Crimes

Physical evidence serves two purposes. In some cases it is used to prove a component or element of a crime. Eor example, in a case involving trafficking in cocaine [50-36-2] the prosecutor must prove that the white powder found in the criminal s possession was cocaine (Table 1). The forensic chemist tests the substance and issues a report. If the powder is methamphetamine [537-46-2] the charge must be amended. 

Most of the forensic science or crime laboratories located in North America are associated with law enforcement agencies, medical examiner—coroner departments, or prosecutors offices. There are a large number of independent consultants, also. Laboratories exist at the municipal, county, state, and federal levels of government. There are approximately 300 government-operated forensic science laboratories in the United States. 

The large numbers of dmg trafficking arrests made by poHce agencies and the resulting high volume of cases submitted to most crime laboratories... 

Trace Evidence. Trace evidence (23) refers to minute, sometimes microscopic material found during the examination of a crime scene or a victim s or suspect s clothing (see Trace AND residue analysis). Trace evidence often helps poHce investigators (24) develop connections between suspect and victim and the crime scene. The theory behind trace evidence was first articulated by a French forensic scientist the Locard Exchange Principle notes that it is not possible to enter a location, such as a room, without changing the environment. An individual brings trace materials into the area and takes trace materials away. The challenge to the forensic scientist is to locate, collect, preserve, and characterize the trace evidence. 

Searching a crime scene is a complex process (25), involving poHce, crime scene technicians, and forensic scientists. The procedure requires careful documentation, collection, and preservation of the evidence. Trace evidence (26) in criminal investigations typically consists of hairs (27,28) both natural and synthetic fibers (qv) (29,30), fabrics glass (qv) (31,32) plastics (33) sod plant material budding material such as cement (qv), paint (qv), stucco, wood (qv), etc (34), flammable fluid residues (35,36), eg, in arson investigations explosive residues, eg, from bombings (37,38) (see Explosives and propellents), and so on. 

Perhaps the simplest examination done is the physical match. A small fragment of wood, plastic, or other material is recovered and fitted into a large piece found on the suspect or at the scene of the crime (39). Other examinations result ordy in demonstrating class characteristics (40). Such information may be used in a prosecution as circumstantial evidence in a trial. However, it is important that the forensic scientist neither inflate nor minimize (41,42) its importance. 

Lasers (qv) and other high intensity or alternative light sources are usefiil in crime laboratories to visualize latent fingerprints, seminal fluid stains, obhterated writings, and erasures, and to aid in specialized photographic work. Infrared and ultraviolet light sources are also used to view items of evidence. 

Forensic Serology. Blood, often associated with crimes of violence, is powerfiil physical evidence. Its presence suggests association with the criminal act and blood can be used to associate suspects and locations with the bleeder. Blood is a complex mixture of cellular material, proteins, and enzymes and several tests are available for suspected bloody evidence. A typical test protocol involves (/) determining whether blood is present, (2) determining if it is human blood, (J) typing the blood, and (4) when appHcable, performing DNA typing. 

B. A. J. Fisher, Techniques of Crime Scene Investigation, 5th ed., Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1992. 

P. L. Kirk, Crime Investigation, 2nd ed., John Wiley Sons, Inc., New York, 1974. 

Fluorescence Microscope. A useful light microscope utilizes UV light to induce fluorescence in microscopic samples (40). Because fluorescence is often the result of trace components in a given sample rather than intrinsic fluorescence of the principal component, it is useful in the crime laboratory for the comparison of particles and fibers from suspect and crime scene. Particles of the same substance from different sources almost certainly show a different group of trace elements. It is also very useful in biology where fluorescent compounds can be absorbed on (and therefore locate and identify) components of a tissue section. 

In 1982, seven people died from consuming cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules. The incident resulted in a total product recall, massive negative pubHcity for the product, new requirements for safe packaging, and a federal statute making product tampering a crime (2). Since that time, the packaging industry has become visible to most consumers. This awareness has benefited the consumer by a reduction in loss of life due to consumption of adulterated products from tampering. Never before has an industry reacted so swiftly to resolve a problem. 

General support for science and technology remains strong in the United States (19,20), but actual financial support for scientific research remains under increased pressure from competing critical needs, including health cate, crime prevention, education, pollution control, and national defense. 

An example of a classification problem ia which feature weighting and selection was important comes from forensic chemistry (qv). A classification method was needed to determine the paper grade and manufacturer of a paper scrap found at the scene of a crime. In this study, 119 sheets of paper (qv) representing 40 different paper grades and nine manufacturers were obtained (25). The objects were then the paper samples, and the variables consisted of... 

The mechanical output of the motor for crimes iind hoists in lifting the hook load is the useful work done by it. The losses produced in the crane or hoist mechanism are taken into account by the mechanical efficiency of the hoisting mechanism. 

The field of statistics as a separate discipline began m the early to mid nineteenth century among German, British, French, and Belgian social reformers, refeired to as statists i.e., those that were concerned with numbers related to the state, including crime rates, income distributions, etc. [34] The appeal of frequency-based interpretation of probability would have been natural m the study of large human populations. 

Schuld, /. debt fault, blame guilt crime. 

Mokhiber, R. (19SS). Corporate Crime and Violence Big Business Power and the Abuse of Abuse of the Public Trust San Francisco Sierra Club Books. 

In the United States, outside of the core areas of older major cities, transit has become the transport of last resort. There is a substantial social stigma attached to using transit, due to the low income levels of transit patrons in most U.S. cities. Transit customers also sometimes fear their vulnerability to crime, especially while waiting at bus stops. 

Chow dhury, Jasyadev, Jail The Rising Peril for Environmental Crimes, Chem. Eng, V. 95, No. 15, 1988, p. 26. 

The type of alarm system used is dependent on the expected type of security breach and the method employed in responding to one. In unguarded premises, requiring only a low level of security, an alarm that operates immediately a device detects a security breach may be sufficient to ward off vandals, burglars and crimes of opportunity. On the other hand, where breaches of security may involve more determined criminals, such as fraud or industrial espionage, delayed alarms on the premises may give time for security personnel and/or police to apprehend the criminal in the process of committing the crime. 

While a number of different classes of insurance cover relate to crime risks, the principal one which is sought by most businesses is known as theft or burglary insurance. The terms theft and burglary are defined in the Theft Act 1968, but while insurers use theft , the cover provided by this insurance is much narrower than the legal definition of that term in that it applies only in specified circumstances. 

The geographical location of the insured property (experience shows that metropolitan and urban areas have a crime incidence which is above average for the UK) and... 

Insurance companies employ staff that have been trained in crime-prevention techniques, and when theft insurance is provided/requested for commercial premises, it is normal practice for the insurer to carry out a security survey of the premises to prepare a report for the underwriters. The report is based on the surveyor s assessment of the risk, which will consider the following main factors ... 

The principal aims of security should be to forestall both organized and opportunist crime by cost-effective measures. While there is considerable variety in the type of criminal attack and skills involved, fortunately there is a tendency for them to act in a similar way, and this enables a common philosophy to be applied when determining countermeasures. 

The location of any premises has a considerable influence on the overall standard of security. With new building, and other things being equal, the site with a low level of local crime should be chosen. In most instances, however. 

Where there is a security risk, fit internal bars or grilles properly secured to the building fabric. Specifications for bars and grilles are available from the local crime prevention officer, the insurance company or from proprietary grille manufacturers. 

Public nuisance Public nuisance is the interference with the lawful activities of Her Majesty s subjects or a substantial section of them. One person cannot suffer a public nuisance. Public nuisance is a crime and is actionable by the Attorney General or (under Section 2.2.2 of the Local Government Act 1972) by the local authority. There is no prescriptive right to commit a public nuisance. 

Perhaps the most common and well-publicized use of DNA fingerprinting is that carried out by crime laboratories to link suspects to biological evidence— blood, hair follicles, skin, or semen—found at a crime scene. Thousands of court cases have now been decided based on DNA evidence. 

I been established to serve as a registry of convicted offenders. When a DNA sample is obtained from a crime scene, the sample is subjected to cleavage with restriction endonucleases to cut out fragments containing the STR loci, the fragments are amplified using the polymerase chain reaction, and the sequences of the fragments are determined. 

The "arsenic poison" referred to in true-crime dramas is actually the oxide of arsenic, As203, rather than the element itself. Less than 0.1 g of this white, slightly soluble powder can be fatal. The classic symptoms of acute arsenic poisoning involve various unpleasant gastroin-... 

Alec Jeffryes, an English geneticist, discovered in the 1980s how to apply this principle to forensics. To do this, it is necessary to locate that portion of the DNA molecule in which the base sequence differs significantly from one individual to another. That part of the molecule is cut out by a "restrictive enzyme" in much the same way that trypsin splits a protein molecule into fragments. The DNA sample obtained in this way from a suspect can be compared with that derived from blood, hair, semen, saliva, and so on, found at the scene of a violent crime. 

A DNA fingerprint can be used for many purposes other than solving violent crimes. In particular, it can serve to identify deceased individuals. In June of 1998 the "Vietnam Unknown" buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery was identified by DNA technology. He was shown to be First Lieutenant Michael Blassie, shot down over Vietnam in May of 1972. DNA samples taken from his mother matched those obtained from his body. A month later Blassie, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, was reburied in a national cemetery located in that city. 

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