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Forensic Science
Criminal cases are very dependent upon evidence to prove or disprove the facts of the case. The analysis of evidence requires a wide breadth of scientific knowledge and the latest scientific techniques as well as proper evidence procedures.
1,792 Questions
Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or AFIS
Calvin Goddard
Hans Gross
How evidence can be destroyed at a crime scene?
It is illegal to destroy evidence at a crime and can result in jail time.
What is a forensic criminologist?
A forensic criminologist studies crime and criminals and with the purpose of addressing legal and investigative questions. He analyzes evidences and compares case facts and circumstances.
Who undertook the first study of fingerprints?
In 1684, the English physician, botanist, and microscopist Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712) published the first scientific paper to describe the ridge structure of the skin covering the fingers and palms. In 1685, the Dutch physician Govard Bidloo (1649-1713) and the Italian physician Marcello Mappighi (1628-1694) published books on anatomy which also illustrated the ridge structure of the fingers. A century later, in 1788, the German anatomist Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer (1747-1801) recognized that fingerprints are unique to each individual.
What is the origin of DNA evidence in crime scenes?
According to Answers.com DNA profiling was developed in 1984 by British geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys, and first used in forensic science to convict Colin Pitchfork in the 1988 Enderby murders case.
http://www.answers.com/DNA
How can police tell if you robbed someone?
Various pieces of information can add up to make police suspicious. They can include:
1) The victim reports a robbery and identifies you in some way.
2) You were seen at the time and place of the crime (by people or by surveillance devices).
3) You are in possession of stolen property or an unusual amount of money that is not easily explained.
4) Forensic evidence linking you to the crime scene and/or the victim's person. This can include fingerprints, hair, fabric fibers, mud, plant material, tire tracks, and many other details.
Can clothing prevent tattooing and stippling to a contact gunshot wound?
Yes, thick and/or dense clothing that does not allow the burnt gunpowder to make contact with a victim's skin can severly reduce or prevent stippling all together.
How do forensic scientists tell how old a body is by the skeleton?
There are clues to the person's age at death in the bones and teeth. The teeth are used to determine age, especially in children, they can see if they are the permanent teeth or, in younger children, the "baby teeth". Since we know the approximate age that most children get their permanent teeth, that gives one point of reference in finding the age. The length of the long bones of the arms and legs can also indicate an age range. Cartilage in some places hardens with age.
There are growth plates at the ends of the bones and depending on what state they are in, a forensic scientist can come up with still another age range. Each time they look at one piece of the skeleton and compare it to the age ranges deduced from the other parts of the skeleton, they can further narrow down to an educated guess of the age of the person at death. One of the best clues in women is the shape of the pelvic bones (which widen as the woman ages and change significantly in shape with pregnancy and childbirth).
But, probably the best clues to the age come from the skull. For examples:
- The skull is made up of many separate bones, how tightly these bones fit together can provide clues to age. When a baby is born they have the two large "soft spots" (fontanels) and several other smaller ones on their skulls. They are "soft" because they have larger sections of cartilage that have not hardened and won't until a certain age of growth and development of the infant. If the posterior fontanel is closed, then a full term baby is over eight weeks old. If the anterior fontanel is closed, then the baby is around 18 months old (some close as early as 9 months, but the scientists will use the range of 9-18 months in making the age determination).
- The larger plates of bone in the skull are separated at first and grow together over the course of a lifetime. How tightly knit and close together these separations are can tell a lot about age. The lines where these bones start to "knit" together are called suture lines. These places "knit" and become tighter and tighter all our lives and the sutures are completely closed in some people only after they are Senior Citizens.
I am not a scientist so I don't know how forensic scientists tell. I do know who does know. At the University of Tennessee there is a "body farm" used to study that very subject. It was established because most scientists had very different methods and ideas on how to tell how long a body had been dead. A professor at the University of Tennessee thought it was time to get past the many theories and get real scientific data. Go to the University of Tennessee web site and look for the College of Arts and Science, Forensic Anthropology Center or use the link provided below in the related links section.
How much money does a Hyundai platinum technician make?
At $30.00 per flat rate you can make over $90k a year.
What is a Forensic Firearms Examiner?
Answer:
Not being an expert in the language of the courts, this answer will be from a layman's standpoint, and therefore subject to improvement by those better qualified.
Basically, the term "forensic" means "of or pertaining to the court."
This term, when used in front of the name of one discipline or another, indicates that the individual with that title is a specialist in the named field, and due to education, training, and experience, can be considered to be in that upper echelon of the field such that the court(s) deem him/her to be an "expert"under the rules of the court, and therefore qualified to testify as to his/her "opinion" regarding the meaning of evidence.
Ordinary witnesses as to facts in a case are not allowed to testify as to their opinions, while a recognized expert IS allowed to testify as to his/her opinion. The key word here is opinion.
Therefore, a Forensic Firearms Examiner would be one who, based on his/her education, training, and experience in the examination and analysis of firearms, is qualified to testify in a court of law regarding his/her opinion as to a variety of points relating to firearms.
Under what circumstances may forensic accountants be called upon as expert witnesses in court?
The need for an expert witness who is a forensic accountant generally arises when there is a dispute involving some area of accounting expertise
What are health benefits of being a crime scene investigator?
Well I geuss my answer would be:
# The possability of contracting a numerous amount of diseases
# Loss of your marriage due to long hours on the job
# Becoming mentaly unstable due to disturbing long time exposure to crime scenes
OR
# The possability of being shot, injured, or death.
Does Tennessee university keep bodies under the football field?
yes there is
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Can you send an anonymous greeting card off for fingerprints to find out who sent it?
Possibly. You would have to speak with a private investigator to determine whether they could test for prints and whether they have access to a database to compare the fingerprints with.
Additional: As correctly stated above, the difficulty would lie in doing a comparison of the prints. The only reliable nationwide database of fingerprint files is kept and maintained by the F.B.I. The chance that a private investigator or forensic lab would be allowed access to it for a matter of idle curiosity is, NONE.
What is An alternate crime scene where additional evidence of a crime may be found?
Almost anywhere that the perpetrator goes subsequent to the commission of the offense. Wherever he may deposit or leave evidence connected to the original offense becomes an alternate scene. ALSO: If the offense actually occurred in one location (say a murder) and the body was moved to another location - BOTH would be crime scenes.
Why should forensic evidence be placed in paper bags or envelopes rather than plastic bags?
Forensic evidence should be placed in paper bags or envelopes rather than plastic bags to prevent the growth of mold or mildew due to trapped moisture. Paper allows for air circulation and can prevent the degradation of evidence caused by moisture accumulation, which can compromise the integrity of the evidence.
In the end of the Bones episode The Proof in the Pudding did it turn out to be JFK or not?
We do not know for sure because Brennan lied to Booth so that he would think it wasn't him, but we learn that it still could have been.
How long does it take to earn a bachelor's degree in forensic psychology?
It usually takes about 4 years to receive a Bachelor's Degree
I might also add that it depends on entrance testing of basic skills, credit load per semester, and whether the individuals attends on a full-time or part-time basis. It is typically true that a bachelors degree is a four year program of study, however that is if it is taken as prescribed by the college or university. In many cases completion of the degree takes longer. For example, look at the following statistics.
U.S. Public Four-Year Institutions 45.9% finished within four years 43.5% finished within four to six years and 10.6% finished between five and six years.
The above does not include private institutions. Still the private colleges and universities are much the same with many in the 30 to 45 percent range of completing the degree within four years.
The source of the above statistics were retrieved from, http://www.ous.edu/dept/ir/reports/fact_book_2002/timedeg.pdf
Can multiple DNA samples from the same individual match?
Yes, they will match to each sample from the same person.
