Meet the Forensic Team that Solves Crimes

Forensic science encompasses a wide variety of scientific disciplines including biology, chemistry, computer, dentistry, neurology, pharmacy, genetics, pathology, psychiatry and toxicology.

During a forensic investigation, these various fields work with crime scene investigators to examine evidence and prepare it to be presented in court. Often forensic scientists will give expert testimony during the trial.

Together, all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together to reveal who committed the crime, how they did it, when and where it took place and the motive or the reason why the crime was committed.

Meet the Members of the Forensic Team:

Pathologist or Medical Examiner

The medical examiner is a pathologist and usually the first forensic specialist to investigate a crime. Their responsibilities include determining cause of death including if it was from violence, an accident or suicide. If a death appears to be suspicious, the medical examiner decides if a more thorough autopsy needs to be conducted. Watch a video of an autopsy by a medical examiner.

Anatomic Pathologists

Anatomic pathologists perform the autopsy and analyze tissue material taken from the deceased.

Clinical Pathologists

Clinical pathologists diagnose disease by measure chemicals and cells in blood, bone marrow, urine and other bodily materials.

Pharmacologist

Pharmacology is a branch of science that studies the interaction of chemical substances and living tissues.

The forensic pharmacologist studies how the body absorbs chemicals. This entails know how different chemicals affect the body, where they act within the body and how they are metabolized. Answers to these questions can help determine the time of death.

Toxicologist

Toxicology is the science of poisons, how they act on the living body, and how they are detected after death. The toxicologist often works with the pharmacologist to find and examine poisonous substances or drugs in bodily fluids and tissues. Read about The 17 Most Deadly Poisons.

Forensic Odontologists

Forensic odontologists analyze dental evidence to identify human remains through dental records. They also determine the origin of bite marks, either on human disuse or objects and to make comparisons of a suspect’s teeth.

Serologist (DNA Analysis)

Serology is the study of bodily fluids in humans and animals. This would include blood type determination and DNA analysis from human cells. Read more about DNA analysis.

Forensic Document Examiner

These scientists make handwriting comparisons to determine who wrote a document and if it is authentic or a forgery. Forensic document examiners are also skilled at the detection of alterations, additions, deletions, or substitutions to a document.

Computer Forensic Examiner

Computer forensic techniques are frequently used to analyze computer systems of either a suspect or victim to gain clues as to what web pages the owner visited and when, email or instant message correspondence and can recover data and documents that where deleted.

Forensic Neuropsychologist

Forensic neuropsychology applies the functioning of the nervous system and brain to legal issues involving mind and behavior. They give expert testimony as to the reliability of witness testimony, the competency of individuals to stand trial, if a mental disorder predisposed an individual to commit a crime, the possibility an individual has memory loss, and other brain disorders caused by head injuries, drugs, alcohol and other chemicals.

Forensic Psychiatrist/Psychologist

A Forensic Psychiatrist or Psychologist takes information from a crime scene and complies the information to hypothesize a possible suspect. In this psychological profile, the forensic psychologist makes predictions of the suspect’s ethnic background, family, education, financial status and motivation for committing the crime.

Forensic Anthropologist

Forensic anthropology is the study of the human skeleton and applications of this science in a legal setting. These scientists assist in a criminal case to identify a victim’s remains when there are in the advanced stages of decomposition, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable.

Members of the forensic team apply scientific knowledge and methodology to legal problems and criminal investigations. Some cases require the need for even more specialized areas of forensic science. For instance, we are even aware of forensic plumber that helped solve a murder case!! This has been a broad overview of the types of scientists that help solved crimes.

Stay Brutal!