1. Forensic Science
Definition and Scope

2. What is forensic science?
The application of science to those criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.
i.e. any application of science to law enforcement
Includes geology, chemistry, physics, biology, etc.

3. Criminalistics – any of the services provided by a crime lab
For all intents and purposes, the term is interchangeable with forensic science

4. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Author of the Sherlock Holmes series
Popularized forensic investigation through his novels
Used up-and-coming detective methods in his stories, including fingerprinting, serology, firearm identification, and questioned documents

5. Major contributors to the field
Mathieu Orfila ( ) – father of toxicology – the science of dealing with poisons and their effects.
Alphonse Bertillon ( ) – developed science of anthropometry – the taking of a series of body measurements for means of personal identification (later replaced by more reliable fingerprinting)

6. Francis Galton ( ) – first thorough study of fingerprints and how to classify them; offered statistical proof of their uniqueness
Leone Lattes ( ) – developed procedure for determining the ABO blood type of dried blood stains

7. Calvin Goddard ( ) – popularized the use of comparison microscopes for matching bullets with weapons
Albert S. Osborn ( ) – authored Questioned Documents, a reference book for document examiners

8. Hans Gross ( ) – wrote Criminal Investigation and Criminology, books detailing how the sciences are incorporated into crime scene investigation

9. Edmond Locard (1877-1966) – created the first rudimentary crime lab in Lyons, France.
Locard’s Exchange Principle – when a criminal comes in contact with an object or person, a cross-transfer of evidence occurs
Every criminal can be connected to his/her crime scene by something as small as dust particles carried to or from the scene

10. First to request that suspects’ clothing be examined in the lab
His success led to the establishment of police labs in Vienna, Berlin, Sweden, Finland, and Holland

11. FBI
Under director J. Edgar Hoover, national lab for forensic services established in 1932
FBI lab is now the world’s largest, with 1 million examinations each year