There are anecdotal accounts from thousands of years ago about the beginnings and history of forensic science in criminal and civil investigations. One such story begins with the slashing death of a peasant in ancient China. The three farmers who tend the fields closest to the crime are gathered by the village lawman, who instructs them to lay their scythes on the ground. Flies start to gather around one specific scythe as the lawman interrogates them for hours on end; although being cleaned, the traces of blood on the scythe are still visible to these deputized insects. The logic underlying its tale is still applied in modern forensic practice, even though the story itself might not be accepted in one of today's courtrooms.
The field of forensics is extensive and draws knowledge from other scientific fields. Archimedes' eureka moment in the bathtub when he realized how to measure volume had immediate applications in spotting gold counterfeits.
The Babylonians used fingerprints to sign contracts in 200 BC, but Western investigators wouldn't start using fingerprinting until thousands of years later. They were utilized in this way in China as early as the Qin Dynasty. Writing in 1248, Song Ci introduced rules for autopsy reports in Chinese courts and related the proverbial tale of the scythe and the flies, among other vividly educational teachings.
No matter the time period in which it is practiced, forensic science is a fascinating field since there is almost always something more going on. Forensic science has a long history, and it has both committed and solved crimes.
FINGERPRINTS: NICE IDEA, MIND IF I STEAL IT?
Sir Francis Galton introduced a classification system for fingerprints in 1892 that is still in use today. Galton began classifying various fingerprint patterns into broad categories after conducting statistical research into the likelihood that two people would have the same sets of fingerprints: the plain arch, the tented arch, the simple loop, the central pocket loop, the double loop, the lateral pocket loop, the plain whorl, and the accidental. Galton also contributed to laying the scientific groundwork for research that would support his theory, which helped it achieve acceptance in the legal system.
Galton, a half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was a true Renaissance man; among his many occupations were geographer, explorer, inventor, psychologist, and statistician, to name a few. Unfortunately, Galton was also the creator of eugenics, a pseudoscience whose most significant gift to the world was the defense against genocide. Further study into Galton's past reveals that he was dishonest in other ways as well: he had stolen the fingerprinting concept from other scholars.
Dr. Henry Faulds predicted the forensic value of fingerprinting in a Nature essay published more than a decade earlier, in 1880. Faulds proposed fingerprinting as a serious investigation tool by drawing on the work of Sir William James Herschel, who had been utilizing fingerprinting in India to combat signature fraud. He also added his own experiences working with Japanese law enforcement. Charles Darwin was then sought after by Dr. Faulds to assist with additional research. Galton, Darwin's half-cousin, received Faulds' discoveries from Darwin. A few years later, Galton did popularise the first approach to classifying modern fingerprints, but he failed to give Faulds or Herschel credit for their contributions, leading to a decades-long dispute between the three men.
DATABASES: TO CATCH A THIEF, THINK LIKE A THIEF!
Learn about Eugene Vidocq, a former felon who became a criminologist in early 19th-century France. While famous authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Victor Hugo were influenced by his life tale, his life's work had a profound effect on forensic sciences.
The Brigade de la Sûreté was established by Vidocq in 1811 after he vowed to leave the criminal underworld. By 1813, he had received Napoleon's approval. Vidocq presented the ideas of ballistics analysis, undercover investigations, and footprint analysis to the world from his personal experience as a former criminal.
In addition, Vidocq promoted the creation of the first significant criminal database, which he did on the grounds that many crimes were committed by repeat offenders (like himself!). Despite the fact that Vidocq was reputed to have a photographic recall, he realized he couldn't rely on his coworkers to share this trait. As a result, he put in place an anthropometric system that is still in use in part by French police today. The suspect's aliases, physical description, prior convictions, potential motivation, and other pertinent information, such as handwriting samples for suspected forgers, were all noted by the police after each arrest.
The system evolved over time as the information became more and more in-depth (thanks, in part, to another French police officer, Alphonse Bertillon). These kinds of databases continue to exist today, albeit digitally.
CRIME LABS: LIFE IMITATES ART
Edmond Locard, the French Sherlock Holmes of the early 20th century, is now recognized as one of the founders of contemporary forensic science. Investigations in the actual world at the period mainly revolved around faulty eyewitness testimony and fraudulently obtained confessions, in contrast to the Sherlock Holmes stories of the late 19th century, which focused on the nature of evidence and the strength of deductive logic.
To modernize forensic science—specifically, the idea of trace evidence—Locard pulled from the world of fiction and from his own experience as a medical examiner in World War I. The first forensic crime lab was created by Locard in 1910 when he rented a two-room attic in Lyon.
The first significant case that Locard and the lab cracked was in 1912. The main suspect in the murder of a lady who was discovered at her parent's home, her boyfriend, had a strong alibi by modern standards: four men testified they had been playing cards with the boyfriend at the time of the crime.
Following an examination of the body, Locard decided that strangling was the cause of death. Then, after scraping the boyfriend's fingernails, he discovered a pink residue that he recognized as women's cosmetics. Since makeup was not mass-produced at the time, its provider could be identified with confidence. The lover was apprehended after Locard connected the fingernail residue to the victim's beauty parlor; in his confession, he admitted that he had changed the time during the card game where the other players had attested to his presence.
The exchange principle, developed by Locard, holds that whenever two objects come in contact, there will be a material exchange. With the consideration of fingerprints, blood samples, hair analysis, and other types of trace evidence, this theory currently serves as the foundation for most forensic science.
FORENSIC EDUCATION: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Frances Glessner Lee, the nation's first female police captain, is frequently referred to as the "mother of forensic science" and was essential in the growth of the discipline in the country.
She fought to get coroners replaced with doctors through her own personal lobbying, professionalizing the discipline of forensic pathology in the process. The first of its kind in the nation, the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard University was founded with the assistance of Lee's own funds in 1931. Later, Lee founded the Harvard Associates in Police Science, a national organization devoted to advancing the discipline of forensic science. Forensic investigation training was extremely limited before this.
The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, a collection of crime scene dioramas that Lee started creating in the 1940s, is one of her most famous works. These 20 precisely constructed miniature crime scenes were created to test the skills of forensic trainees in gathering and evaluating all the pertinent evidence. They were based on real, difficult cases. Increased attention to "invisible victims" from society's lowest classes and the risk of unconscious bias in forensic investigations are two common themes in the instances.
As recently as 2018, Lee's homicidal arts and crafts were displayed in prestigious art museums like the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery. The Harvard Associates in Police Science still use 18 of the 20 dioramas to educate detectives today.
DNA: FORENSIC SCIENCE INVESTIGATES ITSELF
The development of DNA matching in the middle of the 1980s was arguably the biggest advance in forensic science since the analog fingerprint.
The discovery that DNA revealed both family members' similarities and differences was made by British biologist Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984, making DNA possibly the most precise form of identification ever found. The only laboratory in the world for the following three years that could perform DNA matching was Jeffrey's laboratory, and during that period, it was inundated with requests.
When local police were looking into the rape and deaths of two women, one in 1983 and one in 1986, Jeffreys' method was used in a criminal case for the first time in 1986. More than 4,000 local men had their blood and saliva sampled, but only one man's DNA was found to match both crime scenes: Colin Pitchfork. Pitchfork would not have been caught if DNA matching hadn't been used. It also cleared Richard Buckland, who had previously been the main suspect after making a false confession, and who, according to the authorities, would have been sentenced to life in prison if not for Jeffreys' assistance in the investigation.
Even though DNA is no longer sufficient to guarantee a conviction, forensic investigations still heavily rely on it. Similar to that initial instance from 1986, it has also been shown to be an effective means of both establishing innocence and establishing guilt. After serving ten years in prison, Gary Dotson was finally freed in 1989 because of DNA evidence. Since then, 375 further DNA exonerations have occurred. Thanks to Jeffreys' finding, thousands of prime suspects have been identified and sought after in modern investigations only to be exonerated before being proven guilty.
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