other institution for the management of bodies. Hospitals have a very limited number of body bags utilized for the handling and transport of bodies. Conclusion: Most of healthcare facilities have morgues, but there are limitations with the current capacity and the lack of resources to increase their capacity in case of a disaster. Management of an MFI must be part of every hospital’s emergency plan, and must include collaborative agreements with forensic authorities, emergency management and public health agencies, and the community.

Concentrations of drugs determined in blood samples collected from suspected drugged drivers in England and Wales

This communication reports the blood concentrations of alcohol and drugs from 376 cases of alleged driving under the influence of drugs analysed at the Forensic Science Service Chorley and London laboratories between February 2010 and March 2011. The samples were analysed for alcohol, amphetamine, benzodiazepines, cocaine, MDMA, opiates, γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), ketamine, methadone and methylmethcathinone (the 4-isomer of which is known as mephedrone). The results were interpreted with respect to the number and type of drugs of abuse detected and the concentrations measured. Alcohol was quantified in 113 cases (30%), and of these a level in excess of the prescribed UK limit for driving of 80 mg% was present in 90 cases. In 80 cases, only the concentration of alcohol was measured, the concentrations of both drugs and alcohol were measured in 33 cases. In the remaining 263 cases, only the concentrations of relevant drugs of abuse were measured. The most common drug of abuse quantified was cocaine which was detected in 92 cases, either as the active drug or as its major metabolite benzoylecgonine, followed by diazepam which was quantified in 76 cases. Concentrations of some new drugs, and drugs rarely reported in driving under the influence cases are also presented.

Should Higher Education respond to recent changes in the forensic science marketplace?

The evolution of forensic science within the United Kingdom over the past four decades has been rapid and dynamic. This has included policy responses to highly public miscarriages of justice, introduction of commercialisation and pioneering scientific developments such as DNA profiling. However even within this context, changes within forensic science over the last two years has been unprecedented; such as the closure of The Forensic Science Service; a Home Office review of Research and Development within forensic science; the challenges facing fingerprint identification as a result of The Fingerprint Inquiry (Scotland) and the embryonic development of a new professional body for the police force. Correspondingly, development of forensic science within Higher Education (HE) has been substantially transformed from a small number of Masters Courses in forensic science delivered by a small number of universities, to a plethora of undergraduate courses now available throughout the United Kingdom. This rapid expansion of forensic science courses has been openly criticised and debated and it is incumbent upon the university to not only focus on education but also to provide graduates with transferrable skills making them more employment ready. As a consequence HE establishments must be cognisant of and reactive to changes within any associated industry and respond to changes accordingly. However, have the universities delivering forensic science courses fully responded to these recent and unprecedented developments in the history of forensic science within the United Kingdom? This paper will consider the most recent changes to the forensic science marketplace and their ramifications for forensic science education within the HE sector. Challenges which have resulted from the changes will be highlighted and the educational impact on forensic science courses throughout the UK and their future will be evaluated in chronological order.

Should Forensic Science Services be Independent of Policing? A Critical Reflection

The organisational arrangements that connect forensic science and police organisations vary across different countries. At an institutional and governance level, a key debate in the international context has been, and continues to be, the extent to which forensic services should, or should not, be located within police departments. This comment will adopt a historical and comparative perspective to critically identify, and address, the key issues in this debate. It concludes that both policing and forensic science need to move to adopt the characteristics of a profession in order to establish an improved basis for professional interaction that is based on shared core values.

Efficiency and the Cost-Effective Delivery of Forensic Science Services: Insourcing, Outsourcing, and Privatization

Abstract Budgets for forensic science laboratories have always been meager relative to the caseload demands on their services, but the pressure to do more with less has been growing at a more rapid pace recently for laboratories around the world. Much of this pressure is related to the stress on government budgets from global recession. During any fiscal crisis, governments look to areas in which public budgets can cut costs to move toward greater fiscal responsibility; in the most recent global recession those cuts, some draconian, have affected forensic science laboratories with some notable reductions in force. Rather than passively await the decisions of officials from outside the laboratory environment, laboratories may have a greater hand in their destiny through preemptive action before unwanted changes are thrust upon them. To do so it is essential that laboratory directors have a firm grasp on foundational economic realities. With that knowledge, directors can begin to use those realities to increase cost-effectiveness while maintaining efficiency. In many situations the optimal response may be to make cross-jurisdictional agreements to insource or outsource casework. In other situations the response may lead to reorganizing existing or opening new facilities to spread a heavy caseload among multiple laboratories for a more effective division of services. In some circumstances a private sector solution may be optimal as excess caseloads are outsourced to private laboratories or entire investigative areas diverted to the for-profit market.

Quantifying the Weight of Evidence from a Forensic Fingerprint Comparison: A New Paradigm

SummaryThe fingerprint has, with considerable justification, come to be regarded as the acme of forensic identification. Over the last century, millions of cases have been resolved world wide because of marks left at crime scenes. The comparison methodology has not evolved greatly during its history and it is universal practice to present fingerprint evidence to a court as a categoric opinion of identification or exclusion, or to classify the evidence as inconclusive and not to report it. There has been a growing movement to supplement the fingerprint examination process by one that has a statistical model, supported by appropriate databases for calculating numerical measures of weight of evidence. The movement calls for the establishment of a logical framework for informing conclusions, based on explicit assumptions and data and open to revision and improvement. The aim is to enable the numerical evaluation of evidence that would currently be reported as a categorical identification and also of evidence that would currently be classified as inconclusive. The paper presents the results of a project carried out by the Forensic Science Service that aims to attain this goal. After a historical review, we describe a formal model for assigning numerical values to configurations of minutiae in fingerprints. We describe how the parameters of the model have been optimized to take account of interoperator variability and distortion of the finger pad, and we present the results of a substantial validation experiment that was based on searches that have been carried out on the US national fingerprint database of approximately 600 million fingerprints.

Is Privatization Inevitable for Forensic Science Laboratories?

Abstract Given the recent global recession, many national governments have been forced to implement austerity measures, and the forensic science industry has not been immune to such changes. Proposals to privatize some or all aspects of forensic science services have been bantered about for decades, but the recent economic climate has brought this idea back to the forefront of public debates. Although privatization has been shown to have many benefits in the provision of other goods and services, the idea of privatizing forensic services has been harshly criticized by scholars and practitioners. This paper explores some of those criticisms through the lens of economics, and arguments are offered regarding why market approaches in forensic science may be more successful than might have originally been imagined under certain conditions. On the other hand, recognition of those economic forces and reaction by forensic laboratories to address inefficiencies may provide the effective delivery of forensic servic...

Forensic Science Service closure jeopardizes justice

“The Government did not consider enough evidence in its decision-making… Examining the possible impacts of a decision after the decision has been made contradicts the concept of evidence informing policy.” House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report into the closure of the Forensic Science Service.

Strategic Management of Forensic Laboratory Resources: From Project FORESIGHT Metrics to the Development of Action Plans

Abstract The project FORESIGHT stated objectives begin with the development of metrics applicable to the activity of forensic science laboratories. These metrics enable a laboratory to assess how they fit within the forensic science industry and offer a glance at the levels of performance that they might be able to achieve. FORESIGHT's mission goes on to state the intent for laboratories to use those measurements to “preserve what works, and change what does not” (Houck et al. 2009, p. 85). This paper addresses the strategic implications of those additional aspects of the FORESIGHT mandate with a view of the strategic planning process for a forensic science laboratory. The keys to the development of an ongoing strategic planning and execution process are outlined, and then the actions of one laboratory, Ontario's Centre of Forensic Sciences, are examined to demonstrate the move from metrics to action. While there cannot yet be made a claim of “best practices,” this Canadian example offers some guidance to “better practices” in the quest for continual improvement in the provision of forensic science services.

Forensic science service provider models – Is there a ‘best' option?

The form and functions of a forensic science service provider are determined by interactions between: • the legal system under which it operates; • the law enforcement agency or agencies which it services; • the policies of the government of the country concerned; • the historical legacy of the evolution of services in that country. In New Zealand, the forensic science services that support the criminal justice system are provided mainly by ESR, a Crown Research Institute (CRI), established under an Act of Parliament that sets out principles of operation. As a CRI, ESR operates as a financially self-sustaining, crown-owned company under a fee for service arrangement. This is an unusual service provider model internationally. In this paper, the strengths and weaknesses of this model will be described and contrasted with other options. This organisational model fosters independence, management flexibility and responsiveness to changes and challenges. This will be illustrated with descriptions of forensic science developments in New Zealand and the challenges associated with these, including the introduction of LCN (low template DNA) services, approaches to evidence interpretation, familial matching, collaborative projects with NZ Police on improving the effectiveness of forensic science and initiatives to add value to the forensic science services delivered.