Unanalyzed evidence in law‐enforcement agencies

Strom, Kevin J.; Hickman, Matthew

doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2010.00635.x

Cited by 129 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…For county and municipal labs, drug evidence attributed to the highest workload, highlighting the burden of this routine casework at the local level. Of the overall backlog of evidence reported (i.e., 1 .2 million requests), forensic biology accounted for~75%, with controlled substance attributing to a more modest 12%. Though novel training [4] and funding initiatives [5] have helped to contend with the demand, forensic biology has proven to be indispensable for suspect identification, leading to a significant level of outsourcing to private labs [6,7].…”

Section: A Review Of the 2009 Census For Publicly Funded Forensicmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analytical Validation of a Portable Mass Spectrometer Featuring Interchangeable, Ambient Ionization Sources for High Throughput Forensic Evidence Screening

Lawton

Traub

Fatigante

et al. 2016

J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom.

103

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Abstract. Forensic evidentiary backlogs are indicative of the growing need for costeffective, high-throughput instrumental methods. One such emerging technology that shows high promise in meeting this demand while also allowing on-site forensic investigation is portable mass spectrometric (MS) instrumentation, particularly that which enables the coupling to ambient ionization techniques. While the benefits of rapid, on-site screening of contraband can be anticipated, the inherent legal implications of field-collected data necessitates that the analytical performance of technology employed be commensurate with accepted techniques. To this end, comprehensive analytical validation studies are required before broad incorporation by forensic practitioners can be considered, and are the focus of this work. Pertinent performance characteristics such as throughput, selectivity, accuracy/precision, method robustness, and ruggedness have been investigated. Reliability in the form of false positive/negative response rates is also assessed, examining the effect of variables such as user training and experience level. To provide flexibility toward broad chemical evidence analysis, a suite of rapidly-interchangeable ion sources has been developed and characterized through the analysis of common illicit chemicals and emerging threats like substituted phenethylamines.

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Section: A Review Of the 2009 Census For Publicly Funded Forensicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…C ontrolled substance analysis plays a major role in both the typical workload and the substantial evidence backlog that burdens the public forensic laboratory system and impedes ongoing criminal investigations and judicial processing [1,2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytical Validation of a Portable Mass Spectrometer Featuring Interchangeable, Ambient Ionization Sources for High Throughput Forensic Evidence Screening

Lawton

Traub

Fatigante

et al. 2016

J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom.

103

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“…It has also been strongly argued that a holistic approach to forensic science, recapturing a generalist approach, would lead to increased quality and effectiveness. The closer integration of forensic scientists with investigators [16,21,[34][35][36][37][38], the importance of initial crime scene activities [16,30,33], and increased emphasis on supporting investigative and intelligence activities [21,23,[39][40][41][42], are also major important focus areas, as are the definition of specific roles and positions for case management or the coordination of forensic science services [2,24,29,43]. Most broadly, there remains no consensus for the placement of forensic science services within the criminal justice system as a whole [23].…”

Section: Implementation Of These Four Roles Within An Organizational mentioning

confidence: 99%

Illustration and analysis of a coordinated approach to an effective forensic trace evidence capability

Stoney

2015

Forensic Science International

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“…This is especially true when the global effectiveness of forensic science is questioned regularly [9][10][11]. Other studies and estimates show that only a small proportion (10-20%) of the materials recovered at the crime scene make their way to the laboratory [22].…”

Section: (B) Cost -Benefit Issue Of Trace Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

The end of the (forensic science) world as we know it? The example of trace evidence

Roux

Talbot-Wright

Robertson

et al. 2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The dominant conception of forensic science as a patchwork of disciplines primarily assisting the criminal justice system (i.e. forensics) is in crisis or at least shows a series of anomalies and serious limitations. In recent years, symptoms of the crisis have been discussed in a number of reports by various commentators, without a doubt epitomized by the 2009 report by the US National Academies of Sciences (NAS 2009 Strengthening forensic science in the United States: a path forward). Although needed, but viewed as the solution to these drawbacks, the almost generalized adoption of stricter business models in forensic science casework compounded with ever-increasing normative and compliance processes not only place additional pressures on a discipline that already appears in difficulty, but also induce more fragmentation of the different forensic science tasks, a tenet many times denounced by the same NAS report and other similar reviews. One may ask whether these issues are not simply the result of an unfit paradigm. If this is the case, the current problems faced by forensic science may indicate future significant changes for the discipline. To facilitate broader discussion this presentation focuses on trace evidence, an area that is seminal to forensic science both for epistemological and historical reasons. There is, however, little doubt that this area is currently under siege worldwide. Current and future challenges faced by trace evidence are discussed along with some possible answers. The current situation ultimately presents some significant opportunities to re-invent not only trace evidence but also forensic science. Ultimately, a distinctive, more robust and more reliable science may emerge through rethinking the forensics paradigm built on specialisms, revisiting fundamental forensic science principles and adapting them to the twenty-first century.

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Unanalyzed evidence in law‐enforcement agencies

Cited by 129 publications

References 10 publications

Analytical Validation of a Portable Mass Spectrometer Featuring Interchangeable, Ambient Ionization Sources for High Throughput Forensic Evidence Screening

Analytical Validation of a Portable Mass Spectrometer Featuring Interchangeable, Ambient Ionization Sources for High Throughput Forensic Evidence Screening

Illustration and analysis of a coordinated approach to an effective forensic trace evidence capability

The end of the (forensic science) world as we know it? The example of trace evidence

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