'Endlessly fascinating...meticulously written and thoroughly absorbing book' Financial Times 'Eye-opening' Daily Mail Out now: The gripping new book by the UK's most eminent forensic scientists, Angela Gallop __________ CRIME [Noun]: An action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law Forensic science is one of the most important aspects of any criminal investigation.The impartial and objective evidence it provides can help convict the guilty. It enables courts to have the confidence in their decisions and to ensure that justice is done. Professor Angela Gallop has been at the forefront of forensics for more than 45 years. During her remarkable career, she has established and run forensic science laboratories and has worked on thousands of cases in the UK and across the world. In How to Solve a Crime, she describes some of her own and her colleagues most intriguing cases and the wide range of skills and techniques used to solve them. Whether it's looking at blood patterns and footwear marks at crime scenes to work out what happened, extracting data from suspects mobile phones to discover where they were at critical times, or analysing fragments of textiles fibers, glass or paint to determine where they might have come from, Gallop shows that every contact really does leave a trace and every trace can help to solve a crime. With unparalleled access and insight across a wide range of specialisms, How to Solve a Crime is a fascinating definitive and authoritative account of real-life forensic science. _________ Praise for WHEN THE DOGS DON'T BARK 'Fascinating' Guardian 'Offers a chilling glimpse into her life's work. . . fascinating stuff' Sunday Times 'Compelling' Daily Mirror 'A casebook that reads like The Encyclopaedia of Murder' Daily Express 'One of the professions leading lights' Woman & Home

A crime scene. A murder. A mystery. The most important person on the scene? The forensic scientist. And yet the intricate details of their work remains a mystery to most of us. Silent Witnesses looks at the history of forensic science over the last two centuries, during which time a combination of remarkable intuition, painstaking observation and leaps in scientific knowledge have developed this fascinating branch of detection. Throwing open the casebook, it introduces us to such luminaries as 'The Wizard of Berkeley' Edward Heinrich, who is credited with having solved over 2000 crimes, and Alphonse Bertillon, the French scientist whose guiding principle 'no two individuals share the same characteristics' became the core of identification. Along the way, it takes us to India and Australia, Columbia and China, Russia, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. And it proves that, in order to solve ever more complicated cases, science must always stay one step ahead of the killer.

The ability to work with, and retrieve images, is vital to forensic and criminal case work. During a five-decade-long career, author John C. Russ has taught methods for image processing and measurement to thousands of students. Forensic Uses of Digital Imaging, Second Edition distills his classroom and workshop material to present the information most relevant to forensic science. Since the publication of the first edition, there have been many significant changes in technology that have revolutionized the ways digital images are used in forensic investigations. Fully updated, the second edition: Covers the widespread advancements of digital imaging photography and processing Discusses the increased power, storage capacity, and use of digital cameras, laptop computers, tablets, and cell phones in forensic science Gives real-world examples to illustrate comparisons between different processing options Includes hundreds of full-color images that demonstrate technologies and techniques Addresses issues of admissibility of forensic investigation results under Frye and Daubert rules Provides guidelines and suggestions for effectively presenting and explaining results Forensic Uses of Digital Imaging, Second Edition explains concepts with minimal jargon, and the methods and tools described in this book can be implemented in a broad spectrum of available computer programs. By demonstrating how these methods can be applied to a variety of images, this book helps readers develop the ability to understand when and how specific techniques should be used. It will be of particular use in casework for practicing photography and imaging police and forensic professionals who need to verify and explain both interpretations and processes to legal professionals, judges, and juries.

Forensic Podiatry: Principles and Methods, Second Edition has been completely updated to reflect the latest developments and advancements in this changing field. New additions to the book, from the previous edition, include all new chapters on the expert witness, Frye Test, and Daubert Standard, as well as revised theories on gait analysis, bare footprint identification, and footwear examination. The new edition includes extensive case studies and an international compilation of current best practices. Since this text's first publication, the field of forensic podiatry has rapidly developed from relative obscurity to a dynamic, internationally recognized discipline. Forensic podiatrists have been able to advance improvements in the field, both in widening the range of applications and deepening the practice through improved techniques to strengthen evidentiary conclusions. Written by two pioneers in the field, Forensic Podiatry includes over one hundred detailed illustrations to serve as an invaluable resource for students, practicing forensic podiatrists, legal professionals and those new to the profession.

Digital forensics and multimedia forensics are rapidly growing disciplines whereby electronic information is extracted and interpreted for use in a court of law. These two fields are finding increasing importance in law enforcement and the investigation of cybercrime as the ubiquity of personal computing and the internet becomes ever-more apparent. Digital forensics involves investigating computer systems and digital artefacts in general, while multimedia forensics is a sub-topic of digital forensics focusing on evidence extracted from both normal computer systems and special multimedia devices, such as digital cameras. This book focuses on the interface between digital forensics and multimedia forensics, bringing two closely related fields of forensic expertise together to identify and understand the current state-of-the-art in digital forensic investigation. Both fields are expertly attended to by contributions from researchers and forensic practitioners specializing in diverse topics such as forensic authentication, forensic triage, forensic photogrammetry, biometric forensics, multimedia device identification, and image forgery detection among many others. Key features: * Brings digital and multimedia forensics together with contributions from academia, law enforcement, and the digital forensics industry for extensive coverage of all the major aspects of digital forensics of multimedia data and devices * Provides comprehensive and authoritative coverage of digital forensics of multimedia data and devices * Offers not only explanations of techniques but also real-world and simulated case studies to illustrate how digital and multimedia forensics techniques work * Includes a companion website hosting continually updated supplementary materials ranging from extended and updated coverage of standards to best practice guides, test datasets and more case studies

Josiah Sutton was convicted of rape. He was five inches shorter and 65 pounds lighter than the suspect described by the victim, but at trial a lab analyst testified that his DNA was found at the crime scene. His case looked like many others,arrest, swab, match, conviction. But there was just one problem,Sutton was innocent.We think of DNA forensics as an infallible science that catches the bad guys and exonerates the innocent. But when the science goes rogue, it can lead to a gross miscarriage of justice. Erin Murphy exposes the dark side of forensic DNA testing: crime labs that receive little oversight and produce inconsistent results prosecutors who push to test smaller and poorer-quality samples, inviting error and bias law-enforcement officers who compile massive, unregulated, and racially skewed DNA databases and industry lobbyists who push policies of stop and spit."DNA testing is rightly seen as a transformative technological breakthrough, but we should be wary of placing such a powerful weapon in the hands of the same broken criminal justice system that has produced mass incarceration, privileged government interests over personal privacy, and all too often enforced the law in a biased or unjust manner. Inside the Cell exposes the truth about forensic DNA, and shows us what it will take to harness the power of genetic identification in service of accuracy and fairness.

A concise, robust introduction to the various topics covered by the discipline of forensic chemistry

The "Forensic Chemistry Handbook" focuses on topics in each of the major chemistry-related areas of forensic science. With chapter authors that span the forensic chemistry field, this book exposes readers to the state of the art on subjects such as serology (including blood, semen, and saliva), DNA/molecular biology, explosives and ballistics, toxicology, pharmacology, instrumental analysis, arson investigation, and various other types of chemical residue analysis. In addition, the "Forensic Chemistry Handbook"

Covers forensic chemistry in a clear, concise, and authoritative way

Brings together in one volume the key topics in forensics where chemistry plays an important role, such as blood analysis, drug analysis, urine analysis, and DNA analysis

Explains how to use analytical instruments to analyze crime scene evidence

Contains numerous charts, illustrations, graphs, and tables to give quick access to pertinent information

Media focus on high-profile trials like those of Scott Peterson or Kobe Bryant have peaked a growing interest in the fascinating subject of forensic chemistry. For those readers who want to understand the mechanisms of reactions used in laboratories to piece together crime scenes--and to fully grasp the chemistry behind it--this book is a must-have.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the application of geoscience to criminal investigations. Clearly structured throughout, the text follows a path from the large-scale application of remote sensing, landforms and geophysics in the first half to the increasingly small-scale examination of rock and soils to trace amounts of material. The two scales of investigation are linked by geoscience applications to forensics that can be applied at a range of dimensions. These include the use of topographic mapping, x-ray imaging, geophysics and remote sensing in assessing whether sediment, rocks or concrete may have hidden or buried materials inside for example, drugs, weapons, bodies. This book describes the wider application of many different geoscience-based methods in assisting law enforcers with investigations such as international and national crimes of genocide and pollution, terrorism and domestic crime as well as accident investigation. The text makes a clear link to the increasingly important aspects of the spatial distribution of geoscience materials (be it soil sampling or the distribution of mud-spatter on clothing), Geographic Information Science and geostatistics. *A comprehensive introduction to the application of geoscience to criminal investigation* Examples taken from an environmental and humanitarian perspective in addition to the terrorist and domestic criminal cases more regularly discussed* A chapter on the use of GIS in criminalistics and information on unusual applications and methods - for example underwater scene mapping and extraterrestrial applications* Material on how geoscience methods and applications are used at a crime scene* Accompanying website including key images and references to further material * An invaluable text for both undergraduate and postgraduate students taking general forensic science degrees or geoscience courses "The whole book is peppered with useful and appropriate examples from the authors' wide experiences and also from the wider literature...an essential purchase for any forensic science department as well as for any law enforcement organisation." Lorna Dawson, Macaulay Institute

As elected coroners were replaced by medical examiners with scientific training, the American public became fascinated with their work. From the grisly investigations showcased on highly rated television shows such as "CSI" to best-selling mysteries that revolve around forensic science, medical examiners have never been so visible - or compelling. They, and they alone, solve the riddle of suspicious death and the existential questions that come with it. Why did someone die? Could it have been prevented? Should someone be held accountable? What are the implications of ruling a death a suicide, a homicide, or an accident? Can medical examiners unmask the perfect crime? "Postmortem" goes deep inside the world of medical examiners to uncover the intricate web of social, legal, and moral issues in which they operate. Stefan Timmermans spent years in a medical examiner's office following cases, interviewing examiners, and watching autopsies. While he relates fascinating cases here, he is also more broadly interested in the cultural authority and responsibilities that come with being a medical examiner. How medical examiners speak to the living on behalf of the dead is Timmermans' subject, revealed here in the day-to-day lives of the examiners themselves.

An explanation of the basic principles of data

This book explains the basic principles of data as building blocks of electronic evidential matter, which are used in a cyber forensics investigations. The entire text is written with no reference to a particular operation system or environment, thus it is applicable to all work environments, cyber investigation scenarios, and technologies. The text is written in a step-by-step manner, beginning with the elementary building blocks of data progressing upwards to the representation and storage of information. It inlcudes practical examples and illustrations throughout to guide the reader.

"We are sure that DNA: Forensic and Legal Applications will play its part in promoting this most powerful tool in the forensic scientist's armamentarium."
-James Watson, PhD
-Jan Witkowski. PhD

Because it consists of a number of complex steps and procedures subject to both scientific and legal standards, the collection, analysis, presentation, and interpretation of DNA evidence remains a complex process. Any procedural or documentary misstep can potentially render key evidence or testimony useless. To avoid such costly errors, scientists, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and judges all must possess a detailed knowledge of how forensic DNA works, from the crime scene to the laboratory to the courtroom and beyond.

DNA: Forensic and Legal Applications provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to this important and increasingly prevalent legal tool. Designed to reach readers in both legal and scientific fields, this text gives a global view of the practical issues involved in the forensic use of DNA. In clear, nontechnical language, the text covers:

• A scientific overview of DNA and common DNA tests
• Techniques used by criminalists on the path from crime scene to final laboratory analysis
• Procedures used to analyze biological evidence
• Human genetics, population genetics, and statistics in the context of DNA testing and genetic profiling
• Understanding and interpreting DNA evidence with respect to past and present law
• Concepts and procedures used in challenging or defending DNA evidence
• Postconviction appeals based on analysis of existing DNA evidence, including a discussion of The InnocenceProject
• The future of DNA technology with respect to legal evidence gathering and analysis

In a unique combination of legal practice and scientific analysis, DNA: Forensic and Legal Applications provides forensic scientists, potential expert witnesses, and professionals in the criminal justice system with the definitive resource on the methods of DNA analysis as well as the handling, potential, and limitations of DNA evidence.

This book explores the interaction between science and society and the development of forensic science as well as the historical roots of crime detection in colonial India. Covering a period from the mid-19th to mid-20th century, the author examines how British colonial rulers changed the perception of crime which prevailed in the colonial states and introduced forensic science as a measure of criminal identification in the Indian subcontinent. The book traces the historical background of the development and use of forensic science in civil and criminal investigation during the colonial period, and explores the extent to which forensic science has proven useful in investigation and trials. Connecting the historical beginning of forensic science with its socio historical context and diversity of scientific application for crime detection, this book sheds new light on the history of forensic science in colonial India. Using an interdisciplinary approach incorporating science and technology studies and history of crime detection, the book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of forensic science, criminology, science and technology studies, law, South Asian history and colonial history.

This book exposes the dangerously imperfect forensic evidence that we rely on for criminal convictions. "That's not my fingerprint, your honor," said the defendant, after FBI experts reported a "100-percent identification." The FBI was wrong. It is shocking how often they are. Autopsy of a Crime Lab is the first book to catalog the sources of error and the faulty science behind a range of well-known forensic evidence, from fingerprints and firearms to forensic algorithms. In this devastating forensic takedown, noted legal expert Brandon L. Garrett poses the questions that should be asked in courtrooms every day: Where are the studies that validate the basic premises of widely accepted techniques such as fingerprinting? How can experts testify with 100-percent certainty about a fingerprint, when there is no such thing as a 100 percent match? Where is the quality control at the crime scenes and in the laboratories? Should we so readily adopt powerful new technologies like facial recognition software and rapid DNA machines? And why have judges been so reluctant to consider the weaknesses of so many long-accepted methods? Taking us into the lives of the wrongfully convicted or nearly convicted, into crime labs rocked by scandal, and onto the front lines of promising reform efforts driven by professionals and researchers alike, Autopsy of a Crime Lab illustrates the persistence and perniciousness of shaky science and its well-meaning practitioners.

Special Agent Michael Santini offers an inside account of the takedown of MS-13 in San Francisco-one of the largest federal takedowns of a criminal gang in U.S. history. In a bid to take down MS-13's criminal network in the Mission District of San Francisco, Michael Santini, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, recruits a pair of hardened gang members and convinces them to risk their lives as criminal informants. Set in a city with one of the strictest sanctuary policies protecting illegal immigrants in America, Operation Devil Horns illustrates how politically correct ideology impacts life-or-death crime fighting on the streets. Through the informants' eyes, Operation Devil Horns offers a rare glimpse into the pervasive criminal subculture of MS-13, a gang of Spanish-speaking immigrants that still terrorizes pockets of American society today - including their own compatriots. The case begins with a focus on the gang in San Francisco, eventually widening to include a network that reaches across borders. Santini tracks down the gang's leadership from the Bay Area to the prison cells of corrupt Central American regimes. Eventually, it takes the cold-blooded murder of three family members in San Francisco to shake the American public out of complacency and focus sober attention on a growing and violent threat. This is the story of a dedicated team of special agents, federal prosecutors, and local police who overcome political and legal challenges to take down more than two dozen violent criminal targets.

The field of forensic linguistics is a niche area that has not enjoyed much participation from the African continent. The theme of language and the law in this book is one that straddles two important aspects of the legal history of South Africa in particular, and how it has impacted on the country’s legal and education systems. The declaration, by the United Nations, of 2019 as ‘The International Year of Indigenous Languages’ is opportune, not only for the launch of this book, but for what its research content tells us of the strides taken in ensuring access to justice for all citizens of the world in a language they understand.

The contributions by authors in this book tell the story of many African citizens, and those hailing from beyond our borders, who straddle the challenges of linguistic and legal pluralism in courtrooms across their respective countries. It is our hope that the contributions made in this book will assist in ensuring human rights become a reality for global citizens where indigenous voices have not been heard; and that these citizens will be free to give their testimonies in a language of their choice, and that they may be heard and understood.