Forensics

1
Forensics

• Forensic Science

2
Criminology

• Criminalistics is the use of science to examine
  and compare of evidence (like fingerprints,
  shoeprints, and tire tracks), drugs, and firearms
  in criminal investigations

3
Forensic Specialties

• Forensic accounting is the study of accounting
  evidence.
• Forensic anthropology is physical anthropology in
  a legal setting, usually for identification of
  skeleton human remains.
• Forensic economics is the study of economic
  damage evidence to include calculations of lost
  earnings, the lost value of business, lost
  profits, lost value of service, replacement costs
  and medical costs.

4
Forensic Specialties (contd.)

• Forensic engineering studies the causes of
  failure of devices and structures.
• Forensic entomology deals with the of insects in,
  on, and around human remains to help determine
  the time and location of death.
• Forensic evidence deals with evidence from a
  crime scene.

5
Forensic Specialties (contd.)

• Forensic epistemology deals with philosophical
  knowledge for understanding behavior of states.
• Forensic odontology is the study of the study of
  teeth.
• Forensic psychology and forensic psychiatry deal
  with human behavior.

6
Forensic Specialties (contd.)

• Forensic toxicology studies of the effect of
  drugs and poisons on the body.
• Forensic Ballistics deal with the use of firearms
  and ammunition.
• Questioned document examination is the study of
  evidence that takes the form of document.

7
Forensic History

• The "Eureka" legend of Archimedes can be
  considered an early account of the use of
  forensic science. In this case, by principles of
  water displacement, Archimedes was able to prove
  that a crown was not made of gold.
• The earliest account of fingerprint use for
  identity was during the 7th century. According to
  an Arabic merchant, fingerprints were on to a
  bill, which would then be given to the lender.
  This bill was recognized as proof.
• The first written account of using medicine and
  entomology to solve criminal cases is in to a
  book written in China. In one case of a person
  murdered with a sickle was solved by an
  investigator who instructed everyone to bring
  their sickles to one location. Flies gathered on
  one sickle. The murderer then confessed.

• In Europe, medical practitioners in the army
  began to gather information on cause of death. A
  army surgeon, studied the effects of death on
  internal organs. Two surgeons figured out
  pathology by studying the body after disease.
  Writings on these topics began to appear. by a
  French physician, and by a German medical
  expert.
• Two early examples of forensic science
  demonstrates the increasing use of logic in
  criminal investigations. In 1784 in Lancaster,
  John Toms was tried and convicted for murdering
  Edward Culshaw with a pistol. When the body of
  Culshaw was examined, a pistol wad found in his
  head wound matched perfectly with a torn
  newspaper found in Toms' pocket. In Warwick, a
  laborer was tried and convicted of the murder of
  a young maid. She had been drowned in a pool and
  had the marks of violent assault. The police
  found footprints and an impression of cloth with
  a patch in the damp earth near the pool. The
  breeches of a laborer who had been nearby were
  examined and matched the impression in the earth.