CFS Bulletin
Issue 2 January 2012
jdi centre for the
Forensic Sciences
www.ucl.ac.uk/forensic-sciences
jdi-forensic-sciences@ucl.ac.uk
@UCLForensicSci
in this issue:
• Professor James Robertson
gives us his take on the current state of forensic science
in the UK
• New MSc in Crime &
Forensic Science to be offered by UCL in September
2012
• JDI alumna Jen Mailley
(MSc Crime Science, 2005)
tells us how the floods in
Thailand have affected the
work of TRACE, a charity specialising in wildlife
forensics
• News and events from the
Centre for the Forensic
Sciences and elsewhere
including a new CFS Research Seminar on 21st
March 2012
Forensic science: a
damning verdict?
Professor James Robertson has
worked in forensic science since
the mid-1970s, as an academic in
the UK and for the last 27 years
in Australia as a practitioner,
senior manager and leader. He
is now back in an academic role
as a Professorial Fellow at the
University of Canberra. He was
kind enough to give a talk to the
forensic science PhD students and
other academics at the JDI Centre
for the Forensic Sciences in early
November 2011. What follows is a
summary of his talk, focusing on
the major factors that have influenced the development of forensic
science over the last 30 years.
“DNA, the ‘CSI effect’ and advances in technology have all impacted on the delivery of forensic
services worldwide. Taking DNA
as an example, while the development of techniques in identification through DNA has been a
paradigm-shifting event for forensic science, it has also had potential negative effects on other areas.
The emphasis on DNA means that
fewer resources may be available
for other areas of forensic science;
indeed there is arguably an overemphasis on identification as the
most important part of forensic
work. In addition the technology has sometimes lagged behind
and been too slow to support the
broader justice system.
The impact of the so-called ‘CSI
effect’ is still widely debated and
disputed, but research undertaken
at the University of Canberra has
suggested that it has resulted in
jurors expecting forensic evidence
to be presented – and drawing
incorrect conclusions when it is
not. This seems to be because jurors, and arguably others, do not
understand that in our adversarial
system the obligation on the prosecution is to present relevant facts
pertaining to the ‘issues’ which
may be disputed. A major role
for forensic science is therefore to
assist in defining which facts are
likely to be disputed, hence much
– if not most – forensic work goes
on behind the scenes and will
never be presented in court. New
rules in the UK around forensic
evidence will mean that even less
forensic material makes it to the
courtroom.
The third major area of change
has been technological advances,
allowing more and more sensitive analysis. This can raise issues
with interpretation: what is a
meaningful difference in forensic
work that is largely comparative?
Getting a balance between quantitative and qualitative assessment
has proved tricky – jurors largely
assess information using qualitative measures but scientists are
more comfortable with numbers!
The situation in England and
Wales is unique, in that a move
towards a commercial market has
been taking place over the last 20
years, resulting in the Forensic
Science Service (FSS) becoming
a government-owned company.
This resulted in a shift in their
vision statement in the mid-2000s
from a public service ethos to a
more commercial stakeholder
statement. The FSS moved from
providing over 90% of the analytical laboratory work to about 60%
in recent years, with other providers winning some of the work
from police forces. Last year the
UK government announced the
closure of the FSS by March 2012
and this has led to the closure of
at least 5 major laboratories, with
well over 1,000 forensic scientists
being made redundant.
Whilst there has already been
some in-sourcing of forensic work
by the police and some expansion
by other providers, this is a major
change in the UK forensic landscape. The UK Forensic Regulator has indicated that all forensic
work in the future will have to be
done by organisations meeting
relevant ISO standards. Currently
only 4 of the 43 police forces
in England and Wales have any
accreditation of their in-house
forensic work. Hence, if there is
a move to in-source some of the
forensic work, as seems inevitable,
it is hard to see how the appropriate standards and formal accreditation can possibly be met in the
very short time frame before the
demise of the FSS.
The clear implication for UK forensic education providers is that
there will be a very tight employment market for several years to
come, and that this, along with
the introduction of substantial
student fees, could mean troubled times ahead for many of the
72 institutions offering over 450
forensic programmes. The programmes that survive will do so
by ensuring that transferable skills
are a strong component of their
content, and that their teaching is
underpinned by excellent empirical research.
Solutions to the big problems
of the future will only be found
through bringing together researchers in both crtitical numbers and with diverse skills as is
the case with the JDI Centre for
the Forensic Sciences. The CFS
has set itself ambitious goals to
address the critical issues facing
forensic science today and tomorrow.”
With thanks to:
Dr James Robertson
Professor of Forensics
University of Canberra
www.canberra.edu.au
james.robertson@canberra.edu.au
If you know anyone else who
would like to receive this bulletin,
tell them to visit our website and
join our mailing list:
www.ucl.ac.uk/forensic-sciences
New MSc programme
From September 2012 UCL will
offer a taught MSc in Crime &
Forensic Science. Students will
gain an insight into forensic
science as a discipline, and how
forensic evidence is interpreted
in court. They will be able to take
specialist modules offered by
various departments within UCL,
including:
•
•
•
•
Molecular Biology
Forensic Archaeology
Forensic Osteology
Intepretation of Evidence
In addition, students will have
the opportunity to take a module
in Crime Scene Investigation at
the Metropolitan Police Service
Crime Academy - see below.
Details of the course and the open
evening on 21st February 2012
can be found on the UCL website:
www.ucl.ac.uk/scs
Crime Scene
Investigation
Students on the MSc in Crime
& Forensic Science will have a
unique opportunity to learn from
professionals at the prestigious
MPS Crime Academy.
We are very pleased that the
Metropolitan Police Service has
chosen to collaborate with UCL
on this module, which is the only
one of its kind available anywhere in the UK. Students who
take part will gain an invaluable
insight into how the police undertake crime scene investigation
and how they work with forensic
scientists and lawyers to pursue
justice.
Wildlife forensics in
South-east Asia
JDI alumna Jen Mailley is currently working for TRACE
Wildlife Forensics Network in
Malaysia. Here she tells us about
the impact of the recent floods in
Thailand on the work of forensic
scientists in South-East Asia.
Few readers will be aware that one
of the implications of the recent
floods in Bangkok is that a DNA
sample from a tiger that may have
been laundered from the wild into
the tiger farming industry cannot be processed. The sample will
have to wait until Thailand’s Wildlife Forensics Services laboratory,
WIFOS, is no longer flooded.
WIFOS was
opened in
December 2010
aligned to a project funded by
the UK’s Darwin
Initiative.
Now in its third
year, the project
has already trained scientists from
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia
in DNA based species identification and individual identification, and has also developed a
novel methodology for sexing
tigers (McEwing et al., in press).
Perhaps most importantly of all,
the scientists have been trained
in how to develop new species
identification tests, and new
individual identification tests. The
region is therefore less reliant on
foreign support for wildlife forensics casework than it was when
the project started. Enforcement
officers from throughout Southeast Asia have also been trained
in sample collection, chain of
custody and storage techniques,
and how to think outside the box.
When you patrol a forested area,
in dense jungle, you may not always have access to a sterile swab
and a fridge.
The project
is headed by
TRACE Wildlife Forensics
Network, a UK
based NGO.
The need for the
project stems
from the illegal trade in wild flora
and fauna continuing at a rate
which threatens to drive some
species to extinction. The recent
rise in rhino poaching in Africa,
and the theft of horns from museums and holding stores in the
UK, provide better
known examples. But
there are many other
species affected.
Pangolins, scaly ant
eaters, are traded in
their thousands every
year for food, and
because their skin is
used to make shoes.
Bears, and specifically bear paws,
are traded because their parts are
believed to have medicinal properties. Tortoises, turtles, gekkos,
snakes, orchids, corals and seahorses have all been documented
as being traded illegally between
and within countries.
Many species originate in Southeast Asia because it is a ‘biodiversity hotspot’. Many species are
also consumed in the region because of long held traditions and
beliefs in the medicinal powers of
various animal parts and derivatives. So how can forensics help
to tackle the illegal wildlife trade?
There are three main questions
typically asked by border patrol
and customs officers who come
across animals, parts or bottles of
medicine that they cannot
identify:
What is it?
Where did it come
from?
Is it wild caught or
captive-bred?
The question of what a
specimen might be can
be answered by DNA
techniques if there is a shortlist
of possible species, for which the
sample can be tested. The question of origin can be answered if
there exists a valid and validated
reference sample collection of
genotype distribution across geographies. The question of whether a sample was wild caught or
bred in captivity can be addressed
if the putative parent samples are
available, to conduct parentage
testing. The results can be used
in court, as for human forensics,
if the chain of custody is intact;
if the laboratory procedures are
validated and SOPs followed; if
the scientists can provide reliable
and accessible results, and if the
courts understand the implications. That’s a lot of ‘ifs’.
Anyone interested in reading more about how the project is turning those ‘ifs’ into
‘whens’ can visit the website at
www.asean-wfn.org. We will keep
you posted on the progress of the
tiger sample, when it’s dry enough
and legal to do so.
jen.mailley@tracenetwork.org
(Photos: sampling blood from a
vehicle, Kuala Lumpur, 2010; demonstrating the technique for drilling
ivory prior to DNA extraction.)
Stay in touch
To keep up-to-date with news
from the CFS, events we are
running and external news and
events in the forensic science
field, why not visit our website
and follow our newsfeed on
Twitter?
News and events
CFS Research Seminar
Wednesday 21st March 2012
We are delighted to welcome
Professor Norman Fenton (Queen
Mary, University of London) to
give a seminar on his current
project: the Bayes and Law network. Intended to explore the role
of Bayesian reasoning in criminal
justice, this network has attracted
senior academics in the fields of
statistics, law, computer science
and forensic science, as well as
civil servants across Europe.
Places at the seminar are limited,
so if you would like to attend
please email us for details.
Enterprise Award funding for
CPD project
The CFS has been awarded funding by UCL to develop a continuing professional development
(CPD) course for forensic practitioners. We are taking on a new
member of staff to coordinate the
project, which will include a significant online component. This
exciting project will benefit from
the expertise of our CFS steering group, whose cutting edge
research will contribute to the
course content. If you are interested in being involved, particularly
if you are a forensic practitioner
who might be willing to take part
in an initial focus group, please
get in touch.
Website:
www.ucl.ac.uk/forensic-sciences
PhD studentship
Twitter ID: @UCLForensicSci
Professor David Balding (UCL
Genetics Institute) has been
awarded a BBSRC CASE PhD
studentship with industrial partner Orchid Cellmark: “Advanced
interpretation of DNA profile
evidence: low template, mixtures,
degradation, sequences and
methylation”. Anyone interested
in applying, with a mathematical/computational background
and some knowledge of (or at
least interest in) forensic genetics,
should contact Professor Balding
directly: d.balding@ucl.ac.uk
Email:
jdi-forensic-sciences@ucl.ac.uk
External news
Fingerprint Inquiry Scotland
- report published December
2011
The report can be downloaded
from the website:
www.thefingerprintinquiryscotland.org.uk
The Fingerprint Society
Conference April 2012
The next conference will be held
in Derbyshire from 13th - 15th
April 2012. For more details, visit
their website:
www.fpsociety.org.uk
Ancient dna
laboratory given the
green light
The JDI Centre for the Forensic
Sciences is collaborating with the
Department of Biosciences and
the Institute of Archaeology to
build an ancient DNA laboratory
at UCL. These facilities will be a
fantastic new addition to the university and will enable academics and students within the CFS
to carry out valuable research,
analysing degraded DNA both
ancient and recent.
Work will be completed on the
facilities (to be housed in UCL
Institute of Archaeology) in summer 2012.
cfs bulletin
january 2012
Editor: Kirstie Hampson
The next issue of the CFS Bulletin
will come out in April 2012. If you
would like to contribute, please
email me using the contact details
above.