This was definitely a great question this week for the discussion board one which took a little bit of researching. The first part of this question is asking what the importance is between forensics, laws, and legislations. As we have learned thus far in the last seven weeks of class is forensic science plays an important in the criminal justice field. Forensic scientist are tasked with not only the examination of evidence collected at crime scenes but also analyzing it in order to come up with objective findings. These findings are important in assisting the investigation and prosecution of the offender in a criminal case (Forensic Science, 2021).
From 2013 to 2017 the National Commission on Forensic Science sent forth may recommendations to the attorney general and NIST several recommendations which they felt were important. These recommendations include but were not limited to uniform code of professional responsibility, report content requirements, discontinuing the use of “reasonable degree of scientific certaintly, and etc (Forensic Science: Problems and Solutions – Innocence Project, 2021).
When answering the second part of the question on what current trends that are in the field of forensic science I was able to one which I thought were interesting. With todays day being an era of technology there is so many crimes being committed over the internet law enforcement can know fight crime with so much digital evidence. If you sit back and think about it this is how BTK was finally apprehended; after he had sent in a floppy disk which a forensic computer expert was about to trace the disk to a surprising suspect–a church president later identified as Dennis Rader. When the forensic computer expert began to did into what was on the disk he found one valid file with “this is a test” and directing police to an index card left with the disk. It was also discovered the disk contained the name “Dennis” under the property section of the disk. Also located on the disk was the name Christ Lutheran Church which was where Rader was determined to be the president after a quick internet search. This information was valid along with DNA that was recovered from a previous incident which had been properly stored and once they retreived the DNA of Rader’s daughter they were able to arrest Rader (BTK Killer: A Timeline of His Murders, Reappearance and Capture, 2021).
This was a great discussion board question that allowed for endless facts to be presented.
Reference
Biography. 2021. BTK Killer: A Timeline of His Murders, Reappearance and Capture. [online] Available at: <https://www.biography.com/news/btk-killer-dennis-rader-timeline> [Accessed 21 October 2021].
Innocence Project. 2021. Forensic Science: Problems and Solutions – Innocence Project. [online] Available at: <https://innocenceproject.org/forensic-science-problems-and-solutions/> [Accessed 21 October 2021].
Justice.gov. 2021. Forensic Science. [online] Available at: <https://www.justice.gov/olp/forensic-science> [Accessed 21 October 2021].
