Chapter 1: The Evolution of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science
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Chapter 1
The Evolution of Criminal Investigation and
Forensic Science
Learning Objectives
1. Define investigator.
2. Define the most fundamental purpose of investigation.
3. State four additional objectives of the investigative process.
4. Explain the importance of the Bow Street Runners.
Introduction
An investigator is someone who systematically gathers, documents, and evaluates evidence and
information. This is accomplished through the process of investigation. The most fundamental
purpose of criminal investigation and forensic science is to discover the truth. By making this
Lecture Notes
I. Jurisdiction
The authority of law enforcement officers is limited by such factors as the Constitution, court
decisions, federal and state laws, departmental policies, and jurisdiction, which can be thought of
Chapter 1: The Evolution of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science
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II. Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science
For present purposes, the roots of criminal investigation can be traced back to England in the
eighteenth century, a period marked by significant social, political, and economic changes. These
changes were important to the development of the first modern detective force, the Bow Street
Runners.
III. The Evolution of Criminal Investigation
A. The Impact of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions
During the eighteenth century, two events—an agricultural revolution and an industrial
revolution—began a process of change that profoundly affected how police services were
B. The Fieldings: Crime Information and the Bow Street Runners
In 1748, Henry Fielding became chief magistrate of Bow Street and set out to improve the
administration of justice. In 1750, he established a small group of volunteers, non-uniformed
C. The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829
In 1816, 1818, and again in 1822, England’s Parliament rejected proposals for a centralized
professional police force for London as different political philosophies clashed. Finally, in
1829, owing in large measure to the efforts of Sir Robert Peel, Parliament passed the
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Metropolitan Police Act, which created a metropolitan police force for London. Police
headquarters became known as “Scotland Yard” because the building formerly had housed
D. American Initiatives
The success of Peel’s reform in England did not go unnoticed in the United States. Stephen
Girard (1750–1831) bequeathed $33,190 to Philadelphia to develop a competent police force.
E. Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency
In 1846, seeing the need for reliable investigators, two former St. Louis police officers formed
F. The Emergence of Municipal Detectives
As early as 1845, New York City had 800 plainclothes officers, although not until 1857 were
the police authorized to designate 20 patrol officers as detectives. In November 1857, the
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G. Federal and State Developments
From its earliest days, the federal government employed investigators to detect revenue
violations, but their responsibilities were narrow and their numbers few. In 1865, Congress
created the U.S. Secret Service to combat counterfeiting. In 1903—two years after President
McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo—the previously informal
In 1932, the FBI established a crime laboratory and made its services available free to state
and local police. In 1935, it started the National Academy, a training course for state and
local police. In 1967, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) was made
operational by the FBI, providing data on wanted persons and property stolen from all 50
states.
H. The Police and the U.S. Supreme Court
As the highest court in this country, the Supreme Court is obligated to review cases and to
make decisions that often have considerable impact. From 1961 to 1966, a period known as
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IV. Historical Milestones of Forensic Science
The origins of criminalistics or forensic science are largely European. The first major book
A. Three Historical Biometric Methods of Personal Identification
In the early 1900s, biometry and biometrics referred to methods of analyzing biological data.
Biometrics is derived from Greek and means “life measurement.” In forensic science, there
are three historical biometric approaches to establish individual identity: (1) anthropometry,
(2) dactylography, and (3) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) typing.
Dactylography is the study of fingerprints. In a scientific context, in 1684 in England, Dr.
Nehemiah Grew first called attention to the system of pores and ridges in the hands and feet.
Just two years later, Marcello Malpighi made similar observations. In 1823, John Perkinje, a
professor at the University of Breslau, named nine standard types of fingerprint patterns and
outlined a broad method of classification. Despite these early stirrings, it was not until 1900
that a country, England, used dactylography as a system of criminal identification.
Beginning in 1858, William Herschel, a British official in India, requested the palm prints and
fingerprints of those with whom he did business, thinking that it might awe people into
keeping agreements. Over the next 20 years, Herschel noted from his records that the patterns
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resolved to anyone’s satisfaction.
In 1888, Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911) turned his attention to criminal identification. In
1892, Galton published the first definitive book on dactylography, Finger Prints. It presented
statistical proof of the uniqueness of fingerprints and outlined many principles of
The final breakthrough for the fingerprint method of personal identification was made by
Edward Henry. Henry developed an interest in fingerprints and instituted Bertillon’s system
with the addition of fingerprints to the cards.
In 1904, New York City Detective Sergeant Joseph Faurot was sent to England to study
fingerprints, becoming the first foreigner trained in the use of the Henry classification system.
Despite the fame achieved by Faurot, the most important incident to advance the use of
fingerprints in this country was the West case. In 1903, Will West arrived at the U.S.
penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. While West was being processed in through
Vucetich’s book on fingerprint classification was published in 1894, seven years before
Henry’s, but Henry’s system has become much more widely used. In 1911 the provincial
government of Buenos Aires passed a law requiring fingerprint registration for all adults
subject to military service and eligible to vote. When Buenos Aires planned an expansion of
fingerprint registration, there were strong protests. In contrast, Henry became the head of
what was then the world’s most prestigious police organization and enjoyed the support of his
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government.
In 1988, the FBI became the first public-sector crime laboratory in the United States to accept
cases for DNA analysis. Although DNA analysis of blood and other evidence from humans in
criminal investigation cases is widely understood and used, there was no application of
“genetic fingerprinting” to plant evidence in criminal cases until the 1992 palo verde
seedpod case in Phoenix, Arizona.
B. Firearms Identification
In the United States, the frequency of shootings has made firearms identification extremely
important. As a specialty within forensic science, firearms identification extends far beyond
the comparison of two fired bullets. It includes identification of types of ammunition,
knowledge of the design and functioning of firearms, restoration of obliterated serial numbers
on weapons, and estimation of the distance between a gun’s muzzle and a victim when the
weapon was fired.
C. Other Early Contributors
There are many other early contributors to the evolution of investigation and forensic science.
For example, in 1910, Albert Osborn (1858–1946) wrote Questioned Documents, which is
still regarded as a definitive work. Leone Lattes (1887–1954) developed a procedure in 1915
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V. The Continuing Evolution of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science
Science continues to provide tools for criminal investigation and forensic science, enhancing
existing capabilities and creating new ones.
A. Touch DNA at 20
Despite the great usefulness innovations provide, there are often accompanying unintended
side effects, an example of this is touch DNA. In 1997, it was established that items a suspect
handled could yield sufficient DNA for analysis. Touch DNA serves to exonerate some and
B. The Perils of Touch DNA
Although touch DNA is science, its use is not without perils and it is not infallible. Touch
DNA can also be accidentally transferred, resulting in wasteful misdirection of investigations
and creating the potential for grievous injustices. Around 2015, secondary transfers of touch
C. The New Biometrics
Historically, biometrics was thought of narrowly, with a tight focus on measurements limited
to those taken from the body itself. Biometrics is now defined as the measurable and
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D. Forensic Phenotyping
Essentially, a forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is a twenty-first century composite sketch of
a person of interest. Where DNA analysis can lead to the individual identification of the
E. Microbial Communities
Forensic scientists have taken note of the ubiquitous microbes and have begun studying how
they might be helpful to investigations. A recent and joint study involving the University of