Last year, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced that the Government will partner with the United Nations to crack down on illegal gun-running and drug trafficking in the Caribbean-factors that have contributed to an increase in the crime rate in T&T. Now a year later, National Security Minister John Sandy has said the Government is moving towards introducing forensic legislation as part of the suppression, detection and reduction of crime. This, he said, would go a long way in solving many cold cases. The call to utilise forensic science strategies and anthropological techniques was first made two years ago by senior lecturer at the archaeology department of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr Basil Reid. In the 2009 publication of his book, "A Crime Solving Toolkit," Reid said Caribbean Governments must utilise forensic strategies to solve the crimes which have captured the attention of Caribbean policymakers. However, such evidence cannot be admitted in court unless there is legislative reform.
Reid indicated that strategies such as computer forensics, forensic linguistics, shoe print identification technology and disaster victim identification protocols could be utilised to solve crimes. Such strategies have been used in developed countries but despite this country's alarming crime rate, little has been done to implement forensic anthropology as a crime-fighting tool. Giving a brief overview of the importance of such strategies, Reid said anthropology is the comparative study of human culture, behaviour and biology and how these change through time. When matched with forensics, Reid said, anthropology can provide an insightful view on the life and death of an individual. He said the Forensic Science Centre in Federation Park, St James, focuses on ballistics, DNA, drug detection, forensic documentation and forensic pathology, (a branch of pathology concerned with determining cause of death).
Reid added that forensic anthropology will bring an effective end result when there is no other option available. "The employment of forensic anthropologists would considerably strengthen the operations of the Forensic Science Centre, in light of several skeletonised and burnt human remains that have been discovered in T&T. "Determining biological sex, ethnicity, cause and manner of death, and time of death from skeletonised and burnt human remains are among the many skills of the forensic anthropologist," Reid stated. He added that "unacceptably high crime rates in the Caribbean continue to be a major preoccupation of policymakers, police departments, forensic science centres, tourism officials and ordinary Caribbean people."
Sandy: New legislation coming
With the crime-detection rate of the T&T Police Service standing at less than ten per cent, National Security Minister John Sandy agreed that forensic legislative reform is needed to combat crime. Responding to questions about delays in utilising forensic anthropology, Sandy said prosecutors and law enforcement officers want evidence that can be relied upon as definitively as possible to determine guilt and prove it in a court of law. "Defence attorneys want strong evidence that can as definitively as possible exclude innocent people. Forensic practitioners want their work to have as much certainty as possible and to be given deserved deference. All scientists and all attorneys who care about these issues want the science that is admitted as evidence in the courtroom to match the science that is proven through rigorous testing and research in the laboratory," Sandy explained.
He also added that everyone who cares about forensics also recognises that there is a dire need for well-managed and appropriately directed funding for research, development, training, and technical assistance. Having said forensic anthropology will aid in T&T's crime fight, Sandy noted: "It is a good investment, as it will lead to fewer trials and appeals and reduce crime by ensuring that those who commit serious offenses are promptly captured and convicted." He also noted that there will also be a need for all forensic science laboratories to receive requisite funding, whilst all relevant personnel who perform forensic work for any laboratory or agency must meet standards in proficiency, education and training.
New crime-fighting initiatives coming
Meanwhile, Sandy also said that new initiatives including computer forensics, geo-spatial technology and shoe print techniques advocated by Reid will be reviewed by the Government. Asked about the effectiveness of shoe print identification, Sandy said: "Forensic footwear evidence can be used in legal proceedings to help prove the identities of persons at crime scenes." He said footwear evidence is the most abundant evidence at crime scenes and in some cases it is as specific as a fingerprint. "There is no recognised 'science' of footwear comparisons, it has widely been accepted by law enforcement as well as by the courts that this kind of identifications can be made when adequate evidence is available.
"Shoeprints can exist as either two dimensional prints made by depositing or removing material from a hard surface or three dimensional prints which are made in pliable material," he added. He said shoe print analysis can determine the footwear manufacturer, approximate height of wearer, the activity of the wearer when the print was made, as well as the frequency of the shoeprint at the crime scene. He noted that police can create a database of suspects and crimes using shoeprint protocols. With regards to geo-spatial technology, Sandy said this can be regarded as the discipline of gathering, storing, processing, and delivering geographic information, or spatially referenced information. The application of geo-spatial technology, Sandy said, has been in areas such as air navigation and disaster risk planning.
"Geographic information analysis is a valuable tool in spatial crime analysis. The ability to integrate spatially-referenced crime data with other environmental attributes not only makes large scale analyses possible, but has advanced the field of spatial criminology," Sandy noted. He also said that computer forensics will also go a long way in fighting crime. "The main objective of computer forensics is to perform a structured and accurate investigation while maintaining a documented chain of evidence to find out exactly what happened on a computer device and who was responsible for the evidence/crime," Sandy said. Meanwhile Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs said the Police Service will also employ social interventions as part of preventing crime. This included the establishment of Police Youth clubs.
About Forensic Science reform
Outlining the range of Forensic Science reform, Sandy said the Government hoped to do the following:
• Establish an Office of Forensic Science within the Ministry of Justice to make determinations about priorities, standards and structure, and to implement and enforce systems established by the forensic legislation;
• Establish a Forensic Science Board comprised of scientists, practitioners, prosecutors , defense attorneys and other stakeholders to make recommendations in research priorities, standards and best practices;
• Require that all forensic science laboratories receiving funding be accredited according to rigorous standards set by the Forensic Science Board and the Office of Forensic Science, and that forensic scientists meet basic proficiency, education and training requirements for certification;
• Promote foundational and innovative peer-reviewed scientific research that will strengthen the forensic sciences.