To trace or not to trace: A survey of how police use and perceive chemical trace evidence

Forensic Science International : Synergy
Peter A WoodmanKaye N Ballantyne

Abstract

There is limited information available about the impact of chemical trace evidence and it has tended to be anecdotal and mostly pertaining to court outcomes. Very little is known about the use of chemical trace evidence by police investigators or the impact that this evidence form has on criminal investigations. This survey, which was conducted in Victoria, Australia, was aimed at addressing these inadequacies by capturing information from police investigators about: (i) the purpose of using chemical trace and other forensic services; (ii) the expectation of what value forensic services would provide; (iii) the actual impact of forensic evidence in specified cases; and (iv) the general perceptions of forensic science. Police officers who were the lead investigators in a sample of criminal investigations were selected as the subjects for this survey. Each of the sample cases included chemical trace evidence and many of the cases also included other forms of forensic evidence. The police investigators indicated that they use chemical trace evidence with the expectation that it will assist decision-making in their investigations and contribute to building a case for court. Survey responses indicated that chemical trace evidence ca...Continue Reading

References

Apr 23, 2010·Science & Justice : Journal of the Forensic Science Society·James Robertson, Claude Roux
Oct 31, 2012·Journal of Forensic Sciences·Joseph L PetersonDonald J Johnson
Jun 24, 2015·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Claude RouxOlivier Ribaux
Jul 16, 2015·Journal of Forensic Sciences·Tom McEwen, Wendy Regoeczi
Dec 15, 2015·Science & Justice : Journal of the Forensic Science Society·Sonja BitzerOlivier Delémont
Mar 5, 2016·Forensic Science International : Synergy·Sonja BitzerOlivier Delémont
May 26, 2017·Journal of Forensic Sciences·Lauren S BlakeyJason W Birkett
Sep 2, 2019·Science & Justice : Journal of the Forensic Science Society·Vincent MousseauFrank Crispino
Jan 7, 2020·Forensic Science International : Synergy·Peter A WoodmanSally F Kelty

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Citations

Jun 27, 2021·Science & Justice : Journal of the Forensic Science Society·Peter A WoodmanCaroline Spiranovic

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