Forensics is the use of science and technology to investigate and establish facts in criminal or civil courts of law. The
best piece of evidence are fingerprints. They are precise enough to link the crime to the exact person by the pattern of the
print because no two humans have the same identical print or pattern.
History and Development:
Many people think that forensic science started with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. However, others debate that
it could have started with prehistoric humans because of the fingerprints left in their cave paintings and others believe
it was the Chinese in the 700's. They would document fingerprints in clay. The first recorded use of Forensic Science was
in 1784 with the conviction of John Toms. He was convicted because of physical evidence he had left behind at the scene of
the crime. This was the first of millions of criminals brought to justice by this system of forensic science through fingerprinting.
(CSI is a modern day influence through tv linking criminals to crimes by fingerprinting and many other forensics procedures).
(this is an example of how a fingerprint is documented and matched to a subject that is assumed to be the crime committer.
this is just an example however the person shown above is not actually a criminal.)
(This picture above is a picture of the different substances in the kit that forensic scientists use to help the fingerprints
to show up and collect them so they can be brought back to the lab for examination.)
Ethical and Environmental Concerns:
The concerns with fingerprints and forensic science is the room for human error. The DNA could be contaminated and lead
to an innocent imprisonment. The ethical problems facing forensics is the issue of privacy. When is it too much? Most people
dont want their DNA plastered everywhere. The people who work day in and day out in the forensics and figerprints field argue
that the smallest detail like handwriting could lead to someone's guilt. While there are no environmental issues the ethical
ones are still being brought up. Even after the capture of many criminals through fingerprints and forensic science there
are still many concerns by civilians.
Future and Links to More Information:
More criminals will be captured. Make the results more exact and fool proof to emliminate the ethical concerns. Because
biotechnology this field will advance as well.