The Forensic Scientist

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When is Forensic Science Needed?

When a police office arrives at a possible crime scene, three questions need to be answered:

	Has a crime been committed?
	Who is responsible?
	Is the suspect responsible for the crime?

The Role of the Forensic Scientist

The forensic scientist has a three main duties;

Examination of physical evidence

Reporting on the results of a forensic examination

to assist investigation in tracing an offender

provision of evidence for presentation of a case to a court

present verbal evidence in court (expert testimony)

A personal view of expert testimony by Jeffrey Doyle, a firearm examiner of the Kentucky State Police

To this list can also be added the training of police officers to become "forensically minded" when investigating a crime scene.

[ The Forensic Scientist ] [ The Crime Scene ] [ Physical Evidence ] [ Forensic Disciplines ] [ Case Histories ]

Developed with support from the Science in Schools initiative of the Department of Education and Training, State Government of Victoria

Selected by the SciLinks program, a service of National Science Teachers Association (USA)