Sewanhaka Central High School District
Floral Park Memorial High School
Final Exam Review Sheet
Make sure to review ALL OLD exams and quizzes. Chapter Summary review
questions and homework’s assigned as well as any labs completed
Chapter 1
Definition of Forensics, criminalistics: the application of criminal and civil laws
enforced by police agencies
the recognition, collection, identification, individualization, and interpretation of
physical evidence
the application of scientific techniques in collecting and analyzing physical
evidence in criminal cases
History of Forensics
Ancient Babylon
Archimedes
Erastratus
Sun Tzu
Mathieu Orifila
Alphonse Bertillion: anthropometry
Francis Galton: fingerprinting
Leone Lattes and Karl Landsteiner: serology
Calvin goddard: ballistics
Albert Osborn
Walter McCroone: crystalography
Edmond Locard (exchange principle)
Organization of the Crime Lab, Services of a Crime Lab
Physical Science unit
Biology Unit
Firearms Unit
Documents examination unit
Photography Unit
Toxicology Unit
Latent Fingerprint Unit
Polygraph Unit
Voiceprint analysis unit
Evidence collection unit
Forensic Pathology (know job of the coroner which is to establish cause of
death)
Autopsy, rigor mortis, algor mortis, liver mortis)
Forensic Anthropology
Forensic Entomology
Forensic Psychology
Forensic Odontology
Forensic pathology: rigor mortis, liver mortis, algor mortis
Organization of crime labs: Federal, state, county, municipal
FEDERAL:
FBI – largest crime lab in the world, broad investigative powers
DEA – analysis of drugs seized in violation of federal laws regulating
production, sale & transport, of drugs
ATF: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives
U.S. Postal Inspection Service – criminal investigations relating to the
postal service
STATE: NEW YORK STATE
COUNTY: Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island
Municipal; Floral park
Chapter 2 The Crime Scene
A crime scene is a location where the law has been broken. It may contain evidence
about the crime. It may have more than one location. Ex If a person is murdered in
a home but the body is buried by the river, the home is the primary crime scene the
river is the secondary crime scene.
Know the steps in processing the crime scene
What Is Physical evidence and know types of physical evidence?
What is testimonial evidence?
What is expert testimony?
Processing the crime scene
Secure and isolate the crime scene
Record the crime scene
Photography
Sketching
Rough sketch vs finished scetch
Computer Aided Drafting (CAD)
Finished sketch must contain polarity (N,S,E,W), Room measurements
key or legend, At least two reference points for each piece of physical
evidence.
Know the polarity of room 239. Hempstead Turnpike is South, Jericho
North, Plainfield Avenue West, Locust Street East
Note taking
Conduct a systematic search for evidence
Spiral search method
Grid method
Strip or line search
Quadrant or zone search
Evidence collected and maintained from a body for lab examination
Tissues and organs
Vicim’s clothing
Fingernail scrapings
Head and pubic hairsm
Blood (for DNA)
Vaginal, anal, and oral swabs
Recovered bullets or weapons
Hand swabs from shooting victims for Gun shot residue
Collect and Package evidence
How are different pieces of evidence gathered from a crime scene and how
are they packaged?
Use of vacuum, tweezer etc. what type of containers are used to package
evidence?
What is a druggist fold when is it used?
How are blood stained items handled?
How are articles of clothing handled?
Maintain Chain of Custody
Obtain Standard or Reference Samples
What is a standard or reference sample and why is it important?
Buccal swab
Physical Evidence
Quantitative vs qualitative analysis: A white powdery substance is found in a small
bag in the pocket of a murder victim. Forensic analysis determines the powder is
Qualitative analysis identifies the powder as cocaine and baby laxative
Quantitative analysis identifies it as 85% cocaine and 15% laxative.
Modus operandi vs criminology
Staged crime scene
Types of physical evidence
Blood,semen,saliva,documents(handwriting)drugs,explosives,fibers,hairs,fin
gerprints,firearms and ammunition, glass, impressions, paint, petroleum products,
plastic, rubber, powder residue, serial numbers, soil, minerals, tool marks and
impressions, vehicle lights, wool and other vegetative matter
Identification
Comparison
Individual vs class evidence
Crime scene reconstruction
Fingerprinting
Before fingerprinting, which method was used in the identification of a
suspect and/ or repeat criminal?
What is a fingerprint?
What is the study of fingerprinting?
Know the 3 types of fingerprint pattern and their percentages
Loop, whorl, arch
How are fingerprints formed?
Ridge patterns
How are fingerprints compared and admitted into the court room
Be able to compare two fingerprints by identifying specific minutiae patterns
What are the different types of fingerpints left at a crime scene? Latent,
visible, imprint
What are some other individual prints left at a crime scene?
AFIS
How are latent fingerprints lifted from a crime scene?
Ninhydrin, iodine, superglue, silver nitrate, dusting
Hair
3 parts of hair: root, shaft, tip
3 parts of the shaft: cuticle, medulla, cortex
Be able to give the function of each part of hair and each layer of the shaft.
What information does the follicular tag give us?
What are the stages of hair growth?
Blood: Is blood individual or class evidence EXPLAIN!
4 parts of the blood and their function
Erythrocytes (RBC) carry oxygen c determine asphyxiation
Leukocytes (WBC) defend the body, have a nucleus housing DNA
Thrombocytes (platelets) clot the blood
Plasma: liquid part of blood dissolves ALL solutes
Blood type is determined by the antigen found on the surface of the RBC
With that antigen comes the antibody to fight against foreign antigens
Blood type A has antigen _____________ and antibody ___________
It can successfully receive transfusions from _________________
Blood type B has antigen _____________ and antibody ___________
It can successfully receive transfusions from _________________
Blood type AB has antigen _____________ and antibody ___________
It can successfully receive transfusions from _________________
Blood type O has antigen _____________ and antibody ___________
It can successfully receive transfusions from _________________
Which is the universal receiver and WHY?
Which is the universal donor and WHY?
What is the rheusis factor and what does it have to do with blood typing?
What is agglutination? How does it happen?
Blood Spatter
List the factors that effect the shape and size of a blood droplet
What is the difference between low, medium and high velocity spatter?
How can you determine the direction a blood droplet is moving?
What is the point of origin?
How can you find the point of origin?
What is the angle of impact?
How can you calculate the angle of impact?
What is the difference between a presumptive and confirmatory test?
Be able to identify each reaction: luminol, fluorescin, Kastle Meyer, hematest
Confirmatory tests: precipitant test uses animal blood to determine if a
sample is human. How does this work?
Drugs
Complete the table
Category of
Examples of
Drug
drug
Narcotics
Depressants
Stimulants
Hallucinogens
Drug effects
on body
Targeted
dependency
neurotransmitter
Be able to identify what a positive test looks like and which drug it is testing for the
following:
Dillie-Koppanyi, Duquenoix- Levine, Marquis reagent, Scott test, Van Urk
What % of crime labs deal with drug related evidence?
Which department created the controlled substance list?
DNA Fingerprint
What are the sources of DNA found at a crime scene?
Isolate the DNA from the source
Cut up the DNA with restriction enzymes RFLP
Separate the DNA: gel electrophoresis: separates on size, charge, solubility
Add a DNA probe or radioactive probe to look for a specific sequence
Transfer fragment pattern via southern blot
Visualize and compare fragments
Remember: restriction enzymes recognize palindromes. They cut specific
sequences
Gel electrophoresis adds negative charge to fragmented DNA repelling the negative
fragments. Small fragments move the fastest and are at the bottom of the gel.
Larger fragments move slower and are at the top of the gel
CODIS: Combined DNA Index System compares two DNA sources. The more
fragments in common, the closer the reationship