ORGANIC VS. INORGANIC

Organic vs. Inorganic

Organic vs. Inorganic

Criminalistics can be defined as the application of scientific methods to the recognition, collection, identification, and comparison of physical evidence generated by illegal civil activity. It also involves the reconstruction of such activity by evaluation of the physical evidence and the crime scene. The majority of cases where such evidence is generated involve criminal activity.

AREAS OF CRIMINALISTICS

The major areas of criminalistics discussed here are illicit drugs (also called “drugs of abuse” or “controlled substances” in the United States), firearms and tool marks, fingerprints and other friction ridges, questioned documents, footwear and tire treads, blood and other body fluids, and “trace evidence” (which means different things to different forensic scientists. Sometimes it is called “microchemical” evidence or other similar terms).

Illicit Drugs

Illicit drugs are drugs that are illegal to possess or to use, as well as drugs that are used for purposes other than those for which they are intended. Many of these drugs have no legitimate medical use. Forensic drug chemists analyze these drugs in their “street” form, before ingestion. Analysis of drugs inside the body is the purview of the forensic toxicologist. Common illicit drugs include marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, PCP, amphetamines, barbiturates, and Ecstasy.

Drug cases make up more than half of all cases submitted to many forensic science laboratories in the United States. Drug chemists are often called upon to identify not only the drug present but also any cutting agents or other impurities and the quantity or percentage of the drug.

Blood and Other Body Fluids (Serology)

One of the most common types of evidence left during crimes of violence is blood or other body fluids or tissue, such as hairs, seminal fluid, saliva, and skin cells. Until about twenty years ago it was not possible to trace this evidence back to a particular ...