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Allison Jones, BSc, MSc, PhD, MRSC, is the Programme Co-ordinator in the Department of Forensic and Investigative Science at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, Lancashire. |
Forensic Science Programmes at the University of Central Lancashire
Forensic science is the use of science to aid legal investigations and it often involves the presentation of scientific evidence in court. Most people are familiar with the portrayals of forensic scientists through the books of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs and television programmes such as CSI and Silent Witness. These popular books and programmes can give a reasonable insight into the work of a forensic scientist. However they are glamorised to make the stories and characters they portray engaging for a mass audience, and not all of a forensic scientist's time is spent investigating the high profile cases described. The job is far more routine than such books and television programmes suggest. Nevertheless these programmes have undoubtedly fuelled the increase in popularity of forensic science as a subject to study at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
So, what does a forensic scientist do? A specific case will illustrate the work of a forensic scientist. In the mid-1970s a young heiress, Lesley Whittle, was kidnapped and found murdered. Her body was found concealed in a manhole on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. The motives for the murder were unclear, but the potential to extract a huge ransom from her rich parents was perhaps behind the crime. The case turned out to be far more complex than could ever have been expected.
Unusually, the initial job for the forensic scientist in the Lesley Whittle case was to visit the crime scene. In the vast majority of cases forensic scientists do not visit crime scenes; that is the role of the crime scene investigator (CSI). This was a deep manhole with a body at the bottom. Observations made by the pathologist at the scene and during the post-mortem examination which followed showed that the victim had been strangled. The murderer had left messages in telephone boxes printed with a Dymo label maker. The messages gave the Police clues to where the body would be and demanded ransom money. The messages had one thing in common: one letter was slightly displaced.
At the same time, there had been an apparently unrelated series of crimes involving robberies from Post Office branches in the Staffordshire area. The man who was responsible for these wore a black or dark blue balaclava helmet as a means of disguise. One of the Sub Post Masters had sprayed household ammonia at his assailant. The ammonia caused some of the dye from the attacker's hat to leech out and drip onto the Post Office floor. The forensic scientists were able to identify the dye.
One day, while on routine operations, a police officer stopped a man for a minor traffic offence. The man, when challenged, jumped out of his car and ran away. The Police officer thought this rather suspicious and decided to trace him.
When the Police arrived at the man's home they found an attic equipped with military equipment as if the man were involved in some sort of military-style operation. They also found a Dymo label maker and a dark blue balaclava helmet. The forensic scientists examined the balaclava helmet and found that the dark blue dye was identical to that found on the Post Office floor, and when they printed a message with the label maker they found that the D was displaced in an identical manner to that of the messages left by Lesley Whittle's murderer.
Eventually the man returned home and was challenged with this scientific evidence. He confessed to the robberies and to the murder. His name is Donald Nielsen, the 'Black Panther,' and he is now serving a life sentence in a high security prison.
It is clear from this brief summary of the Lesley Whittle case that the work of a team of forensic scientists was important in tracking down and convicting one of the most notorious murderers of the last 50 years.
From the range of crimes that are reported in the media and are depicted in modern day crime fiction, and the types of evidence gathered, it is clear that forensic science is multidisciplinary. It involves subjects as diverse as chemistry, toxicology, biology, document investigation, and anthropology.
Practising forensic scientists usually specialise in one of these sub-disciplines. However, it is important that all forensic scientists understand the roles of their specialist colleagues and for this reason students on the courses offered by the University of Central Lancashire get the opportunity to study all of these aspects of forensic science to gain a broad understanding of the subject.
Forensic Science has been offered as part of courses at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) (Preston, UK) since 1999, and in 2000 the BSc (Hons) Forensic Science programme was launched by the Centre for Forensic Science. As the Centre for Forensic Science developed, the courses offered expanded to reflect the expertise employed within the department and to respond to changes in the employment market. In 2001 a BSc (Hons) Police and Criminal Investigation Degree was launched. This course, the first of its kind in the UK, was designed to equip graduates with knowledge and skills relevant to crime investigations within the public and private sectors. The course provides education and training in investigative and policing skills, and in the complementary areas of forensic science, psychology, criminology, and criminal law. The aim of the course is to produce graduates who are equipped for a career within the police, or other investigative services. Since the course concentrates on investigative skills, it is also very relevant to careers with services such as the National Criminal Intelligence Service, National Crime Squad, Organised and Serious Crime Agency, Military Police, the Immigration Service, H.M. Customs and Excise, Environment Agency, Financial Service Agency, Post Office Investigations, NHS Counterfraud, and private insurance and fraud industries.
In order to best deliver such multi-disciplinary courses the Department of Forensic and Investigative Science was established in 2002 with the remit of enhancing knowledge, understanding and application of forensic science, policing and criminal investigation by teaching, research, and scholarship. Unlike many forensic science departments (and programmes) in the UK, our department did not originate from existing chemistry or biology departments and its origin, as an independent entity, was important for two reasons. Firstly it allowed us to design and develop dedicated courses specifically focussed on forensic science and criminal investigation. Secondly, it allowed us to attract specialists in these areas to our staff. As a result, it is now the largest department of its kind in the UK, and is still expanding. It now hosts over 700 undergraduates on a range of courses and over 30 members of staff. Throughout the development of the department it has established and maintained links with the Forensic Science Service, the Royal Preston Hospital and various Scientific Support and Crime Scene Departments and Constabularies in the North West of England and elsewhere in the U.K. These links have played an important role in the development of the Department and there has been significant input by practicing forensic scientists into the design of our courses, their ongoing development, and their delivery. Links such as these also ensure that students have the opportunity to develop a unique insight into forensic science and that the quality and relevance of our courses is maintained.
The content of the BSc (Hons) Forensic Science course reflects the multi-disciplinary nature of the field and draws on expertise in a range of specialist areas. During the course students gain understanding of how these specialist fields interact and study a wide range of disciplines.
The course aims to develop the skills necessary to take part in a forensic investigation and to provide students with experience of examining evidential-type materials. It also aims to encourage development of communication skills and a critical and analytical mind, and importantly to provide students with detailed contextual knowledge and practical skills in subjects underpinning forensic science such as chemistry, biology, anthropology, fire and explosion science, and law.
Students gain hands-on experience of a wide range of scientific and practical techniques to help them obtain employment after their studies. The study of science through its application to the field of forensic investigation has proved to be a successful medium that enhances scientific education as well as providing specialist forensic training.
In 2003 the first wave of MSc programmes were launched designed to provide in-depth and specialist knowledge in particular areas of forensic science. The programmes offered included MSc Document Investigation, the only course of its kind, and MSc DNA Profiling. Postgraduate programmes have been developed further and in 2005 MSc Forensic Anthropology will be launched. Courses including Crime Scene Management and Forensic Computing will follow.
In addition, 2005 will see the launch of BSc (Hons) Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation - again one of the first courses of its kind in the U.K. It has been designed to provide the analytical knowledge and skills required by investigators, forensic scientists, and CSIs. The modern-day investigative process involves a multi-disciplinary approach to the prosecution of offenders and students will acquire a comprehensive understanding of how these specialist fields interact within it. The aim of the course is to foster the development of key academic, vocational, and personal skills to prepare students for a career as a CSI or crime investigator, particularly with those domestic and international agencies which place a high reliance on scientific evidence in the identification and prosecution of offenders. Broadly speaking, the course contains four streams of study: criminal law, criminal investigation, crime scene science, and scientific investigations. Students will also have the opportunity to specialise further in the fields of biology, chemistry, or anthropology. Students may have the opportunity to study overseas for one semester in the second year, either in Europe, Australia, or the USA.
The Department has invested heavily in specialist teaching facilities for its courses. These include evidence search and recovery laboratories, a microscopy suite for forensic investigation, three houses for the simulation and reconstruction of crime scenes, and vehicle examination facilities. In the latter two facilities, students have the opportunity to learn how to process and manage crime scenes and collect evidence for further examination in the laboratories. In addition, the department has further laboratories that have been designed to allow students to apply their knowledge and skills in forensic chemistry, biology, anthropology, and fire investigation, allowing them to develop from evidence collection to analysis and interpretation of results. The Department also has outdoor facilities for students to practice the recovery of buried human remains. The case studies simulated throughout the course indicate how the results from such analysis feed back to the investigating team building up a detailed picture of the crime and aiding the investigation.
To summarise, the courses offered by the department in 2005 will be:
Undergraduate Programmes
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Postgraduate Programmes
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One of the frequently asked questions by potential students and many other agencies relates to the career prospects of our graduates. In recent weeks this has very much become the focus of discussions and debate in the higher education sector in the UK, given the ‘explosion' of undergraduate courses with a ‘forensic' focus. A recent report by SEMTA (The UK Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies) has raised concerns about the wide variation in the forensic science programmes across the UK, accreditation and the level of ‘pure' science in such degrees and the employability and expectations of forensic science graduates. The former concerns have mainly arisen due to the lack of benchmarks for forensic science as a subject.
The main employer of forensic scientists in the UK is the Forensic Science Service, an Executive Agency of the Home Office. They have laboratories throughout the UK and provide a service to the Police, HM Customs and Excise, and the Crown Prosecution Service. They currently employ about 2,800 forensic scientists. Also throughout the UK there are other independent laboratories such as Forensic Alliance and the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC).
A good Honours degree in science or technology is invariably the minimum requirement for appointment as a potential court-going officer in any of the laboratories mentioned and both potential and current students are made aware that, in all of the above careers, it is usual to initially work alongside more senior staff and undertake further specialist training when and if their individual progress warrants it. Students may also wish to take up a career outside the laboratory environment. CSIs are employed by all of the UK police forces to investigate crime scenes. This career is becoming more demanding and professional as technology improves and more scientific techniques are utilised at routine crime scenes. Many CSIs are now graduates and the job is now more of a career than ever before.
Competition for posts such as those described is high but the courses run by the Department are ideally suited to such careers.
In addition to forensic-related employment, the degrees awarded by the Department develop a wide range of skills that would support a variety of careers outside forensic science. The scientific studies that we offer in biology, chemistry anthropology, and fire investigation open up opportunities for employment in traditional areas for science graduates, such as analytical chemistry, molecular biology, scientific publishing, and teaching.
The Police Service is also a relevant potential employer of our forensic science graduates, as are the insurance and fraud investigation industries, Home Office Immigration Service, Transport Police, Customs and Excise, and the military. The broad nature of scientific specialisms in the course, coupled with key skills and practical training, provides students with a wide range of employment opportunities.
Data obtained from our first two sets of graduates indicates that approximately 20% have found employment within forensic science laboratories or in allied careers (e.g. as CSIs), and a further 20% have continued their study choosing to do a postgraduate qualification, either here at the University of Central Lancashire or elsewhere. Whilst these figures initially may not seem high, a good comparison is to consider the number of psychology graduates who become psychologists, or the number of history graduates who become historians. The remainder of our graduates gained employment in the science industry, the teaching profession, or in office and managerial posts. This data supports our belief that we have a good balance of pure science and application of it to forensic science within our programmes, to ensure that our graduates are employable. However in light of the SEMTA report we will be revisiting our programmes and examining the science content to ensure that the employability of out graduates is maintained and that we address the ever-changing needs of the employment market.
If you require further information about any of our courses, please visit our web site at www.uclan.ac.uk/forensic or e-mail AEJones@uclan.ac.uk .
Copyright 2005 by Allison Elizabeth Jones, Ph.D.
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