Leading-edge forensic DNA analyses and the necessity of including crime scene investigators, police officers and technicians in a DNA elimination database

Lapointe, Martine; Rogic, Anita; Bourgoin, Sarah; Jolicoeur, Christine; Séguin, Diane

doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2015.06.002

Cited by 30 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The accuracy obtained by three methods shows the same pattern, that is, the accuracy decreases as the information we can get from the thermalfoot curve reduces. As we can observe in Table 1, the subjective calculation 2 outperforms the subjective calculation 1 . Nonetheless, as the information we can use is reduced, the difference between these two methods becomes small.…”

Section: Comparison With Subjective Calculation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…In the trend of high-tech crime, the police's criminal investigation ability is facing new breakthrough challenges. In the context of the intelligent era, to meet people's demand for the secure and stable development of society, many scientists in related fields have studied several advanced criminal investigation means, such as forensic DNA analysis technology [1,2], polygraph detection technology based on information analysis [3,4], and trace material evidence identification technology [5,6]. DNA analysis technology utilizes the DNA left at crime scenes to identify criminals with high matching degree and sensitivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating Departure Time Using Thermal Camera and Heat Traces Tracking Technique

Wang

et al. 2020

Sensors

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Advancement in science and technology is playing an increasingly important role in solving difficult cases at present. Thermal cameras can help the police crack difficult cases by capturing the heat trace on the ground left by perpetrators, which cannot be spotted by the naked eye. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to establish a thermalfoot model using thermal imaging system to estimate the departure time. To this end, in the current work, we use a thermal camera to acquire the thermal sequence left on the floor, and convert it into the heat signal via image processing algorithm. We establish the model of thermalfoot print as we observe that the residual temperature would exponentially decrease with the departure time according to Newton’s Law of Cooling. The correlation coefficients of 107 thermalfoot models derived from the corresponding 107 heat signals are basically above 0.99. In a validation experiment, a residual analysis is conducted and the residuals between estimated departure time points and ground-truth times are almost within a certain range from −150 s to +150 s. The reverse accuracy of the thermalfoot model for estimating departure time at one-third, one-half, two-thirds, three-fourths, four-fifths, and five-sixths capture time points are 71.96%, 50.47%, 42.06%, 31.78%, 21.70%, and 11.21%, respectively. The results of comparison experiments with two subjective evaluation methods (subjective 1: we directly estimate the departure time according to obtained local curves; subjective 2: we utilize auxiliary means such as a ruler to estimate the departure time based on obtained local curves) further demonstrate the effectiveness of thermalfoot model for detecting the departure time inversely. Experimental results also demonstrated that the thermalfoot model has good performance on the departure time reversal within a short time window someone leaves, whereas it is probably only approximately 15% to accurately determine the departure time via thermalfoot model within a long time window someone leaves. The influence of outliers, ROI (Region of Interest) selection, ROI size, different capture time points and environment temperature on the performance of thermalfoot model on departure time reversal can be explored in the future work. Overall, the thermalfoot model can help the police solve crimes to some extent, which in turn brings more guarantees for people’s health, social security, and stability.

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Section: Comparison With Subjective Calculation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Departure Time Using Thermal Camera and Heat Traces Tracking Technique

Wang

et al. 2020

Sensors

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“…[55,56] Furthermore, forensic DNA consumables such as cotton swabs may be contaminated by manufacturers as revealed in the famous "Phantom of Heilbronn" case. [57,58] These factors, together with record handling errors, interpretation and transcription of data errors, may contribute to database contamination. [24] One effective strategy to overcome database contamination is the establishment of elimination databases, which can be crosschecked to eliminate unwanted DNA data.…”

Section: Challenges Of the Pofa Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[24] One effective strategy to overcome database contamination is the establishment of elimination databases, which can be crosschecked to eliminate unwanted DNA data. [58][59][60][61] Another strategy is routine integrity checks of loaded DNA data. [34] The presence of unwanted profiles on the database can mislead the police or delay the resolution of cases.…”

Section: Challenges Of the Pofa Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The UK National DNA Database: Implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Amankwaa

McCartney²

2018

Forensic Science International

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In 2008, the European Court of Human Rights, in S and Marper v the United Kingdom, ruled that a retention regime that permits the indefinite retention of DNA records of both convicted and non-convicted ("innocent") individuals is disproportionate. The court noted that there was inadequate evidence to justify the retention of DNA records of the innocent. Since the Marper ruling, the laws governing the taking, use, and retention of forensic DNA in England and Wales have changed with the enactment of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA). This Act, put briefly, permits the indefinite retention of DNA profiles of most convicted individuals and temporal retention for some first-time convicted minors and innocent individuals on the National DNA Database (NDNAD). The PoFA regime was implemented in October 2013. This paper examines ten post-implementation reports of the NDNAD Strategy Board (3), the NDNAD Ethics Group (3) and the Office of the Biometrics Commissioner (OBC) (4). Overall, the reports highlight a considerable improvement in the performance of the database, with a current match rate of 63.3%. Further, the new regime has strengthened the genetic privacy protection of UK citizens. The OBC reports detail implementation challenges ranging from technical, legal and procedural issues to sufficient understanding of the requirements of PoFA by police forces. Risks highlighted in these reports include the deletion of some "retainable" profiles, which could potentially lead to future crimes going undetected. A further risk is the illegal retention of some profiles from innocent individuals, which may lead to privacy issues and legal challenges. In conclusion, the PoFA regime appears to be working well, however, critical research is still needed to evaluate its overall efficacy compared to other retention regimes.

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“…These contamination events represent one of the most frequent sources of error in forensic genetics and can have serious consequences for the judicial system [2]. First, the unwanted profile might mask the DNA profile of a crime stain and prevent the use of relevant profiles [3]. Second, as long as it is unidentified, an irrelevant profile might create erroneous investigative leads.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive impact of DNA contamination minimization procedures taken within the laboratory

Basset

Castella

2019

Forensic Science International: Genetics

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A study of the impact of DNA contamination minimization procedures  Contamination minimization procedures significantly decrease contaminations  Minimization procedures should be implemented all along the chain of analysis 2 ABSTRACT DNA contamination incidents are one of the most frequent sources of error in forensic genetics and can have serious consequences. It is therefore essential to take measures to prevent these events and to monitor the real impact of contamination minimization procedures. In this study, we review and compare the number of contamination events detected on trace samples analyzed by the Forensic Genetic Unit (FGU) of the University Center of Legal Medicine in Switzerland before and after the implementation of new contamination minimization procedures. Interestingly, the number of contamination events by laboratory staff was significantly reduced by more than 70% after the implementation of the procedures. However, no significant change was observed for contamination events by police collaborators. This difference is likely to be explained by the differential impact of procedures taken in the laboratory and on crime scene. It suggests that the reduction observed for laboratory contamination incidents is due to the new procedures taken. In conclusion, our study highlights that taking appropriate measures is efficient and can reduce the number of contamination incidents. However, it is important that such contamination minimization procedures be implemented all along the chain of analysis of a stain (i.e. from crime scene to the laboratory).

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Leading-edge forensic DNA analyses and the necessity of including crime scene investigators, police officers and technicians in a DNA elimination database

Cited by 30 publications

References 14 publications

Estimating Departure Time Using Thermal Camera and Heat Traces Tracking Technique

Estimating Departure Time Using Thermal Camera and Heat Traces Tracking Technique

The UK National DNA Database: Implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Positive impact of DNA contamination minimization procedures taken within the laboratory

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