Research activities Forensic Science in the US: Following their path forward
It has been four years since the American National Academy of Science issued its controversial report criticising many aspects of forensic science practice and making recommendations for change. So what effect has this had on the discipline in the last four years, and how is America progressing along its ‘path forward’? The American Academy of Forensic Sciences 65th Anniversary General Meeting in Washington DC was an ideal arena in which to explore America’s progress. The theme of this year’s meeting was ‘The forensic sciences: founded on observation and experience, improved by education and research’. This brought home the importance of multidisciplinary academic research, such as that carried out through the SECReT programme, to aid the furtherment of forensic science following criticisms of its scientific foundations. This theme led to a number of interesting presentations which focused on the future of forensic science. The most fundamental post NAS report change in America appears to be a move towards federal governance, control and leadership of forensic science. The week prior to the conference the formation of the new National Institute for Standards in Technology (NIST) committee was announced. This committee aims to determine current needs in forensic science and bring in federal
legislation, with the president showing his interest in backing legislative changes. It would seem that the NAS report is beginning to prompt changes at a national level in the US, which forensic laboratories hope will allow the sharing of quality assurance protocols and the use of standardised reporting mechanisms. Expert opinion, the limitations of forensic evidence and the acknowledgement of error were key areas of discussion within a variety of specialisms. The greatest controversy was within the field of bite mark analysis, whose practitioners had originally met the NAS report with anger and resentment. Presentations in this domain focused on acknowledging the limitations of the field, and it was suggested that ‘identification’ should be dropped from the term ‘bite mark identification evidence’, in order not to overstate the scientific basis and power of the evidence. Controversial past cases were discussed where bite mark evidence has led to wrongful conviction and, in one case, sent the accused to death row. It was recommended that such cases should be studied systematically, analysing where mistakes had been made, as the issues involved may not be immediately obvious. This was clearly a highly emotive session for the practitioners in attendance and resulted in some heated discussion (particularly as the expert whose testimony had led to the conviction in the death row case was sitting in the audience!). It seemed, as an outsider, healthy that these views and frustrations were being aired and that some constructive ideas and the need to change and to stand up to scrutiny were being discussed. There seem to be a lot of areas in which academic research could benefit bite mark analysis (anyone need a research project?!). The need for an appreciation of inherent error within forensic sci-
ence was brought to the forefront by Sherry Nazhaeizadeh (UCL SECReT) who presented the poster from her MSc research, which exposed contextual biases within the field of forensic anthropology.
The poster was extremely well received (one of the most popular on display), shocking viewers but highlighting the need to acknowledge bias in their work. Hopefully SECReT students can continue to play a part in progressing forensic science along its ‘path forward’ through research which directly impacts upon forensic science practice, both in the UK and across the world. The next meeting is in February 2014. Article by Helen Earwaker (UCL SECReT)
Engagement activities
2053 AD. Humankind has harnessed the super abilities of comic books and science fiction...Scientists have enhanced crime fighters’ human senses. The latest techniques and technology are applied to track down criminals...Roll back 40 years to 2013. How close are we to attaining these abilities? Probably closer than you think.
SuperLAB was a mini-series of events which took place at Bedroom Bar, Shoreditch, London on February 20th and 27th, 2013. Over two nights, a group of PhD researchers, artists and post-doctorates mixed up science and art in order to investigate how they influence each other and whether the super abilities conjured up from comic books and science