A Writer's Take

I'm really enjoying The Writer's Forensic Blog. It's written by the author of Forensics for Dummies, so it's in layman's terms. The content ranges from forensic tools and techniques, to fiction novel descriptions, to case studies. The author's own website offers useful links for writers, but could certainly also be useful links for PI's!

What's the answer?

In light of what I've already posted, I wonder if private, independent crime labs would be of benefit. A little online research dug up names of a couple of these such labs, Integrated Forensic Laboratories and Intermountain Forensic Laboratories, Inc.. There must be a market. Will this be the future of forensic science? Or will states and cities be able to recover from backlogs and scandal?

DNA Fingerprinting

I’d like to draw attention to an article by Liliana Segura quoted in the blog, Double Standards of Justice. It gives a great discussion of the issues that have arisen since the expansion of the DNA fingerprinting program in the US in 2003. This really highlights and gives some perspective to the 2 posts below on this topic.

Contributing Factors?

I added The The CQ Researcher to my Blog List because they recently published a couple interesting posts about forensics. In July, they published an "Overview on the report Examining Forensics", referring to a booklength report by the National Research Council on the status of forensic science in the United States. As noted in the blog, the report called for the following:
• Mandatory accreditation of forensic science labs
• Separation of labs from law enforcement and prosecutorial bodies
• Certification of lab personnel
• New standards and quality control
• Creation of an independent National Institute of Forensic Science

Most of this isn’t surprising. Accreditation and certification procedures should have been instituted long ago. What IS interesting is the call for making the forensic science labs independent for police and prosecutors. I’ll touch more on that in my next post, as I’m curious to see if anyone out there reading this has any opinions/thoughts on the matter.

Another issue contributing to the negative press about crime labs and forensic science is the problem of backlog. Kenneth Jost of The CQ Researcher discusses this in his blog post. According to the NRC report, the number of backlogged cases in the US jumped 25% between 2002 and 2005. In June, LA’s Sheriff’s Department announced it was halting DNA testing in sexual assault cases because the processing of the large number of rape-kits was too labor- and cost-intensive.

Which brings us to budgets. Science is an expensive endeavor. It’s costly to start these labs, and costly to maintain them. And if you want the best and brightest working these cases, there needs to be some incentive, be it financial, or be it job flexibility (e.g. research opportunities). There’s certainly a potential hazard in giving the state the right to decide the success of its crime labs. I’ve seen it first-hand in my state of Massachusetts. A friend of mine once referred to the State Labs as the place “where scientists go to die.” Okay, a little overdramatic, but you get the point…

Bad Business

As I’ve researched opinions about crime labs and forensic science, I’ve noticed an increase in negative press. I’d like to touch on this a bit in my next few posts. I think there’s always been a bit of a divide between scientists and the general public. It seems the field of forensics/criminalistics has never really been viewed accurately. Initially, people didn’t believe in it. More recently, with the addition of popular shows like CSI, people perhaps believed a little too much in it. Now, we’re swinging back around to viewing it with a certain amount of leeriness. This swing is in part due to the mounting number of cases of botched results. The science isn’t wrong, but any time a person is responsible for a piece of evidence, an element of human error enters into the picture. Unfortunately, this error can put an innocent person in prison. Take the case of Ben Laguer of Massachusetts, convicted of rape in 1983. When lab personnel intermingled his personal items with those from the crime scene, DNA contamination was inevitable. In 2005, the Houston Crime Lab came under fire for 2 analysts accused of faking drug test results. Sometimes human error is inadvertent and sometimes it is intentional, but either way it’s bad for business.

New Beginnings

Well, this is my first attempt at a blog. Let me write a little about myself. I've been working in various molecular biology and microbiology research labs for 10 years. I never pursued an advanced degree because I knew I didn't want to stay in this field forever. After much soul-searching, it occurred to me that information science is something that would suit my personality and skill-set. I've also always had an interest in criminal law and the idea of being a private investigator is really intriguing. When I heard about Boston University's Certificate Program in Professional Investigation, I knew this was something I needed to pursue. My goal with this blog is to have a place where I can share thoughts and news about this exciting field!