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What they say
Always
Do you ever feel you have insufficient time to evaluate a case properly?
Sometimes
Never Don’t know For daily news stories, visit newscientist.com/news Always Sometimes
Do you ever feel your partiality is compromised?
Never Don’t know
0
would make it harder for scientists to accurately interpret evidence. “What’s interesting is that if you look at the admittedly small proportion of people that answered who work for the police, they are even more convinced,” says Jim Fraser of the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for Forensic Science in Glasgow. Of the 21 police scientists who responded, 15 said the switch would make it harder to interpret evidence. “More and more cases are being broken into component parts and incomplete examinations are requested of private laboratories because in-house police laboratories believe they are saving money,” said one respondent from a private lab. “This makes the interpretation of the evidence within the context of the whole case very difficult because the scientist does not have a complete picture.” One police scientist said that the breaking up of services could make it easier for defence scientists to challenge cases because key questions, such as what body fluid DNA came from, may no longer be asked. Those managing private and police labs are quick to refute these suggestions. “We have exactly the same values, ethics and the same type of scientists [as the public sector],” says Steve Allen, managing director of the UK’s largest private forensics provider, LGC Forensics.
50
100
150
200
250
“IfNumber we weren’t objective and of respondants impartial we wouldn’t be of any value to the criminal justice system,” says Gary Pugh, director of forensic services for the Metropolitan Police in London. He admits that police are under pressure to cut costs, but says if cuts have to be made, “that would probably mean not doing forensic science in some lower-level crimes, rather than compromise on quality or standards”. James Brockenshire, minister for crime and security at the UK’s Home Office, also denies that the closure of the FSS will lead to an increase in miscarriages of justice. “Private companies have provided high-quality forensic science to the criminal justice system for a number of years and there “28.6 per cent of forensic is no reason why the closure of the FSS scientists will reduce impartiality or affect the feel pressure accuracy of their work,” he says. He to produce adds that any police labs taking on a particular FSS work will need to work to the same result” high standards as private labs, and that the market is overseen by the Home Office’s Forensic Science Regulator. However, 78.2 per cent of forensic scientists we surveyed don’t feel confident that the regulator has sufficient resources to ensure that standards are adequate and consistent between providers. “If anything, the regulator’s resources have reduced over the past 1 to 2 years,” wrote one independent forensic consultant. >
Survey results: problems in forensic science New Scientist asked 365 UK forensic scientists about their experiences at work Public FSS lab
Private lab
Police lab
Other
“Do you ever feel pressurised to produce a particular result?” Always Sometimes Never Don’t know
1.4%
0%
2.3%
22.2
28.6 72.9
3.5
0%
18.2
76.2 0
40.4 77.3
2.3
52.5 7.1
“Do you ever feel you have insufficient time to evaluate a case properly?” Always Sometimes Never Don’t know
4.9%
0%
4.5%
67.1
85.7
21.0
14.3
7.0
11.1% 75.0
63.6
18.2
0
16.2
2.3
9.1
“Do you ever feel your partiality is compromised?” Always Sometimes Never Don’t know
0.7%
0%
11.1 82.6 5.6
0%
9.5
12.1 84.1
85.7 4.8
0%
13.6 2.3
78.8 9.1
Figures may not add up to 100% due to respondents working for multiple agencies
what they say A selection of the responses from the forensic scientists who took our survey
“In the short term, the extra workload placed on the remaining forensic providers will cause delays in work being ready for trials” “Police in-sourcing is best described as ‘forensics lite’. Examination of evidence is minimal and focused solely on what the prosecution needs. This completely ignores the requirements of the defence which usually require more in-depth examinations’” “Forensic science should only ever be a service, along the lines of the fire brigade and NHS. To try to create a profit-making business from it was a ridiculously doomed idea” “I have been pressurised to provide a result that was wanted in the past. The police did not like the answer that I gave but I stuck to it” “My employer is severely struggling with the workload. They have had to rush through the validation of new equipment which has led to problems during live work. The quality of the results in this department is severely below standard” “We will continue to see deterioration in this area until there is a huge miscarriage of justice and some bright spark in government will decree that forensic science should sit outside of the police service, taking us full circle to when the FSS was created” 11 February 2012 | NewScientist | 11
Do you ever feel you have insufficient time to evaluate a case properly?
Sometimes
Never Don’t know For daily news stories, visit newscientist.com/news Always Sometimes
Do you ever feel your partiality is compromised?
Never Don’t know
0
would make it harder for scientists to accurately interpret evidence. “What’s interesting is that if you look at the admittedly small proportion of people that answered who work for the police, they are even more convinced,” says Jim Fraser of the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for Forensic Science in Glasgow. Of the 21 police scientists who responded, 15 said the switch would make it harder to interpret evidence. “More and more cases are being broken into component parts and incomplete examinations are requested of private laboratories because in-house police laboratories believe they are saving money,” said one respondent from a private lab. “This makes the interpretation of the evidence within the context of the whole case very difficult because the scientist does not have a complete picture.” One police scientist said that the breaking up of services could make it easier for defence scientists to challenge cases because key questions, such as what body fluid DNA came from, may no longer be asked. Those managing private and police labs are quick to refute these suggestions. “We have exactly the same values, ethics and the same type of scientists [as the public sector],” says Steve Allen, managing director of the UK’s largest private forensics provider, LGC Forensics.
50
100
150
200
250
“IfNumber we weren’t objective and of respondants impartial we wouldn’t be of any value to the criminal justice system,” says Gary Pugh, director of forensic services for the Metropolitan Police in London. He admits that police are under pressure to cut costs, but says if cuts have to be made, “that would probably mean not doing forensic science in some lower-level crimes, rather than compromise on quality or standards”. James Brockenshire, minister for crime and security at the UK’s Home Office, also denies that the closure of the FSS will lead to an increase in miscarriages of justice. “Private companies have provided high-quality forensic science to the criminal justice system for a number of years and there “28.6 per cent of forensic is no reason why the closure of the FSS scientists will reduce impartiality or affect the feel pressure accuracy of their work,” he says. He to produce adds that any police labs taking on a particular FSS work will need to work to the same result” high standards as private labs, and that the market is overseen by the Home Office’s Forensic Science Regulator. However, 78.2 per cent of forensic scientists we surveyed don’t feel confident that the regulator has sufficient resources to ensure that standards are adequate and consistent between providers. “If anything, the regulator’s resources have reduced over the past 1 to 2 years,” wrote one independent forensic consultant. >
Survey results: problems in forensic science New Scientist asked 365 UK forensic scientists about their experiences at work Public FSS lab
Private lab
Police lab
Other
“Do you ever feel pressurised to produce a particular result?” Always Sometimes Never Don’t know
1.4%
0%
2.3%
22.2
28.6 72.9
3.5
0%
18.2
76.2 0
40.4 77.3
2.3
52.5 7.1
“Do you ever feel you have insufficient time to evaluate a case properly?” Always Sometimes Never Don’t know
4.9%
0%
4.5%
67.1
85.7
21.0
14.3
7.0
11.1% 75.0
63.6
18.2
0
16.2
2.3
9.1
“Do you ever feel your partiality is compromised?” Always Sometimes Never Don’t know
0.7%
0%
11.1 82.6 5.6
0%
9.5
12.1 84.1
85.7 4.8
0%
13.6 2.3
78.8 9.1
Figures may not add up to 100% due to respondents working for multiple agencies
what they say A selection of the responses from the forensic scientists who took our survey
“In the short term, the extra workload placed on the remaining forensic providers will cause delays in work being ready for trials” “Police in-sourcing is best described as ‘forensics lite’. Examination of evidence is minimal and focused solely on what the prosecution needs. This completely ignores the requirements of the defence which usually require more in-depth examinations’” “Forensic science should only ever be a service, along the lines of the fire brigade and NHS. To try to create a profit-making business from it was a ridiculously doomed idea” “I have been pressurised to provide a result that was wanted in the past. The police did not like the answer that I gave but I stuck to it” “My employer is severely struggling with the workload. They have had to rush through the validation of new equipment which has led to problems during live work. The quality of the results in this department is severely below standard” “We will continue to see deterioration in this area until there is a huge miscarriage of justice and some bright spark in government will decree that forensic science should sit outside of the police service, taking us full circle to when the FSS was created” 11 February 2012 | NewScientist | 11