Forensic Science

forensic science

The word Forensic comes from the Latin forensus, meaning of the forum.1 In

ancient Rome, the forum was where lawmaking debates were held, but it was also

where trials were held just like modern day courthouses. From that, forensic

science has come to mean the application of the natural and physical science to

the motion of matters within a legal context2. Forensic Science can be viewed as

a tripartite structure consisting of a Collection, which pertains to the science

investigation, Examination, which pertains to the medical investigation and,

Presentation, which pertains to the courts. A forensic case will involve all

aspects of each of the three structured elements, each being as important as the

other. It is obvious that there needs to be a shared approach for the successful

end of each case. Each step in forensic science must be done in an exact order;

therefore it can be assured that the investigation can have few doubts about

what is being debated. In this paper I will focus my attention on the first

aspect of the three-step structure, Collections and Scientific Investigation. I

will show what should be done at crimes scenes, how crime scenes should be

handled and what steps must be followed to ensure that all evidence is

uncontaminated as when the crime was committed.

The purpose of crime scene investigation is to help establish what happened at

the crime and to identify the responsible person or people. Carefully

documenting the situation at a crime scene and recognizing all-important

physical evidence do this. The ability to recognize and properly collect

physical evidence is often times vital to both solving and prosecuting violent

crimes. It is no exaggeration to say that in the majority of cases, the law

enforcement officer who protects and searches a crime scene...