the organization of a crime lab what is the name of the system operating in alabama?
TRANSCRIPT
The Organization of a Crime Lab
What is the name of the system operating in Alabama?
Affiliations
• Police Department
• District Attorney’s Office
• Medical Examiner or Coroner
• Universities
Why has there been such an increase in the number of labs in the last 40 years?
• Supreme court decisions in the 1960’s placed a greater emphasis on securing scientifically evaluated evidence. (Confessions are no longer a routine investigating tool.)
• Increasing crime rate (However, except for drug cases, only a small percentage of police investigations require scientific investigation of evidence.)
• Uncontrollable drug use – each case requires confirmatory analysis
• Advent of DNA Profiling
Major Federal Crime Labs
• FBI (Department of Justice)
• Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratories- regulate the production, sale and transportation of drugs
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Crime Lab Services
• Full-Service Labs
Physical Science Unit –analysis of drugs, soil, trace evidence
.
Biology Unit- DNA profiling, comparison of hair and fibers and botanical materials.
Full-Service Lab
• Firearms Unit-examination of firearms, ammunition, tools
• Document Examination Unit• Photography Unit
Optional Services: Toxicology (body fluids and organs examined for traces of drugs and/or poison), Latent Fingerprint, Polygraph, Voiceprint Analysis Unit, Evidence Collection Unit