Forensics History
Theresia L. Coates
Criminal Justice 1010

Forensics History
What does Forensics mean? How old is forensic science? When it was first applied to the law? How has the Forensic science changed the arrest and prosecution success of criminals? The term "forensic" comes from the Latin and means, simply, having to do with the law. How has Forensics evolved from the beginning until today? Let us delve into the history of forensics and its blossoming partnership with the law.
Surprisingly, Forensic Science has been around and used in criminal investigations in some manner since before the Roman Empire making it centuries old. It has only been within the last century that law enforcement agencies and the court systems have come to rely so heavily on the use of scientific practices in crime scene investigations.1 The first application of forensic science was by the Roman physician Antistius in the year 44 B.C., whom examined the body of Julius Caesar. He determined even though the dictator was stabbed 23 times, only one wound through his chest caused his actual death. This autopsy is thought to be the first one recorded and the start of using forensic science. Here in the Greek and Roman society extensive knowledge was developed regarding the production, use and symptoms of various poisons, making it possible to identify their use in previously undetected murders. Thanks to these western civilizations advances in the medical field as well as pharmacology were great and continued to grow until the decline of the Roman Empire. With the decline of the Roman Empire the applications of forensics remained fairly stagnant for the next millennium.
Some interesting facts, the Germanic and Slavic societies were believed to be the first to put down in statute that medical experts should be employed to determine cause of death. China produced the first textbook on forensic medicine in 1247 stating the procedures to be followed when investigating a suspicious death. The 1887 coroners act ensured that an integral part of the coroners’ role was to determine the circumstances and the medical causes of sudden, violent and unnatural deaths. These writings were the beginning of what we know of forensics today.
Alphonse Bertillon was a French criminologist and anthropologist created the first system of physical measurements, photography, and record-keeping that police could use to identify recidivist criminals. Before Bertillon, suspects could only be identified through eyewitness accounts and unorganized files of photographs. Mathieu Orfila was often called the "Father of Toxicology," he was the first great 19th-century exponent of forensic medicine. Orfila made studies of asphyxiation, the decomposition of bodies, and exhumation. He also worked to make chemical analysis a routine part of forensic medicine. He helped to develop tests for the presence of blood in a forensic context and is credited as one of the first people to use a microscope to assess blood and semen stains. No mention of the history of forensic science would be complete without discussing the tremendous contributions of Dr. Edmond Locard, a French scientist and criminologist who had studied law and medicine. Locard proposed the notion that "everything leaves a trace," a principle that prevails today in crime scene investigation. Locard's Exchange Principle espoused the idea that everything and everyone that enters a crime scene leaves some piece of evidence behind. Likewise, everyone and everything takes some piece of the crime scene with them when they leave. Locard developed the world’s first crime lab when he convinced the police department in Lyon, France to provide him with an office and a staff to analyze evidence obtained from crimes.
In 1880 the work of Henry Faulds and William James Herschel, who published a study in the scientific journal Nature that detailed the fact that human fingerprints were unique to individuals and that no two sets were identical. This study had professional support and was accepted as fact in the court system, paving the way for broad use of the identification technique that has become a mainstay in the criminal justice field now for more than a century. The first time a fingerprint was accepted as evidence was in 1890s in an Argentine court. Developing techniques for identifying individuals by their fingerprints was one of the first significant achievements in the field. In the 19th century, it was discovered that almost any contact between a finger and a fixed surface left a latent mark that could be made visible by a variety of procedures (e.g., the use of a fine powder). Historically, searching fingerprint collections was a time-consuming manual task, relying on various systems of classification. Until the mid-nineteenth century, the use of science in investigations was known and discussed, but the proper application of scientific principles had not yet been fully fleshed out. Throughout history, there had been examples of various pieces of evidence leading to convictions or acquittals that would seem to fall in line with what we know recognize as forensics. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw an explosion of recorded incidents of the use of scientifically obtained evidence to solve crimes and win convictions. Evidentiary techniques including connecting a piece of crumbled newspaper used for wadding in a pistol to a matching, torn piece of paper in a suspect's pocket as well as matching clothing fibers, grains and footprints to those found on a suspect accused of murdering a young woman.1 The development in the 1980s of computerized databases for the electronic storage and rapid searching of fingerprint collections has enabled researchers to match prints much more quickly. The FBI, for example, reportedly held millions of prints in its electronic database at the beginning of the 21st century. Fingerprints found at crime scenes thus can be matched with fingerprints in such collections. Forensic crime laboratories are responsible for examining and reporting on physical evidence collected during criminal investigations for federal, state, and local jurisdictions. The nation’s forensic crime laboratories receive requests for a variety of forensic services, such as DNA analysis, controlled substance identification, and latent fingerprint examination. Just as with the use of fingerprints, DNA evidence can implicate or eliminate a suspect. It also can analyze unidentified remains through comparisons with DNA from relatives. Additionally, when evidence from one crime scene is compared with evidence from another using Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), those crime scenes can be linked to the same perpetrator locally, statewide, and nationally.
The recent use of DNA in criminal investigations has lead not only to positive identification of countless criminals, but it has also lead to overturns of prior convictions and the release of 242 innocent people. With new advances in police technology and computer science, crime scene investigation and forensic science will only become more precise as we head into the future. Some of the newest technological advancements in forensic science genetic fingerprinting, DNA testing, DNA typing, and DNA profiling. The important thing to note is all of these terms refer to techniques and scientific procedures that can be employed to differentiate between individuals; as such, DNA in a legal context is synonymous with forensic identification.
According to the Human Genome Project Information website, the forensic identification process involves forensic scientists scanning 13 DNA regions. Data extracted is then used to create an individual DNA profile (also known as a DNA fingerprint). The Human Genome Project Information website lists a number of DNA Uses for Forensic Identification, these include:
•Identify potential suspects whose DNA may match evidence left at crime scenes
•Exonerate persons wrongly accused of crimes
•Identify crime and catastrophe victims
•Establish paternity and other family relationships
•Identify endangered and protected species
•Detect bacteria and other organisms that may pollute air, water, soil, and food
•Match organ donors with recipients in transplant programs
•Determine pedigree for seed or livestock breeds
•Authenticate consumables such as caviar and wine
DNA fingerprinting (e.g., hair, sperm, and blood) has been used to exclude a suspect or establish guilt with a high degree of probability since the late 1980s. Other substances, such as fibers, paper, glass, and paint, can yield considerable information under microscopic or chemical analysis. Paint, for instance, discovered at the scene of the crime can be tested to determine whether they are similar to that of the suspects’ vehicle or house.
Biometrics technology is another power house that is emerging and growing fast in the field of forensics. Some of the biometric-based methods that are in use are: hand geometry, facial and voice recognition, vein patterns, and human body odor .Veins like fingerprints are unique to every individual. Two systems that use vein imaging are Vein Viewer and Palm Secure. E-noses have to an extent detecting human body odor. In China the government began gathering odor in a database back in 2006 and have successfully used it in solving many cases. The forensic work is now more often than not preceding an arrest. Instead of being entered into the investigation process post crime, post investigation, post suspect arrest but before prosecution. So in other words, its role begins immediately after a crime is committed to assist investigators in developing leads and or to identify possible suspects. This transition highlights the increased significance of forensic science in the criminal investigative process.
I would like to conclude with some statistics I have found from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
CODIS-NDIS Statistics
The National DNA Index (NDIS) contains over 11,219,527 offender1 profiles, 2,065,806 arrestee profiles and 590,079 forensic profiles as of October 2014. Ultimately, the success of the CODIS program will be measured by the crimes it helps to solve. CODIS’s primary metric, the “Investigation Aided,” tracks the number of criminal investigations where CODIS has added value to the investigative process. As of October 2014, CODIS has produced over 263,847 hits assisting in more than 252,272 investigations.

UTAH Statistical Information Total
Offender Profiles 90,683
Arrestee 2,595
Forensic Profiles 766
NDIS Participating Labs 1
Investigations Aided 78

Works Cited:
Forensic Science: An Early History
The Origins and History of the Use of Scientific Principles in Criminology
By Timothy Roufa
Criminology Careers Expert
Alphonse Bertillon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Forensic DNA
All-About-Forensic-Science.com
Human Genome Project Information website
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Footnote:
1: Forensic Science: A Modern History
The Use of Scientific Principles in Criminology in Recent History
By Timothy Roufa
Criminology Careers Expert