Safety Protocols for Forensic Inspections in the Time of COVID-19: An Approach to Protect Practitioners

Abstract

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has impacted the entire world in ways that were unimaginable months ago. It has changed how professionals work and interact with one another. To ensure the safety of experts and attorneys, also forensic inspection procedures must evolve, while still providing a reliable foundation for an expert testimony, relevant to the task at hand. Traditional field inspections require attendees to be physically present and generally in close proximity. Inspecting artifacts may also require that individual components be serially examined by multiple experts, which increases the risk of transmitting the disease. The authors propose a new approach to forensic inspections aimed at protecting consultants from the biological risk due to COVID-19. This approach takes into account the anticontagion safety protocols established in affected countries around the world.