Editing Forensic science (section)

== Education and training ==
Initial glance, forensic intelligence may appear as a nascent facet of forensic science facilitated by advancements in information technologies such as computers, databases, and data-flow management software. However, a more profound examination reveals that forensic intelligence represents a genuine and emerging inclination among forensic practitioners to actively participate in investigative and policing strategies. In doing so, it elucidates existing practices within scientific literature, advocating for a paradigm shift from the prevailing conception of forensic science as a conglomerate of disciplines merely aiding the criminal justice system. Instead, it urges a perspective that views forensic science as a discipline studying the informative potential of traces—remnants of criminal activity. Embracing this transformative shift poses a significant challenge for education, necessitating a shift in learners' mindset to accept concepts and methodologies in forensic intelligence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Alvarez-Cubero |first1=Maria Jesus |last2=Saiz |first2=Maria |last3=Martínez-García |first3=Belén |last4=Sayalero |first4=Sara M. |last5=Entrala |first5=Carmen |last6=Lorente |first6=Jose Antonio |last7=Martinez-Gonzalez |first7=Luis Javier |date=2017-10-03 |title=Next generation sequencing: an application in forensic sciences? |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03014460.2017.1375155 |journal=Annals of Human Biology |language=en |volume=44 |issue=7 |pages=581–592 |doi=10.1080/03014460.2017.1375155 |pmid=28948844 |issn=0301-4460}}</ref>

Recent calls advocating for the integration of forensic scientists into the criminal justice system, as well as policing and intelligence missions, underscore the necessity for the establishment of educational and training initiatives in the field of forensic intelligence. This article contends that a discernible gap exists between the perceived and actual comprehension of forensic intelligence among law enforcement and forensic science managers, positing that this asymmetry can be rectified only through educational interventions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Prego-Meleiro |first1=Pablo |last2=García-Ruiz |first2=Carmen |last3=Sanz-Pareja |first3=Miguel |last4=Recalde Esnoz |first4=Irantzu |last5=Quintanilla |first5=M Gloria |last6=Montalvo |first6=Gemma |date=2022-08-01 |title=Forensic intelligence-led prevention of drug-facilitated sexual assaults. |journal=Forensic Science International |volume=337 |pages=111373 |doi=10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111373 |pmid=35803167 |issn=0379-0738|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The primary challenge in forensic intelligence education and training is identified as the formulation of programs aimed at heightening awareness, particularly among managers, to mitigate the risk of making suboptimal decisions in information processing. The paper highlights two recent European courses as exemplars of educational endeavors, elucidating lessons learned and proposing future directions.

The overarching conclusion is that the heightened focus on forensic intelligence has the potential to rejuvenate a proactive approach to forensic science, enhance quantifiable efficiency, and foster greater involvement in investigative and managerial decision-making. A novel educational challenge is articulated for forensic science university programs worldwide: a shift in emphasis from a fragmented criminal trace analysis to a more comprehensive security problem-solving approach.

===Development of forensic science===
[[File:Ambroise Paré.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ambroise Paré]]'s surgical work laid the groundwork for the development of forensic techniques in the following centuries.]]

In 16th-century Europe, medical practitioners in army and university settings began to gather information on the cause and [[manner of death]]. [[Ambroise Paré]], a French army [[surgery|surgeon]], systematically studied the effects of violent death on internal organs.<ref name=GAB>{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=Jack|title=Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive ...|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0465037186|page=79|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8xfs8tC8Ow0C&pg=PA79|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723015656/https://books.google.com/books?id=8xfs8tC8Ow0C&pg=PA79|archive-date=23 July 2016|date=27 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Porter|first1=Roy|title=The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 3, Early Modern Science|page=805|author2=Lorraine Daston|author3=Katharine Park}}</ref> Two [[Italian people|Italian]] surgeons, Fortunato Fidelis and Paolo Zacchia, laid the foundation of modern [[pathology]] by studying changes that occurred in the structure of the body as the result of disease.<ref name=THSC>{{cite book|last1=Suter|first1=Patricia|title=The Hanging of Susanna Cox: The True Story of Pennsylvania's Most Notorious Infanticide and the Legend that Kept it Alive|publisher=Stackpole Books|location=Mechanicsburg|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frLETA3uU08C&q=Fortunato+Fidelis+and+Paolo+Zacchia&pg=PA20|author2=Russell D. Earnest|author3=Corinne P. Earnest|isbn=978-0811705608|year=2010}}</ref>  In the late 18th century, writings on these topics began to appear. These included ''A Treatise on Forensic Medicine and Public Health'' by the French physician [[François-Emmanuel Fodéré]]<ref name=HoFM>{{cite book|last=Madea|first=Burkhard|title=Handbook of Forensic Medicine|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|location=Sussex|isbn=978-0470979990|page=10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QLQZAwAAQBAJ&pg=PR5|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505230656/https://books.google.com/books?id=QLQZAwAAQBAJ&pg=PR5&dq|archive-date=5 May 2016|date=4 March 2014}}</ref> and ''The Complete System of Police Medicine'' by the German medical expert [[Johann Peter Frank]].<ref name=MaSiEM>{{cite book|last=Lindemann|first=Mary|title=Medicine and Society in Early Modern Europe|publisher=University of Cambridge|location=Cambridge|isbn=0521412544|page=135|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQxAkrbksTEC&pg=PA135|date=28 October 1999}}</ref>

As the rational values of the [[Enlightenment era]] increasingly permeated society in the 18th century, criminal investigation became a more evidence-based, rational procedure − the use of torture to force confessions was curtailed, and belief in witchcraft and other powers of the [[occult]] largely ceased to influence the court's decisions. Two examples of English forensic science in individual legal proceedings demonstrate the increasing use of [[logic]] and procedure in criminal investigations at the time. In 1784, in [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]], John Toms was tried and convicted for murdering Edward Culshaw with a [[pistol]]. When the dead body of Culshaw was examined, a pistol wad (crushed paper used to secure powder and balls in the muzzle) found in his head wound matched perfectly with a torn newspaper found in Toms's pocket, leading to the [[conviction]].<ref name=SW>{{cite book|last=McCrery|first=Nigel|title=Silent Witnesses|publisher=Random House Books|location=London|isbn=978-1847946836|page=51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dynVJYcteEkC&pg=PA51|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513220434/https://books.google.com/books?id=dynVJYcteEkC&pg=PA51&dq|archive-date=13 May 2016|date=29 August 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Diego Alva - Forensics Final Project (4).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|This is an example and explanation of extractor/ejector marks on casings.]]

In [[Warwick]] 1816, a farm laborer was tried and convicted of the murder of a young maidservant. She had been drowned in a shallow pool and bore the marks of violent assault. The police found footprints and an impression from corduroy cloth with a sewn patch in the damp earth near the pool. There were also scattered grains of [[wheat]] and chaff. The breeches of a farm labourer who had been threshing wheat nearby were examined and corresponded exactly to the impression in the earth near the pool.<ref>{{cite book|title=Science Against Crime|vauthors=Kind S, Overman M|publisher=Doubleday|location=New York|year=1972|isbn=0385092490|pages=[https://archive.org/details/scienceagainstcr00kind/page/12 12–13]|url=https://archive.org/details/scienceagainstcr00kind/page/12}}</ref>

An article appearing in [[Scientific American]] in 1885 describes the use of [[microscopy]] to distinguish between the blood of two persons in a criminal case in Chicago.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4U9AQAAIAAJ|title=Scientific American|date=1885-09-26|publisher=Munn & Company|pages=200|language=en}}</ref>

=== Chromatography ===
[[Chromatography]] is a common technique used in the field of Forensic Science. Chromatography is a method of separating the components of a mixture from a mobile phase.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chromatography {{!}} Definition, Types, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/chromatography |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> Chromatography is an essential tool used in forensic science, helping analysts identify and compare trace amounts of samples including ignitable liquids, drugs, and biological samples. Many laboratories utilize [[gas chromatography]]/[[mass spectrometry]] (GC/MS) to examine these kinds of samples; this analysis provides rapid and reliant data to identify samples in question.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Shipman |first1=Robert |last2=Conti |first2=Trisha |last3=Tighe |first3=Tara |last4=Buel |first4=Eric |date=June 2013 |title=Forensic Drug Identification by Gas Chromatography – Infrared Spectroscopy |url=https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/242698.pdf |access-date=September 23, 2023}}</ref>

===Toxicology===
A method for detecting arsenious oxide, simple [[arsenic]], in corpses was devised in 1773 by the Swedish chemist, [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]].<ref name=DPaC>{{cite book|last=Bell|first=Suzanne|title=Drugs, Poisons, and Chemistry|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=978-0816055104|page=8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lq8IvpohnCwC&pg=PA8|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427082830/https://books.google.com/books?id=lq8IvpohnCwC&pg=PA8&dq|archive-date=27 April 2016|date=October 2008}}</ref> His work was expanded upon, in 1806, by German chemist Valentin Ross, who learned to detect the poison in the walls of a victim's stomach.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Forensic Analysis and DNA in Criminal Investigations: Including Cold Cases Solved|last=Parker|first=RJ|publisher=RJ Parker Publishing|year=2015|isbn=978-1514348369|pages=66}}</ref> Toxicology, a subfield of forensic chemistry, focuses on detecting and identifying drugs, poisons, and other toxic substances in biological samples. Forensic toxicologists work on cases involving drug overdoses, poisoning, and substance abuse. Their work is critical in determining whether harmful substances play a role in a person’s death or impairment. [https://www.dseodisha.com/forensic-science-exploring-key-types/ read more]

[[Image:Marsh test apparatus.jpg|thumb|left|Apparatus for the arsenic test, devised by [[James Marsh (chemist)|James Marsh]]]]
[[James Marsh (chemist)|James Marsh]] was the first to apply this new science to the art of forensics. He was called by the prosecution in a murder trial to give evidence as a chemist in 1832. The defendant, John Bodle, was accused of poisoning his grandfather with arsenic-laced coffee. Marsh performed the standard test by mixing a suspected sample with [[hydrogen sulfide]] and [[hydrochloric acid]]. While he was able to detect arsenic as yellow [[arsenic trisulfide]], when it was shown to the jury it had deteriorated, allowing the suspect to be acquitted due to reasonable doubt.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs/galleries/technologies/marsh.html |title=Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body: Galleries: Technologies: The Marsh test |access-date=2015-11-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007131101/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs/galleries/technologies/marsh.html |archive-date=7 October 2015 }}</ref>

Annoyed by that, Marsh developed a much better test. He combined a sample containing arsenic with [[sulfuric acid]] and arsenic-free [[zinc]], resulting in [[arsine]] gas. The gas was ignited, and it decomposed to pure metallic arsenic, which, when passed to a cold surface, would appear as a silvery-black deposit.<ref>{{cite book|last=McMuigan|first=Hugh|title=An Introduction to Chemical Pharmacology|publisher=P. Blakiston's Son & Co.|year=1921|location=Philadelphia|pages=396–397|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4I6AAAAMAAJ|access-date=2007-12-16}}</ref> So sensitive was the test, known formally as the [[Marsh test]], that it could detect as little as one-fiftieth of a milligram of arsenic. He first described this test in ''The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal'' in 1836.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Account of a method of separating small quantities of arsenic from substances with which it may be mixed|journal=Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal|volume=21|year=1836|pages=229–236|author=James Marsh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FR4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA229|publisher=A. and C. Black|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904044244/https://books.google.com/books?id=FR4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA229#v=onepage&q=%22detecting%20the%20presence%22&f=false|archive-date=4 September 2015}}</ref>

=== Ballistics and firearms ===
{{Main|Forensic firearm examination}}
Ballistics is "the science of the motion of projectiles in flight".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of BALLISTICS |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ballistics |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> In forensic science, analysts examine the patterns left on bullets and cartridge casings after being ejected from a weapon. When fired, a bullet is left with indentations and markings that are unique to the barrel and firing pin of the firearm that ejected the bullet. This examination can help scientists identify possible makes and models of weapons connected to a crime.

Henry Goddard at [[Scotland Yard]] pioneered the use of bullet comparison in 1835. He noticed a flaw in the bullet that killed the victim and was able to trace this back to the mold that was used in the manufacturing process.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h453proj/forensic1/Ballistics.htm|title=Ballistics|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017052224/http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h453proj/forensic1/Ballistics.htm|archive-date=17 October 2014|access-date=15 January 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Bullet Entry and Exit wound diagram.png|thumb|Entry/exit wounds based on the distance the firearm was discharged]]

===Anthropometry===
[[Image:Bertillon - Signalement Anthropometrique.png|right|thumb|150px|[[Book frontispiece|Frontispiece]] from [[Alphonse Bertillon|Bertillon's]] ''Identification anthropométrique'' (1893), demonstrating the measurements needed for his anthropometric identification system]]
The French police officer [[Alphonse Bertillon]] was the first to apply the anthropological technique of [[anthropometry]] to law enforcement, thereby creating an identification system based on physical measurements. Before that time, criminals could be identified only by name or photograph.<ref>As reported in, "A Fingerprint Fable: The Will and William West Case". {{cite web |url=http://www.scafo.org/library/110105.html |title=SCAFO Online Articles |access-date=2005-12-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051110105229/http://www.scafo.org/library/110105.html |archive-date=10 November 2005 }}</ref><ref name="Thompson 2007">Kirsten Moana Thompson, ''Crime Films: Investigating the Scene''. London: Wallflower Press (2007): 10</ref> Dissatisfied with the ''ad hoc'' methods used to identify captured criminals in France in the 1870s, he began his work on developing a reliable system of anthropometrics for human classification.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ginzburg|first=Carlo|author-link=Carlo Ginzburg|year=1984|chapter=Morelli, Freud, and Sherlock Holmes: Clues and Scientific Method|page=[https://archive.org/details/signthreedupinho00sebe/page/n118 105]|editor1-last=Eco|editor1-first=Umberto|editor1-link=Umberto Eco|editor2-last=Sebeok|editor2-first=Thomas|editor2-link=Thomas Sebeok|title=The Sign of Three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce|url=https://archive.org/details/signthreedupinho00sebe|url-access=limited|location=Bloomington, IN|publisher=History Workshop, Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253352354|lccn=82049207|oclc=9412985}}</ref>

Bertillon created many other [[forensics]] techniques, including [[forensic document examination]], the use of [[galvanoplastic]] compounds to preserve [[footprint]]s, [[ballistics]], and the [[dynamometer]], used to determine the degree of force used in [[burglary|breaking and entering]]. Although his central methods were soon to be supplanted by [[fingerprinting]], "his other contributions like the [[mug shot]] and the systematization of crime-scene photography remain in place to this day."<ref name="Thompson 2007"/>

===Fingerprints===
Sir [[Sir William Herschel, 2nd Baronet|William Herschel]] was one of the first to advocate the use of fingerprinting in the identification of criminal suspects. While working for the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]], he began to use thumbprints on documents as a security measure to prevent the then-rampant repudiation of signatures in 1858.<ref name="Herschel1916">{{Cite book|first=William J|last=Herschel|title=The Origin of Finger-Printing|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1916|isbn=978-1104662257|url=http://galton.org/fingerprints/books/herschel/herschel-1916-origins-1up.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725022215/http://galton.org/fingerprints/books/herschel/herschel-1916-origins-1up.pdf|archive-date=25 July 2011|access-date=15 January 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Fingerprints taken by William James Herschel 1859-1860.jpg|thumb|left|Fingerprints taken by [[William Herschel]] 1859/60]]
In 1877 at Hooghly (near Kolkata), Herschel instituted the use of fingerprints on contracts and deeds, and he registered government pensioners' fingerprints to prevent the collection of money by relatives after a pensioner's death.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=William James|last=Herschel|title=Skin furrows of the hand|journal=Nature|volume=23|issue=578|page=76|date=25 November 1880|bibcode=1880Natur..23...76H|doi=10.1038/023076b0|s2cid=4068612|url=http://galton.org/fingerprints/herschel-1880-nature-furrows.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615200727/http://galton.org/fingerprints/herschel-1880-nature-furrows.pdf|archive-date=15 June 2011|access-date=15 January 2014}}</ref>

In 1880, [[Henry Faulds]], a Scottish surgeon in a [[Tokyo]] hospital, published his first paper on the subject in the scientific journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', discussing the usefulness of fingerprints for identification and proposing a method to record them with printing ink. He established their first classification and was also the first to identify fingerprints left on a vial.<ref name=faulds1>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.galton.org/fingerprints/faulds-1880-nature-furrows.pdf|last=Faulds|first=Henry|title=On the skin-furrows of the hand|journal=Nature|volume=22|issue=574|page=605|date=28 October 1880|doi=10.1038/022605a0|bibcode=1880Natur..22..605F|s2cid=4117214|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912031154/http://www.galton.org/fingerprints/faulds-1880-nature-furrows.pdf|archive-date=12 September 2008|access-date=15 January 2014}}</ref> Returning to the UK in 1886, he offered the concept to the [[Metropolitan Police]] in London, but it was dismissed at that time.<ref name=reid1>{{Cite journal|last=Reid|first=Donald L.|year=2003|title=Dr. Henry Faulds – Beith Commemorative Society|journal=Journal of Forensic Identification|volume=53|issue=2}} See also this on-line article on Henry Faulds: {{cite web|url=http://www.galton.org/fingerprints/faulds.htm#herschel1880|title=Henry Faulds: the Invention of a Fingerprinter|first=Gavan|last=Tredoux|date=December 2003|publisher=galton.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602152655/http://galton.org/fingerprints/faulds.htm#herschel1880|archive-date=2 June 2013|access-date=15 January 2014}}</ref>

Faulds wrote to [[Charles Darwin]] with a description of his method, but, too old and ill to work on it, Darwin gave the information to his cousin, [[Francis Galton]], who was interested in anthropology. Having been thus inspired to study fingerprints for ten years, Galton published a detailed statistical model of fingerprint analysis and identification and encouraged its use in forensic science in his book ''Finger Prints''. He had calculated that the chance of a "false positive" (two different individuals having the same fingerprints) was about 1 in 64 billion.<ref name=galtonfps>{{cite web|url=http://www.clpex.com/Information/Pioneers/galton-1892-fingerprints-lowres.pdf|last=Galton|first=Francis|year=1892|title=Finger Prints|location=London|publisher=MacMillan and Co|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061012152917/http://www.clpex.com/Information/Pioneers/galton-1892-fingerprints-lowres.pdf|archive-date=12 October 2006}}</ref>

[[File:Fingerprinting 1928.jpg|thumb|Women clerical employees of the [[Los Angeles Police Department|LA Police Department]] getting [[fingerprint]]ed and photographed in 1928]]
[[Juan Vucetich]], an Argentine chief police officer, created the first method of recording the fingerprints of individuals on file. In 1892, after studying Galton's pattern types, Vucetich set up the world's first fingerprint bureau. In that same year, Francisca Rojas of [[Necochea]] was found in a house with neck injuries whilst her two sons were found dead with their throats cut. Rojas accused a neighbour, but despite brutal interrogation, this neighbour would not confess to the crimes. Inspector Alvarez, a colleague of Vucetich, went to the scene and found a bloody thumb mark on a door. When it was compared with Rojas' prints, it was found to be identical with her right thumb. She then confessed to the murder of her sons.

A Fingerprint Bureau was established in Calcutta ([[Kolkata]]), India, in 1897, after the Council of the Governor General approved a committee report that fingerprints should be used for the classification of criminal records. Working in the Calcutta Anthropometric Bureau, before it became the Fingerprint Bureau, were [[Azizul Haque (police officer)|Azizul Haque]] and [[Hem Chandra Bose]]. Haque and Bose were Indian fingerprint experts who have been credited with the primary development of a fingerprint classification system eventually named after their supervisor, [[Edward Henry|Sir Edward Richard Henry]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tewari|first1=RK|last2=Ravikumar|first2=KV|title=History and development of forensic science in India|journal=J Postgrad Med|year=2000|volume=46|issue=46|pages=303–308|pmid=11435664}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jan102005/185.pdf|first1=J.S.|last1=Sodhi|first2=asjeed|last2=Kaur|title=The forgotten Indian pioneers of finger print science|journal=Current Science|year=2005|volume=88|issue=1|pages=185–191|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050208112115/http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jan102005/185.pdf|archive-date=8 February 2005}}</ref> The [[Henry Classification System]], co-devised by Haque and Bose, was accepted in England and Wales when the first United Kingdom Fingerprint Bureau was founded in [[Scotland Yard]], the [[Metropolitan Police]] headquarters, London, in 1901. Sir Edward Richard Henry subsequently achieved improvements in dactyloscopy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Benjamin |title=The Fingerprint Sourcebook |url=https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/225320.pdf |website=Office of Justice Programs |publisher=National Institute of Justice |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref>

In the United States, Henry P. DeForrest used fingerprinting in the [[New York Police Department|New York Civil Service]] in 1902, and by December 1905, [[New York City Police Department]] Deputy Commissioner Joseph A. Faurot, an expert in the [[Alphonse Bertillon|Bertillon]] system and a fingerprint advocate at Police Headquarters, introduced the fingerprinting of criminals to the United States.<ref>Introduction to U.S. 23 Dec 1905 New York – The City Record Volume 33</ref>

===Uhlenhuth test===
The [[Uhlenhuth test]], or the antigen–antibody [[precipitin]] test for species, was invented by [[Paul Uhlenhuth]] in 1901 and could distinguish human [[blood]] from animal blood, based on the discovery that the blood of different species had one or more characteristic proteins. The test represented a major breakthrough and came to have tremendous importance in forensic science.<ref>Michael Kurland, ''Irrefutable Evidence: A History of Forensic Science'' (p. 200), Dee, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1461662396}}</ref> The test was further refined for forensic use by the Swiss chemist Maurice Müller in the  year 1960s.<ref>Keith Inman, Norah Rudin, ''Principles and Practice of Criminalistics: The Profession of Forensic Science'' (p. 32), CRC Press, 2000</ref>

===DNA===
Forensic [[DNA profiling|DNA analysis]] was first used in 1984. It was developed by Sir [[Alec Jeffreys]], who realized that variation in the genetic sequence could be used to identify individuals and to tell individuals apart from one another. The first application of DNA profiles was used by Jeffreys in a double murder mystery in the small English town of [[Narborough, Leicestershire]], in 1985. A 15-year-old school girl by the name of Lynda Mann was raped and murdered in Carlton Hayes psychiatric hospital. The police did not find a suspect but were able to obtain a semen sample.

In 1986, Dawn Ashworth, 15 years old, was also raped and strangled in the nearby village of [[Enderby, Leicestershire|Enderby]]. Forensic evidence showed that both killers had the same blood type. Richard Buckland became the suspect because he worked at Carlton Hayes psychiatric hospital, had been spotted near Dawn Ashworth's murder scene and knew unreleased details about the body. He later confessed to Dawn's murder but not Lynda's.  Jefferys was brought into the case to analyze the semen samples. He concluded that there was no match between the samples and Buckland, who became the first person to be exonerated using DNA. Jefferys confirmed that the DNA profiles were identical for the two murder semen samples. To find the perpetrator, DNA samples from the entire male population, more than 4,000 aged from 17 to 34, of the town were collected. They all were compared to semen samples from the crime.  A friend of [[Colin Pitchfork]] was heard saying that he had given his sample to the police claiming to be Colin. Colin Pitchfork was arrested in 1987 and it was found that his DNA profile matched the semen samples from the murder.

Because of this case, DNA databases were developed. There is the national (FBI) and international databases as well as the European countries (ENFSI: European Network of Forensic Science Institutes). These searchable databases are used to match crime scene DNA profiles to those already in a database.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/forensic-cases-colin-pitchfork-first-exoneration-through-dna.html|title=Forensic Cases: Colin Pitchfork, First Exoneration Through DNA|website=exploreforensics.co.uk}}{{Dead link|date=May 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Maturation===
[[File:JacktheRipperPuck.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Cartoon of a man holding a bloody knife looking contemptuously at a display of half-a-dozen supposed and dissimilar likenesses|Police brought to bear the latest techniques of forensic science in their attempts to identify and capture the serial killer [[Jack the Ripper]].]]

By the turn of the 20th century, the science of forensics had become largely established in the sphere of criminal investigation. Scientific and surgical investigation was widely employed by the [[Metropolitan Police]] during their pursuit of the mysterious [[Jack the Ripper]], who had killed a number of women in the 1880s. This case is a watershed in the application of forensic science. Large teams of policemen conducted house-to-house inquiries throughout Whitechapel. Forensic material was collected and examined. Suspects were identified, traced and either examined more closely or eliminated from the inquiry. Police work follows the same pattern today.<ref name=canter12>[[David Canter|Canter, David]] (1994), ''Criminal Shadows: Inside the Mind of the Serial Killer'', London: HarperCollins, pp. 12–13, {{ISBN|0002552159}}</ref> Over 2000 people were interviewed, "upwards of 300" people were investigated, and 80 people were detained.<ref>Inspector [[Donald Swanson]]'s report to the Home Office, {{Nowrap|19 October}} 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, quoted in Begg, ''Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History'', p. 205; Evans and Rumbelow, p. 113; Evans and Skinner, ''The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook'', p. 125</ref>

The investigation was initially conducted by the [[Criminal Investigation Department]] (CID), headed by Detective Inspector [[Edmund Reid]]. Later, Detective Inspectors [[Frederick Abberline]], [[Henry Moore (police officer)|Henry Moore]], and [[Walter Simon Andrews|Walter Andrews]] were sent from Central Office at [[Scotland Yard]] to assist. Initially, butchers, surgeons and physicians were suspected because of the manner of the mutilations. The alibis of local butchers and slaughterers were investigated, with the result that they were eliminated from the inquiry.<ref>Inspector Donald Swanson's report to the [[Home Office]], {{Nowrap|19 October}} 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, quoted in Begg, ''Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History'', p. 206 and Evans and Skinner, ''The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook'', p. 125</ref> Some contemporary figures thought the pattern of the murders indicated that the culprit was a butcher or cattle drover on one of the cattle boats that plied between London and mainland Europe. Whitechapel was close to the [[London Docks]],<ref>Marriott, John, "The Imaginative Geography of the Whitechapel murders", in Werner, p. 48</ref> and usually such boats docked on Thursday or Friday and departed on Saturday or Sunday.<ref>Rumbelow, p. 93; ''The Daily Telegraph'', {{Nowrap|10 November}} 1888, quoted in Evans and Skinner, ''The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook'', p. 341</ref> The cattle boats were examined, but the dates of the murders did not coincide with a single boat's movements, and the transfer of a crewman between boats was also ruled out.<ref>Robert Anderson to Home Office, {{Nowrap|10 January}} 1889, 144/221/A49301C ff. 235–236, quoted in Evans and Skinner, ''The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook'', p. 399</ref>

At the end of October, Robert Anderson asked police surgeon [[Thomas Bond (British physician)|Thomas Bond]] to give his opinion on the extent of the murderer's surgical skill and knowledge.<ref>Evans and Rumbelow, pp. 186–187; Evans and Skinner, ''The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook'', pp. 359–360</ref> The opinion offered by Bond on the character of the "Whitechapel murderer" is the earliest surviving [[Offender profiling|offender profile]].<ref name=canter5>Canter, pp. 5–6</ref> Bond's assessment was based on his own examination of the most extensively mutilated victim and the [[Autopsy|post mortem]] notes from the four previous canonical murders.<ref name=bond>Letter from Thomas Bond to Robert Anderson, {{Nowrap|10 November}} 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, quoted in Evans and Skinner, ''The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook'', pp. 360–362 and Rumbelow, pp. 145–147</ref> In his opinion the killer must have been a man of solitary habits, subject to "periodical attacks of homicidal and erotic [[mania]]", with the character of the mutilations possibly indicating "[[satyriasis]]".<ref name=bond/> Bond also stated that "the homicidal impulse may have developed from a revengeful or brooding condition of the mind, or that religious mania may have been the original disease but I do not think either hypothesis is likely".<ref name=bond/>

[[File:The Adventure of the Abbey Grange 03.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The popular fictional character [[Sherlock Holmes]] was in many ways ahead of his time in his use of forensic analysis.]]

''Handbook for Coroners, police officials, military policemen'' was written by the [[Austrians|Austrian]] criminal jurist [[Hans Gross]] in 1893, and is generally acknowledged as the birth of the field of criminalistics. The work combined in one system fields of knowledge that had not been previously integrated, such as psychology and physical science, and which could be successfully used against crime. Gross adapted some fields to the needs of criminal investigation, such as [[crime scene photography]]. He went on to found the Institute of Criminalistics in 1912, as part of the University of Graz' Law School. This Institute was followed by many similar institutes all over the world.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Green|first=Martin|title=Otto Gross, Freudian Psychoanalyst, 1877–1920|publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|year=1999|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|isbn=0773481648}}</ref>

In 1909, [[Archibald Reiss]] founded the ''Institut de police scientifique'' of the [[University of Lausanne|University of Lausanne (UNIL)]], the first school of forensic science in the world. Dr. [[Edmond Locard]], became known as the "[[Sherlock Holmes]] of [[France]]". He formulated the basic principle of forensic science: "Every contact leaves a trace", which became known as [[Locard's exchange principle]]. In 1910, he founded what may have been the first criminal laboratory in the world, after persuading the Police Department of [[Lyon]] (France) to give him two attic rooms and two assistants.<ref>[http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/3210/3210lect02.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206090107/http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/3210/3210lect02.htm|date=6 February 2007}}</ref>

Symbolic of the newfound prestige of forensics and the use of reasoning in detective work was the popularity of the fictional character [[Sherlock Holmes]], written by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] in the late 19th century. He remains a great inspiration for forensic science, especially for the way his acute study of a crime scene yielded small [[Clue (information)|clue]]s as to the precise sequence of events. He made great use of [[trace evidence]] such as shoe and tire impressions, as well as fingerprints, [[ballistics]] and [[Graphology|handwriting analysis]], now known as [[questioned document examination]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yMDWLq2FdrIC|title=Oxford studies in epistemology|editor=Tamar Szabo Gendler |editor2=John Hawthorne|author=Alexander Bird |chapter=Abductive Knowledge and Holmesian Inference |page=11 |isbn=978-0199285907 |year=2006|publisher=OUP Oxford }}</ref> Such evidence is used to test theories conceived by the police, for example, or by the investigator himself.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia Sherlockiana |author=Matthew Bunson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aSgfAQAAIAAJ |page=50 |isbn=978-0671798260 |year=1994|publisher=Macmillan }}</ref> All of the techniques advocated by Holmes later became reality, but were generally in their infancy at the time Conan Doyle was writing. In many of his reported cases, Holmes frequently complains of the way the crime scene has been contaminated by others, especially by the police, emphasising the critical importance of maintaining its integrity, a now well-known feature of crime scene examination. He used [[analytical chemistry]] for [[blood residue]] analysis as well as [[toxicology]] examination and determination for poisons. He used [[ballistics]] by measuring bullet [[caliber|calibres]] and matching them with a suspected murder weapon.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fact and feeling: Baconian science and the nineteenth-Century literary imagination |page=214 |author=Jonathan Smith |year=1994 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFn1Zx_desIC |isbn=978-0299143541}}</ref>

=== Late 19th – early 20th century figures ===
[[File:Shoeprint(forensic).jpg|thumb|right|Shoeprints have long been used to match a pair of shoes to a crime scene.]]

[[Hans Gross]] applied scientific methods to crime scenes and was responsible for the birth of criminalistics.

[[Edmond Locard]] expanded on Gross' work with [[Locard%27s exchange principle]] which stated "whenever two objects come into contact with one another, materials are exchanged between them". This means that every contact by a criminal leaves a trace.

[[Alexandre Lacassagne]], who taught Locard, produced autopsy standards on actual forensic cases.

[[Alphonse Bertillon]] was a French criminologist and founder of [[Anthropometry]] (scientific study of measurements and proportions of the human body). He used anthropometry for identification, stating that, since each individual is unique, by measuring aspects of physical difference there could be a personal identification system. He created the Bertillon System around 1879, a way of identifying criminals and citizens by measuring 20 parts of the body. In 1884, over 240 repeat offenders were caught using the Bertillon system, but the system was largely superseded by fingerprinting.

[[Joseph Thomas Walker]], known for his work at [[Massachusetts State Police]] Chemical Laboratory, for developing many modern forensic techniques which he frequently published in academic journals, and for teaching at the Department of Legal Medicine, [[Harvard University]].  

[[Frances Glessner Lee]], known as "the mother of forensic science",<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/nutshells | title=Murder is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death}}</ref> was instrumental in the development of forensic science in the US. She lobbied to have coroners replaced by medical professionals, endowed the Harvard Associates in Police Science, and conducted many seminars to educate homicide investigators. She also created the [[Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death]], intricate crime scene dioramas used to train investigators, which are still in use today.

===20th century===
[[File:Alec Jeffreys -2008.jpg|thumb|[[Alec Jeffreys]] invented the [[DNA profiling]] technique in 1984.]]

Later in the 20th century several British pathologists, [[Mikey Rochman]], [[Francis Camps]], [[Sydney Smith (forensic expert)|Sydney Smith]] and [[Keith Simpson (professor)|Keith Simpson]] pioneered new forensic science methods. [[Alec Jeffreys]] pioneered the use of [[DNA profiling]] in forensic science in 1984. He realized the scope of DNA fingerprinting, which uses variations in the [[genetic code]] to identify individuals. The method has since become important in forensic science to assist police detective work, and it has also proved useful in resolving paternity and immigration disputes.<ref name="welcome 2004">{{cite web|url=http://genome.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_wtd020877.html |title=Discovering DNA fingerprinting: Sir Alec Jeffreys describes its development |publisher=[[Wellcome Trust]] |date=4 February 2004 |first=Giles |last=Newton |access-date=23 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305135415/http://genome.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_wtd020877.html |archive-date=5 March 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> DNA fingerprinting was first used as a police forensic test to identify the rapist and killer of two teenagers, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, who were both murdered in [[Narborough, Leicestershire]], in 1983 and 1986 respectively. [[Colin Pitchfork]] was identified and convicted of murder after samples taken from him matched [[semen]] samples taken from the two dead girls.

Forensic science has been fostered by a number of national and international forensic science learned bodies including the [[American Academy of Forensic Sciences]] (founded 1948), publishers of the ''[[Journal of Forensic Sciences]]'';<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aafs.org/journal-forensic-sciences|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123140138/http://www.aafs.org/journal-forensic-sciences|url-status=dead|title=Journal of Forensic Sciences &#124; American Academy of Forensic Sciences|archivedate=23 November 2010|website=www.aafs.org}}</ref> the [[Canadian Society of Forensic Science]] (founded 1953), publishers of the ''[[Journal of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science]]''; [[the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csofs.org/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609094436/http://www.csofs.org/|url-status=dead|title=Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences &#124; Recognised Professional Body|archivedate=9 June 2016|website=The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences}}</ref> (founded 1959), then known as the Forensic Science Society, publisher of ''[[Science & Justice]]'';<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csofs.org/publications |title=Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences Publications |access-date=2016-06-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615161534/http://www.csofs.org/Publications |archive-date=15 June 2016 }}</ref> the British Academy of Forensic Sciences<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bafs.org.uk/cgi-bin/dispatch.cgi/|title=The British Academy of Forensic Sciences|access-date=26 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627092734/http://www.bafs.org.uk/cgi-bin/dispatch.cgi/|archive-date=27 June 2015}}</ref> (founded 1960), publishers of ''[[Medicine, Science and the Law]]'';<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bafs.org.uk/cgi-bin/dispatch.cgi/journal|title=Medicine, Science and the Law|access-date=26 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627111139/http://www.bafs.org.uk/cgi-bin/dispatch.cgi/journal|archive-date=27 June 2015}}</ref> the [[Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences]] (founded 1967), publishers of the ''Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences''; and the [[European Network of Forensic Science Institutes]] (founded 1995).

=== 21st century ===
In the past decade, documenting forensics scenes has become more efficient. Forensic scientists have started using laser scanners, drones and photogrammetry to obtain 3D point clouds of accidents or crime scenes. Reconstruction of an accident scene on a highway using drones involves data acquisition time of only 10–20 minutes and can be performed without shutting down traffic. The results are not just accurate, in centimeters, for measurement to be presented in court but also easy to digitally preserve in the long term.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.isasi.org/Documents/Hawkins%20-%20Using%20a%20drone%20and%20photogrammetry%20software%20V4%20(PAPER).pdf|title=Using a Drone and Photogrammetry Software to Create Orthomosaic Images and 3D Models of Aircraft Accident Sites|last=Hawkins|first=Stuart|date=November 2016|work=UK AAIB|access-date=4 February 2017|via=International Society of Air Safety Investigators|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113120441/http://www.isasi.org/Documents/Hawkins%20-%20Using%20a%20drone%20and%20photogrammetry%20software%20V4%20(PAPER).pdf|archive-date=13 January 2017}}</ref>
Now, in the 21st century, much of forensic science's future is up for discussion. The [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] (NIST) has several forensic science-related programs: [[CSAFE]], a NIST Center of Excellence in Forensic Science, the [[National Commission on Forensic Science]] (now concluded), and administration of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC).<ref>{{cite web |title=Forensic Science |url=https://www.nist.gov/forensic-science |website=NIST |date=20 August 2013 |access-date=31 March 2024}}</ref> One of the more recent additions by NIST is a document called NISTIR-7941, titled "Forensic Science Laboratories: Handbook for Facility Planning, Design, Construction, and Relocation". The handbook provides a clear blueprint for approaching forensic science. The details even include what type of staff should be hired for certain positions.<ref>"National Institute of Standards and Technology" group="Scientist in Practice">{{cite web |last1=Aguilar |first1=James |title=Forensic Science Laboratories: Handbook for Facility Planning, Design, Construction, and Relocation |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2013/NIST.IR.7941.pdf |website=nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2013/NIST.IR.7941.pdf |publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology |access-date=15 April 2019 |ref=68}}</ref>