Forensic Science: Its Relevance Within the Criminal Justice System
Forensic science has, since its inception, had an impact on a number of fields, including education, health, law enforcement (the criminal justice system), to name but a few. Of these, the criminal justice system can be rightly considered the greatest beneficiary of forensic science (Fantino, 2007). Thanks to technological advancement and increased public awareness, all aspects of the justice system today including but not limited to policing, investigations of crime, security efforts and court processes rely, to a large extent, on forensic science (Garrison, 2013). Forensic science in the criminal justice system involves applying "medical knowledge to legal questions" (Garrison, 2013).
The disciplines of forensic science are either based on laboratory testing (such as drug and mitochondrial DNA analyses and toxicology) or on observed patterns (such as specimen analyses, bite marks, and fingerprints) (Garrison, 2013). During criminal investigations, samples of footprints, fingerprints, saliva, skin cells, sweat or blood are collected from the crime scene and presented to a forensic laboratory for analysis by experts. The expert report is then presented as evidence during court proceedings (Houck & Siegel, 2010). It is possible that an experienced criminal may not leave fingerprints at a scene of crime. However, it may be extremely difficult or impossible for them not to leave traces of sweat, blood or skin cells (Garrison, 2013).
Discussion
The importance of forensic science in law enforcement will be examined herein under policing, security efforts, and court proceedings.
Policing: DNA is an individual's genetic blueprint, unique to them and easily identifiable (Garrison, 2013). It is for this reason that DNA evidence has been able to provide solutions in cases that had veered off the track due to lack of witnesses or insufficient physical evidence (Stevens, n.d.).
Forensic science has significantly...
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