NCJ Number
71078
Date Published
1980
Length
368 pages
Annotation
Designed for college students, laboratory personnel, police officers, police administrators, and prosecutors, this text on scientific crime detection offers simplified testing procedures.
Abstract
Five major divisions of the book cover basic tools, evidence and recording the crime scene, the mobile crime laboratory and evidence from the crime scene, special techniques and the 'fixed' laboratory, and written and verbal reports. The history of criminalistics is briefly narrated and seven functional areas of the crime laboratory are described. The basic concepts of forensic science are refined. Specific forensic subjects that are handled include forensic photography, blood, semen, and other body fluids testing, casts and molds, detective staining, recording and classifying fingerprints, and glass fracture. Special laboratory techniques are discussed, such as etching, use of various microscopes, investigation of arson, identification of drugs, and instrumentation (such as gas chromatography, mass spectrometer, infrared spectrophotometer, and ultraviolet spectrophotometer). Important elements in effective report writing and understanding the behavior of experts on the witness stand are the concluding topics. Explanatory diagrams, charts, tables, and photographic illustrations are provided in most chapters. Appendixes include an experimental report on the examination of cannabis sativa, an action report, a technician's laboratory report, a listing of lab equipment and methods for transmitting evidence, crime scene sketches, and common terminology of narcotic traffic. A glossary of terminology used in narcotic traffic, a subject index, and 45 references are provided.