CFS Bulletin
Issue 6 July 2013
w: www.ucl.ac.uk/forensic-sciences
e: jdi-forensic-sciences@ucl.ac.uk
@UCLForensicSci
in this issue:
•
The 7th International Crime
Science Conference
•
The American Academy of
Forensic Sciences 65th Anniversary General Meeting
•
SuperLAB!
•
Events and seminars round-up
•
News and upcoming events
7th International Crime
Science Conference
Crime scientists and forensic scientists from UCL and beyond gathered at the British Library, London
on Tuesday 16th July for the latest
International Crime Science Conference, organised by the UCL Jill
Dando Institute of Security & Crime
Science. The focus for 2013 was on
“Engineering emerging technologies
for our future cities” and it showcased leading research projects that
researchers are hoping will help to
tackle threats to our urban societies
as we move into a new phase of technological and societal development.
The CFS ran a session on Forensic
Technology, chaired by the director
Dr Ruth Morgan. Dr Gill Tully, from
independent forensic science provider Principle Forensic Services, gave
a talk on bringing forensic research/
technology to market. Questions
from the audience focused on exactly
what the current forensic science
landscape looks like, following the
big changes to forensic science provision after the closure of the Forensic
Science Service.
It was a useful reminder for those
working within the field that others
in related disciplines don’t necessarily have the same knowledge that we
have, and need to be better informed
before they can consider moving into
the field of forensic technological
development.
Nigel Baker (UCL Security & Crime
Science) talked about developing
technological tools to incorporate intelligence and forensic evidence into
terrorism prevention strategies, and
Dr Mark Huckvale (UCL Centre for
Law Enforcement Audio Research)
talked about his Centre’s project on
enhancement of poor quality speech
recordings for use as forensic evidence. Dr Ali Anjomshoaa (from the
Forensic Special Interest Group) was
the external chair, and brought an
industry perspective to the session.
It was a popular session with delegates and the variety of talks showed
the real diversity of forensic science
applications. Thanks to all those who
attended and we hope to see you
again next year.
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
fiction could soon become a reality.
The project was supported by a Train
and Engage bursary funded by the
Wellcome Trust.
At the ‘DRAW’ event artist Alice
Shirley created pieces of art live at
the event and discussed the techniques and skills artists use and
need. Becky Chamberlain had people
drawing images upside down to see
whether the technique improved
or impaired their accuracy, and if
so, can science tell us why…? Ravi
Das and Tom Freeman looked at
the effects of different drugs on the
brain. They tested creativity and the
ability to perform various tasks after
having consumed alcohol or coffee.
With Matteo Farinella, a neuroscientist and sketcher, the audience drew
through a microscope and discussed
questions such as “What is creativity?”
A week later, at the ‘CRIME’ event…
a battle between the forces of good
and evil took place! A crime had
occurred, the scene taped off ready
for investigation…forensic scientists
of all kinds were armed and ready as
the superheroes of the evening. On
the other side of the room, the supervillain psychologists were ready to
weave their web of deception over
members of the public….
In the Superhero corner…David
Pugh (UCL SECReT) did an excellent job of manning the crime scene
throughout the evening. He helped
members of the public sketch the
scene, identify potential evidence
items (which included many suspicious objects!), package the evidence
and fill in the evidence log.
Helen Earwaker and Kelly Cheshire
(UCL SECReT) were fingerprinting all night. With so many different
types of evidence items it was up to
them to help people figure out which
materials would be better to lift
the prints. They also gave the audience an opportunity to take away a
souvenir of the night in the form of a
personalised fingerprint keyring.
The public were tasked with determining the murder weapon…with
the help of Dagmar Heinrich (UCL
SECReT), they compared the images of knife wounds on skeletal
remains found at one of our crime
scenes. The images were compared to
knives found in the possession of our
suspects…
Nadia Abdul-Karim (UCL SECReT)
was analysing suspect powders found
in the crime scene and those found
in the homes of the suspects. The
audience compared the spectroscopy
data from each of the powders to
known samples in order to determine whether the material was sugar,
flour, cocaine or something slightly
more explosive…
Georgia McCulloch (UCL SECReT)
was getting down and dirty with soil
samples recovered from the outdoor
crime scene. Using soil analysis techniques she was able to show how the
samples could be differentiated, and
demonstrate some of the colourful
patterns the analysis produced.
In the SuperVillain corner….Chris
Street (UCL) was making people lie,
watching them, and recording their
behaviour. The results were being
sent to Nick Duran (University of
California) in California via a video
link; Nick analysed them throughout
the evening and reported back at
the end of the night with results on
how best to spot a liar and the best
methods to lie.
Rob Teszka (Goldsmiths College) re-
searches awareness and misdirection.
He was playing with people’s minds
all night and making them think
things they wouldn’t usually. Alongside Rob, Jens Madsen (UCL) was
‘opinion boxing’ with the audience.
Jens discussed how we can persuade
others and be persuaded ourselves to
believe or think things we might not
have otherwise.
Throughout the night the public
had the opportunity to post comments on our feedback wall which
was covered in controversial statements relating to science, art and
the relationship between the two.
This provided the hosts a chance to
get an idea about public opinion on
these topics and the research they are
conducting.
And finally at the end of each evening we finished off with a Q&A
session where everyone got together
to answer any questions from the
audience. We also discussed how
close we are to having the super abilities of good and evil…and the latest
techniques and technologies we have
to track down the bad guy…
Overall, the SuperLAB event was a
great success with a brilliant turn out
from the public. But it wouldn’t have
been possible without the help and
involvement of a group of enthusiastic MRes, PhD, and Post-doctoral
students. Special thanks to Amy
Thornton (UCL SECReT) for being
a great forensic photographer all
evening; and to the Wellcome Trust
and the UCL Centre for the Forensic
Sciences for their support.
Article by Nadia Abdul-Karim (UCL SECReT)
In search of a forensic
scientist!
Events round-up
The spring & summer terms have
been busy with seminars and conferences, both within the Centre and
externally:
Brian Rankin (Head of the Centre
for Forensic Investigation at Teesside
University) visited the Centre earlier
this year and ran a seminar with our
MSc, MRes and PhD students. He
posed several topics for the students,
including the Home Office review
of forensic science, the new College
of Policing and the interpretation
and evaluation of forensic evidence.
These were used as springboards for
discussion and debate of the issues
surrounding forensic science in the
UK. Those who attended found it
a valuable experience and we were
really pleased that Brian was able to
take the time to visit the Centre!
Dr Itiel Dror (Honorary Senior Research Associate at the Centre) gave
the Sir Michael Davies Lecture in
June at the Expert Witness Institute
(EWI) entitled: “Experts: The myth of
impartiality” - exploring how cognitive science can help identify lack of
objectivity in expert evidence, and
suggest practical ways to mitigate
these problems. Dr Dror was introduced at the event by Lord Justice
Leveson.
The Forensic Europe Expo - a twoday conference and exhibition held
in London in April - was attended
by several of our PhD and MRes
students. The conference programme
included sessions on the reliability
of fingerprint evidence, innovation
in forensic provision and innovative
technology & research.
As well as SuperLAB, students and
staff have taken part in other outreach and engagement events such
as a careers fair at Dr Challoner’s
Grammar School in Amersham,
Buckinghamshire - where David
Pugh (UCL SECReT) talked to GCSE
and A-level students about forensic
science and how they can apply their
scientific knowledge in a range of
careers.
News and upcoming events
In early July, David Pugh and Helen
Earwaker took some of their SuperLAB activities to the Big Bang Fair
London - this was a two-day event
for schoolchildren and their teachers, where they can find out about a
range of STEM (science, technology,
engineering & maths) disciplines and
careers. Visitors to our Centre for
the Forensic Sciences stand dusted
for fingerprints, compared the prints
and created a keyring with their own
fingerprint on it to take away. It was
hugely popular with all the attendees!
Dryden Goodwin, British Contemporary artist and filmmaker,
is seeking a forensic scientist who
works gathering evidence from crime
scenes, to be featured in his new artist’s film.
The film will focus on four individuals, each with a distinct relationship to
looking: a forensic scientist, a surgeon,
a clairvoyant and an astronomer.
Dryden Goodwin has gained national
and international acclaim for his
drawing, film, photography, sound
and animation art works that investigate and expand on forms of portraiture.
He has substantial experience of
working in highly sensitive environments. He hopes to shadow, film and
create drawn portraits of a practising
forensic scientist, willing to open up
about their working practices and
unique life of looking, with all its
challenges and motivations.
If you would be interested to find out
more please contact:
dryden@drydengoodwin.com
www.drydengoodwin.com
CFS Bulletin
June 2013
Editor: Kirstie Hampson
Contributors:
Helen Earwaker
Nadia Abdul-Karim
Next issue
November 2013