Forensic Science Laboratories

A laboratory companion to Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques and other undergraduate texts, Forensic Science Laboratory Manual and Workbook, Third Edition provides a plethora of basic, hands-on experiments that can be completed with inexpensive and accessible instrumentation, making this an ideal workbook for non-science majors and an excellent choice for use at both the high school and college level. This revised edition of a bestselling lab manual provides numerous experiments in odontology, anthropology, archeology, chemistry, and trace evidence. The experiments cover tests involving body fluid, soil, glass, fiber, ink, and hair. The book also presents experiments in impression evidence, such as fingerprints, bite marks, footwear, and firearms, and it features digital and traditional photography and basic microscopy. All of the experiments incorporate practical elements to facilitate the learning process. Students must apply the scientific method of reasoning, deduction, and problem-solving in order to complete the experiments successfully and attain a solid understanding of fundamental forensic science. Each of the 39 chapters features a separate experiment and includes teaching goals, offers the requisite background knowledge needed to conduct the experiments, and lists the required equipment and supplies. The book is designed for a cooperative learning setting in which three to five students comprise a group. Using the hands-on learning techniques provided in this manual, students will master the practical application of their theoretical knowledge of forensics.

Unlike other forensic science laboratory manuals, Forensic Science Laboratory Experiment Manual and Workbook provides many experiments suitable for non-science majors and attainable for departments with small budgets. Most of the exercises can be conducted with materials that are either readily available in chemistry and biology departments or can be purchased without significant expenditure. The experiments cover all the typical trace evidence tests including body fluid, soil, glass, fiber, ink, and hair. The book also includes experiments for impression evidence, such as fingerprints, shoes, and firearms, as well as the use of photography and basic microscopy. An ideal laboratory companion to the Forensic Science: Scientific and Investigative Techniques textbook, this concise manual also serves as an excellent stand-alone workbook.

HR Management in the Forensic Science Laboratory: A 21st Century Approach to Effective Crime Lab Leadership introduces the profession of forensic science to human resource management, and vice versa. The book includes principles of HR management that apply most readily, and most critically, to the practice of forensic science, such as laboratory operations, staffing and assignments, laboratory relations and high impact leadership. A companion website hosts workshop PowerPoint slides, a forensic HR newsletter and other important HR strategies to assist the reader. Provides principles of HR management that readily apply to the practice of forensic science Covers and emphasizes the knowledge necessary to make HR management in the forensic science laboratory effective, such as technical standards and practices, laboratory structures and work units, and quality system management Includes an online website that hosts workshop PowerPoint slides, a forensic HR newsletter and other important HR strategies

Forensic science laboratories' reputations have increasingly come under fire. Incidents of tainted evidence, false reports, allegations of negligence, scientifically flawed testimony, or - worse yet - perjury in in-court testimony, have all served to cast a shadow over the forensic sciences. Instances of each are just a few of the quality-related charges made in the last few years. Forensic Science Under Siege is the first book to integrate and explain these problematic trends in forensic science. The issues are timely, and are approached from an investigatory, yet scholarly and research-driven, perspective. Leading experts are consulted and interviewed, including directors of highly visible forensic laboratories, as well as medical examiners and coroners who are commandeering the discussions related to these issues. Interviewees include Henry Lee, Richard Saferstein, Cyril Wecht, and many others. The ultimate consequences of all these pressures, as well as the future of forensic science, has yet to be determined. This book examines these challenges, while also exploring possible solutions (such as the formation of a forensic science consortium to address specific legislative issues). It is a must-read for all forensic scientists. Provides insight on the current state of forensic science, demands, and future direction as provided by leading experts in the field Consolidates the current state of standards and best-practices of labs across disciplines Discusses a controversial topic that must be addressed for political support and financial funding of forensic science to improve

Written by leading researchers and practitioners in forensic science management, this book is a step forward in bringing more business practice to the management of forensic science laboratories. Incorporating protocols for strategy and operations, evidence chain of custody, safety, accreditation, and human resources, the book is a modern, comprehensive look at running a forensic laboratory. It shows forensic lab managers and those seeking that position how to apply management principles, such as process mapping, to the practical handling of criminal cases. It also addresses the critical challenges of quality control and accreditation in a discipline increasingly under fire from the justice system.

A comprehensive and easy-to-read introduction to the work of the modern forensic laboratory. The authors explain in simple language the capabilities and limitations of modern forensic laboratory procedures, techniques, analyses, and interpretations. Here, the interested reader will find an understandable and fascinating introduction to the complex worlds of forensic serology DNA, chemistry, crime reconstruction, digital evidence, explosives, arson, fingerprints, firearms, tool marks, odontology, and pathology. Additional chapters address the problems of assuring quality and seeking trace evidence in the forensic laboratory.

New technologies, including DNA and digital databases that can compare known and questioned exemplars, have transformed forensic science and greatly impacted the investigative process. They have also made the work more complicated. Obtaining proper resources to provide quality and timely forensic services is frequently a challenge for forensic managers, who are often promoted from casework duties and must now learn a whole new set of leadership skills. The interdisciplinary and scientific nature of laboratories requires strong leadership ability to manage complex issues, often in adversarial settings. Forensic Laboratory Management: Applying Business Principles provides laboratory managers with business tools that apply the best science to the best evidence in a manner that increases the efficiency and effectiveness of their management decision making. The authors present a performance model with seven recommendations to implement, illustrating how forensic managers can serve as leaders and strategically improve the operation and management in scientific laboratories. Topics include: Key business metrics and cost–benefit analyses Ethical lapses: why they occur, possible motives, and how problems can be prevented Forensic training, education, and institutes ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation implementation The book includes case studies simulating a working laboratory in which readers can apply business tools with actual data reinforcing discussion concepts. Each chapter also includes a brief review of current literature of the best management theories and practice. The downloadable resources supply two mock trial transcripts and associated case files along with PowerPoint® slides from Dr. George Carmody’s workshop on Forensic DNA Statistics and Dr. Doug Lucas’s presentation on ethics.

Forensic Science Laboratory Benchmarking: The FORESIGHT Manual takes a step-by-step instructional approach to utilizing FORESIGHT data, detailing how labs can participate in the process to improve efficiencies. The FORESIGHT Project—a business benchmarking process for forensic service providers—was created in 2008 to collect and report data while offering improvement to processes through analysis, comparisons, and best practice evaluations. The program has grown to include more than 200 participating forensic laboratories worldwide. FORESIGHT offers the capability for labs to improve core functions, provide and benefit from metrics, and thus, improve the labs capabilities and functioning for the public good, while maintaining their often limited, fixed budgets. Due to ever-increasing caseloads, forensic laboratories are constantly plagued by backlogged casework—cases submitted to the laboratory but not yet worked. This leads to inefficiencies, delays, and unhappy agencies expecting timely results. Unfortunately, even if a lab’s slates were wiped clean and the backlog were erased, many of the inefficient processes—that created the backlog—would still be in place. Eventually, and inevitably, the lab would develop a new backlog. Unique coverage and features: Presents critical and proven cutting-edge measures to utilize FORESIGHT data improve laboratory testing, operational efficiency, and policies without added additional costs. Synthesizes the data input from more than 200 labs and a decade’s worth of analytics to illustrate process improvements and the advantages of participating. Outlines how to develop data-driven responses to solve current and future problems. Forensic Science Laboratory Benchmarking will be of interest to quality assurance specialists, economists, supervisors in the parent agencies of the labs, managers at all levels of any of the hundreds of public laboratories around the world, and anyone concerned about the effectiveness and efficiency of laboratory testing. As an operational guide, the book provides a helpful roadmap to help public science agencies and forensic labs analyze how they operate, improve on what works, and change what doesn’t to better meet their mission and serve their community’s goals.