Forcenturiesforensicssciencehasbeenusedtoconvictcriminals,usingmethodsthat

werewidelyusedandthoughtofasthebestmethods.Butjustbecausemethodsarewidely
useddoesntalwaysmeanthattheyarethebestandmostefficientway.Backinthe1800s
andearly1900s,forensicsscientistsdidnothavetheresourcesandadvancementsaswedo
intodaystime.Asthetimeshavebeenchanging,technologyadvancementshave
skyrocketed.Withtheseincreasesintechnologicaladvancements,forensicscientistsnow
havethetoolsandtheessentialstocatchcriminals.Buttechnologyalsoallowscriminalsto
morefrequentlybeanonymousastheycommitcrimes.Sowilltheadvancementsin
technologyhelptheforensicssciencefieldinbigways?

Typicallyinforensicsciencethereareparticularstepswhicharealwaystakenwhen
investigatingthesceneofthecrimesuchaslightingupthecrimescenewithheavydutylights
sothatyoucancatcheverything,gatheringevidence,takingpicturestosnapandscalethe
scene,searchingforDNA,documentingfindings,andanalyzingDNA.Buttheforensic
sciencefieldischangingeveryyearwiththerisingadvancementsintechnologythathelp
improvetheirworkethics.EventakingDNAsamplesiseasierthroughtechnology.
LabonachipisacreditcardsizedmachinethatonecouldloadasmallsampleofDNAinto
thespot.ThiswayscientistscandotheDNAtestingrightonthespotandnothavetowait
untiltheygetbacktothelab.Itusespumpsandtinytubeswhichperformthesametasksin
theusualstepsasthescientistswoulddobyhandinthelab.ItwouldtaketheDNAoutofthe
sample,makemultiplecopiesoftheDNA,andanalyzethefingerprint.Allofthisinthefraction
ofthetimeandcostwhilegettingevidencemuchquicker.

WhilethisspeedsuptheprocessofDNAsampling,thereareimprovementson
camerasforforensicsthatcandomorethanjustsnapandscalethescene.Whatifacamera
couldgatherevidenceunseenbythehumaneyesuchasabloodspatterpattern?Wellthe
NewCameradoesjustthat.AccordingtothechemistsoftheUniversityofSouthCarolina,it
usesmultimodeimaginginthethermalinfrared.Thiswouldbequiteusefulincrimescene
investigationsandelsewhere.Ittakespicturesinseveraldifferentways,capturinghundreds
ofimagesinjustafewseconds.Whileitilluminatesthesubjectswithinvisiblepulsesof
infraredlightwaves.Somephotoswillhavespecialfilterswhenthepictureistakeninorderto
blockoutspecificwavelengthsmakingcertainchemicalcomponentstostandoutfromtheir
surroundings.Intests,thecameramadeinvisiblestainsandpatternsappearfroma
backgroundoffourdifferentkindsoffabric,alsodistinguishingbetweenblood,household
bleach,coffee,andsoda.Beingabletoidentifyunseenstainsandliquidscanbeakey
componenttounderstandingwhatoccurredatthecrimescene.

Throughtechnology,thingsaregettingmoreadvancedthanjustspeedingupthe
normaltasks.Withthesetopendtechnologyadvancementsalsocomewholenewwaysof
solvingcrimesandcatchingcriminals.TakeMariosSavvidesforexample.Heworkson
securitysystemstopreventcrimesinthefirstplaceashestudiestheuniquetraitsofapartof
thehumanbodythatcanbeakeycomponenttofightingcrime,notDNAfingerprints,butthe
uniqueimprintofapersonsfootastheywalk.WithhiscollaborationwithAutonomousID,

theydevelopedtheideaandareconstructingbio_sole,adevicewhichmeasuresthewaya
personsfoothitsthegroundtoverifyhis/heridentity.Thedevicewillmeasurethedynamics
ofapersonsfootastheymove,acharacteristicuniquetoeachindividual.Theteamisalso
examiningquestionssuchashowthedevicewouldrecognizeapersonsfootmovementsas
theychangewithage,injury,ordifferentformsofmovementsuchasrunning.Thedevice
usesphysiologicaltraits(theshapeofthefoot),andbehavioraltraits(thewayaperson
walks),todetermineapersonsidentity.Andnomatterhowhardapersontries,theycan
never100%mimicapersonswalk.

Mariosisfocusedonstoppingcrimefromthestartothershopetoresolvecrime
mysteriesandtosolvethehorriblecrimesoftoday.ArpadVass,achemicalforensics
researcheratOakRidgeNationalLaboratoryinTennessee,developedtheLightWeight
AnalyzerforBuriedRemainsandDecompositionOdorRecognitionSystemforlocatingdead
bodies.KnownasLABRADORforshort.Itlooksmuchlikeametaldetector,buthasasmall
boxontheendthatcollectsairsamples.Theboxcontains12sensorsthatrespondto30
classesofchemicalsthatemitfromdecayingbodies.Italsogivesaudiosignalsaswellasa
visualdisplay.Investigatorswillbeabletodigforbodieswherethereadingsfromthe
LABRADORarethehighest.Alreadybeingputtogoodusein2010,LABRADORwasusedto
findthebodyofLynsieEkelandwhowasreportedmissingin2001.Detectivesknewshewas
buriedsomewhereonthe40acreland.TheLABRADORauthorizedthemtodigwithin15
metersofwhereherbodywassoonfound.

Technologyisexpandingtohigherlevelsallthetime,andwehaveaccumulatedso
muchofwhatithastooffer.Andintheforensicsfields,theseadvancementshelpinmany
areasandstepsinforensicsusedtosolvecrimes.Theproblemismanyforensicsteamsdont
havetheresourcestoattainthesedevicesandadvancesintechnology.Thisappliestomany
teamsacrossthecountryduetotheirsize,resources,andrecognition.Soevenwiththe
progressinthegrowingtechnologicalworld,itstillhasn'tspreadtoalargegroupofforensics
teamswhomightbeinneedofthis.Regardless,thatdoesntmeanthishasntaffectedthe
forensicssciencefieldinamazingways,whichhasbeenexpressedverymuchuptothis
point.

Thebio_sole,labonachip,LABRADOR,andNewCameraarejustthebeginningto
thejumpinforensicssciencetechnology.Theseexamplesarethetipoftheicebergofwhat
theforensicsfieldwillaccomplish.Butlookatwhattheyarecapableofdoingwithjustthese
devicesandtools.Theirtechniqueswillonlyimproveastechnologydoesaswell.Methods
anddevicesthatonceseemedtobepartofafictionalcrimefightingworldhavebecomemore
ofarealityallthemore.Imagineaworldwherecriminalsnevergotawayandwerecaught
everytime,beingbroughttojustice.Orwherecriminalsweretooscaredtocommitthecrime
becauseoftherenownedforensicsteamsacrossthecountry.Thatistheworldthatweare
lookingtopossiblycometrue.Technologyisopeningdoorsforthecrimefightersandfortrue
justice.Wedontwantthecriminalstoadvanceaheadofus.Sowecaneitherembraceor

rejectit.Itsuptoustodeterminewhereourfutureliesincrimefighting.Wecanbringeither
justice,orcorruption.