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In Search of a Silver Bullet for a Unified Forensic Science System
As a forensic scientist, how many times have you been frustrated by evidence collected from a crime scene? Be it why or how a sample was collected, decisions made at the crime scene—without a forensic scientist present—are irreversible and end up altering the course of the case. read more
Defense Lawyer Alleges Systemic Failure at Maine Crime Lab
A criminal defense lawyer claims that officials have withheld information that could reveal “systemic failures” at the state police forensic lab and has filed a lawsuit against Maine for the release of those documents. read more
DNA, Public Tips Help Solve 1974 Murder
Lori Nesson, an honors student at Columbus’ Eastmoor High School, was found deceased on Sept. 28, 1974, on the west side of Reynoldsburg. She had last been seen after a school football game the night before. Constrained by the technology available at the time, the case grew cold. read more
Australian Scientists Call for Release of Child Murderer Kathleen Folbigg
They say genetic evidence published in November 2020 shows some of the children had genetic mutations that predisposed them to heart complications. They argue these mutations are what likely led to their deaths. read more
Idaho Passed a Law to Compensate the Innocent
Governor Brad Little signed the “Wrongful Conviction Act” into law, providing state compensation for the wrongfully convicted in Idaho. This makes Idaho the 36th state to adopt a wrongful conviction compensation law. read more
With Unfair Police Treatment, Tragedy is not Limited to the Incident Itself
Research by a sociologist suggests that self-reported experiences of unfair police treatment are associated with a range of social-psychological and behavioral consequences. read more
Combating Human Trafficking with DNA Analysis, DNA Databases, Legislation, Policy, privacy Protection, and Public Outreach
SPONSORED
The Center for Human Identification (CHI) at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas, is working with governments, crime laboratories, and the public in Central America in the development and capacity building of robust and sustainable forensic systems to combat ... read more
How to Lawfully Collect, Examine and Analyze Data from Computers
Special Feature
In spite of modern difficulties, there are successful best practices and technologies for law enforcement agencies to deploy in terms of lawfully collecting digital intelligence (DI) from desktop and laptop computers. read more
Wyoming Wildlife Forensics Expert Reflects on 35-year Career
For 35 years, Dee Dee Hawk was solving unusual mysteries, like whether a captured grizzly bear was guilty of attacking a human. Sometimes using only scraps of evidence, she helped put bad guys behind bars and unraveled wildlife-related whodunits when there were no witnesses. read more
Historical Remains Found During Construction Reburied in NYC
Human remains of early New Yorkers that were discovered during construction in and around Washington Square Park were reinterred inside the park on Tuesday, New York City officials announced. read more
Dixie State's Digital Forensics Crime Lab Celebrates 10 Years
The lab has grown from working on 18 cases in its first year to now averaging 350-400 cases a year and specializes in data retrieval from small devices such as cellphones and laptops. read more
Seizures of Methamphetamine, Marijuana Rose During Pandemic
While investigators found that trends in heroin, cocaine and fentanyl seizures were not affected by the pandemic, provisional overdose death data show that the increased drug mortality seen in 2019 rose further through the first half of 2020. read more
Leveraging Partnerships to De-escalate Conflict in Law Enforcement Encounters
The aim of this effort is to identify effective conflict resolution strategies by reviewing video footage of police encounters, coding them to classify behaviors and outcomes, and detecting patterns that can inform future training. read more
Infographic: Three Impactful Genetic Genealogy Cases Solved in 2020
SPONSORED
On April 24, 2018, forensic genetic genealogy identified one of the most prolific murderers in U.S. history—opening the floodgates. Fast forward three years and forensic genetic genealogy has been used to solve thousands of cold cases across the globe. With every lead, every relative, every name, ... read more
Slowly but Surely: Taking Genetic Genealogy to the Next Level
Colleen Fitzpatrick is the pioneer of forensic genetic genealogy (FGG), so it would only make sense for her to usher it into the next era—a step, she says, that moves FGG from the “OMG era” to the “investigative intelligence era.” read more