Dorset Police Scientific Support Department encompasses a
variety of services that aid the investigator. During the past two
decades the majority of the services that have been introduced and
used on a daily basis were only available from outside of the
Dorset Police and are now routinely accepted and used throughout
the police service.
The Scientific Support Department is coordinated and managed by
the Head of Scientific Investigations from Force Headquarters,
Winfrith, and includes the Crime Scene Investigation Unit, the
Fingerprint Bureau, the Forensic Laboratory, and the Photographic
and Video Units.
Historically the CSI Unit was jointly operated
from two locations, the old Dorchester Police Station, and the
Bournemouth Borough Constabulary Headquarters. Subsequent reviews
have seen the bringing together of all the latest processes and
resources into purpose-built accommodation at Ferndown, serving the
eastern conurbation, and Weymouth for the west of the county. There
are also satellite offices at Poole and Bournemouth.
The examiners are trained to recover fingerprint evidence at
crime scenes, using various techniques either by way of
conventional powder treatments or through chemical treatment
processes. They are also trained to recover forensic trace evidence
such as glass, fibres, paint, and crime stains that may have
DNA material left
at scenes by suspects. Footwear evidence is also an increasingly
important issue at crime scenes and there are various techniques
available to the examiners to enable them to recover detailed shoe
pattern evidence. Another aspect of the examiner's field of
expertise is the taking of technical photographs to accurately
depict a scene, evidence or injuries to a victim or suspect, or
road traffic collisions.
Dorset Police is the customer for various outside agencies and
we regularly submit forensic casework evidence to forensic science
laboratories, to provide evidence for court of a suspected person's
involvement with a crime or crime scene.
Structure and Training
Police (support) staff officers receive expert training as Crime
Scene Investigators at the National Training Centre for Scientific
Support, and are now replacing the positions traditionally held by
police officers. The training period for examiners covers a two
year programme during which they are enrolled to undertake the
National Diploma in Scientific Support.
The department now includes the newly formed High Tech Crime
Unit (HTCU), formed
and funded as a result of an initiative by the Home Office. The
officers posted to the Unit will seize and examine computers to
assist in the investigation of computer- related crime.
Fingerprinting
The Fingerprint Bureau has also been involved in the relocation
from the Force Headquarters, Winfrith to the new Eastern Divisional
Headquarters.
Automated fingerprint recovery systems are now available to the
police service, and Dorset Police is linked into the National
Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS),
which enables each police force to search throughout England,
Wales, and Northern Ireland for the fingerprints records of
convicted persons.
NAFIS
went live in Dorset Police in March 2001 and new fingerprint-taking
technology (Livescan) has now been introduced at the main custody
suites. Livescan enables the fingerprints of people charged or
reported to be taken and passed electronically to NAFIS
thereby resulting in a much quicker search of the database and
response back to the investigator.
Force Forensic Laboratory
The Force Forensic Laboratory was also relocated at the same time
as the Fingerprint Bureau into the new Eastern Division
Headquarters. The Laboratory Support Staff are also trained at the
National Training Centre for Scientific Support to carry out
various tasks, which are mainly designed to chemically treat items
submitted for the development of latent fingerprints (fingerprint
impressions that are not visible to the naked eye). These
treatments are carried out on porous and non-porous surfaces in a
properly controlled environment. Other facilities enable the
trained staff to look at surfaces using a high intensity light
source, that will allow latent fingerprints to fluoresce under
certain light wavelengths.