DELIVERING JUSTICE THR UGH SCIENCE
FORENSIC science often takes centre stage in television crime dramas, with investigators rushing from crime scenes to shiny hi-tech laboratories, getting instant test results and solving the seemingly unsolvable.
While the Joint Scientific Investigation Unit for South Wales Police and Gwent Police in Bridgend is not quite as glamorous as the labs in hit shows such as CSI, the programmes do get one thing right – forensic science now plays a crucial role in modern criminal investigations.
The Joint Scientific Investigation Unit (JSIU) is currently celebrating its 10th birthday. It was launched following the UK Government’s controversial decision to disband the highly-regarded national Forensic Science Service in 2012 and open up the market for forensic science to competition. Police forces were faced with the choice of contracting out work to private labs and other providers or taking the work in-house, and South Wales Police and Gwent Police decided to collaborate on establishing their own lab.
Over the last decade the JSIU has expanded its areas of expertise and now covers everything from footwear analysis and drug testing to forensic road traffic collision work.
Alongside working on day-to-day crime – known as volume crimes – the lab has worked on just about every major incident in South Wales in recent years, from big drug cases to a large-scale conspiracy to burgle and murders.
The work of the crime lab starts with specialist crime scene investigators in their distinctive white protective suits who attend incidents and gather potential evidence. The unit has four teams of such investigators spread across the two force areas whose job it is to identify, recover and secure potential sources of evidence – anything from blood stains, clothing, fingerprints or footwear marks. For major incidents the lab will dispatch crime scene managers and co-ordinators who will assist police officers in identifying potential evidence and drawing up forensic strategies.
The samples are then transferred to the JSIU base in Bridgend where the submissions team take possession of the items – it is this team’s job to ensure the chain of evidence is unbroken from the scene to the forensic tests to the eventual results.
At this point the work of the men and women in the white suits finishes, and the samples go off to the relevant experts for testing and analysis – though all the staff work together as a team, each is an expert in his or her field and works in one area of forensic science.
South Wales Police detective superintendent Mat Lewis, head of the JSIU, said: “Forensic science is absolutely vital for modern policing. We are here to support operational policing, and to ensure the best service for victims and victims’ family. Our mission statement is written on the wall here, and it is what drives us – ‘Delivering justice through science’.
“We work really closely with officers but our forensic scientists are impartial. Our involvement varies from case to case – some cases are driven by fingerprints, some by CCTV, some by DNA. Each case is unique, and each speciality in the unit will bring something different to the job. It can be painstaking work over an extended period – it’s not like on TV.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the staff here and of the work the unit does. They do fantastic work – they step up time and time again – and I know it is highly valued by investigators.”
JSIU SPECIALITIES:
DNA recovery and analysis
The unit has a clean room where recovered items are examined and samples of blood or other potential sources of DNA are recovered. The lab then tests and compares the samples and produces reports.
Fingerprint analysis
If a fingerprint found at a crime scene is clear and of high quality it can be lifted by crime scene investigators and sent digitally straight to comparison experts in Bridgend – this can cut the time taken to get results from days to just hours. If a print is difficult to see – for example a print on the handles of a carrier bag – it is sent to the lab where it is treated with chemicals to develop the print before being passed on for comparison. While computer databases of prints are a powerful tool, the final comparison is done by eye by an analyst with years of experience.
Drugs lab
The Bridgend lab is able to test substances recovered from crime scenes or from suspects to determine exactly what the drug is rather than having to send the samples away for analysis.
Firearms investigation
The unit can examine recovered firearms and can carry out test firings, as well as analysing bullet trajectory evidence. JSIU is one of the few police labs in the country with its own firearm investigation unit.
Footwear analysis
Footwear prints may be the lesser known sibling of fingerprints but they can provide vital evidence to place suspects at the scene of the crime. Tread marks can be identified and recovered from a location and returned to the lab for checks, not just for checks to determine the make and type of shoe but any distinctive wear and scuff marks. Custody suites in police stations around the two forces also have digital scanners linked to the lab meaning footwear of suspects who have been arrested can be instantly scanned and compared.
Forensic imaging
This department specialises in photography, analysis of CCTV and other video footage evidence, and the 3-D scanning of crime scenes.
Forensic collision investigation
A new addition to the unit and based in Ystrad Mynach, forensic collision investigators carry out scientific investigation and analysis of the causes of crashes.
The JSIU currently has around 180 members of staff working across all the disciplines – a serious investment in resources.