🕵️What Is Forensics?
What is Forensic Science?
Forensic science is using science to solve crimes and answer legal questions.
What is an observation?
Information gathered using your senses.
What is physical evidence?
A physical object or material that can be collected and examined.
What is class evidence?
Evidence that can be associated with a group but not necessarily one specific source.
What is perception?
The way a person interprets information received through their senses.
What is an eyewitness?
A person who saw an event happen firsthand.
What is a inference?
A conclusion or interpretation based on observations.
What is testimonial evidence?
Information given by a person, such as a statement or testimony about what they saw or experienced.
What is individual evidence?
Evidence that can be associated with one specific source.
True or False: Two people can witness the same event but remember it differently.
True.
What is one internal and one external factor?
Stress Level: Extreme fear narrows attention.
Weapon Focus: Eyes lock on a weapon, ignoring faces.
Biases: Prior expectations fill in gaps.
Lighting: Poor light distorts skin and cloth color.
Distance: Hard to see facial features far away.
Time: Memory drops off steeply within 24 hours.
"The glass is broken." Is this an observation or an inference?
A witness tells police, "I saw a person wearing a red jacket leave the building." What type of evidence is this?
Testimonial evidence.
A crime scene contains a size 10 Nike shoe print. Is this class or individual evidence?
Class evidence.
Why can a person's memory of an event change over time?
Memory can be affected by stress, emotions, time, and information received after the event.
A forensic scientist does not just arrest suspects. Their job is to:
Protect and document the physical scene
Collect hair, fibers, prints, and tools
Test materials carefully in a laboratory
"Someone broke the glass to get into the building." Is this an observation or an inference?
Inference
Investigators find a shoe print at a crime scene. What type of evidence is this?
Physical evidence.
Investigators find fingerprints that are determined to match one specific person's fingerprints. What type of evidence is this?
Individual evidence.
Two witnesses see the same person during a stressful event. One remembers the person wearing a black shirt, while the other remembers a blue shirt. What does this demonstrate?
Perception and memory can differ between people.
what are some Forensic careers with shorter training?
Evidence Technician, Fingerprint Technician, and Forensic Photographer
A student sees a person running away from a store and says, "That person must have robbed the store." What part of the statement is the inference?
That the person robbed the store.
A witness says they saw a suspect at the crime scene, while investigators also find the suspect's shoe print there. Identify the two types of evidence.
The witness statement is testimonial evidence, and the shoe print is physical evidence.
A blue fiber found at a crime scene is consistent with fibers from a certain type of shirt, but investigators cannot determine the exact shirt it came from. Is this class or individual evidence? Explain.
Class evidence because it can be linked to a group of similar fibers but not one specific source.
Why should investigators be careful when relying only on eyewitness testimony?
Human perception and memory are not always accurate, so a person's recollection may differ from what actually happened.