Locard’s words are very effective in stating this basic concept:
This concept is very well synthesised by the well known Locard’s principle, which is often defined as ‘every contact leaves a trace’ even though Locard himself never formulated such an expression. 4 Traces can be defined as the remnants of an activity and forensic science endeavours to deduce from the traces left on the crime scene as much information as possible on the crime itself. Technology and science are shaping and enhancing the ability of forensic science to achieve its purpose, i.e. Less than 30 years later, it is almost impossible to imagine investigation without DNA. 3 Since then, more and more sensitive techniques have been devised, decreasing the minimum sample size for obtaining a reliable DNA profile. An equally revolutionary advancement came with the development of DNA typing, in 1985. This started the era of modern forensic science. 1,2 Just a few years had elapsed from these seminal works when, in Argentine in 1892, Juan Vucetich was the first to solve a criminal case using fingerprints for the identification of a felon. This was especially true at the end of the 19th century when the first studies on fingerprints as means for the identification of individuals were published by Faulds and Galton. Looking back at the history of forensic science, every time a new technique became available for acquiring data on the crime scene, a disruptive step forward was introduced in the ability of police forces to identify and prosecute criminals and eventually to fight crime. This chapter reviews such approaches, based on absorption and reflection of light of different wavelengths, and on the exploitation of fluorescence and of chemiluminescence.įorensic science is a very powerful investigative tool, irreplaceable in many instances for the elucidation of complex cases and for an objective understanding of the dynamics of criminal acts.
The human eye is only sensitive to visible radiation, and since many traces are invisible to the naked eye, various type of illumination and visualisation techniques were devised in order to aid the activity of the examination teams. In fact, in order to analytically interpret the information carried by material evidence, a proper screening of the crime scene must be performed, and traces must be individuated, identified and collected.
Università di Padova, Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, 35131 Padova, Italy.Į-mail: Investigazioni Scientifiche Carabinieri, 37122 Verona, Italy.Ĭrime scene examination is a key step in every investigation.
Artificial academy 2 guide to h scene series#
1-26Ĭomprehensive Series in Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences CHAPTER 1 Light for Crime Scene Examination Guzzini, CHAPTER 1:Light for Crime Scene Examination, in Light in Forensic Science: Issues and Applications, 2018, pp.
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