Since the inception of what is now known as the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1970s, criminal profiling has become an increasingly prevalent entity in both forensic science and the popular imagination. The fundamental idea of which profiling is premised – behavior as a reflection of personality – has been the subject of a great deal of misunderstanding, with professionals and nonprofessionals alike questioning whether profiling represents an art or a science and what its function in forensic science should be. To provide a more thorough understanding of criminal profiling’s capabilities and its efficacy as a law enforcement tool, this thesis will examine the application of criminal profiling to investigations, various court rulings concerning profiling’s admissibility, and the role that popular media plays in the perception and function of the practice. It will also discuss how future research and regulatory advancements may strengthen criminal profiling’s scientific merit and legitimacy.

The subcategory of evidence deemed trace evidence is frequently seen in crime scenes, and while it is commonly the smallest evidence around, that doesn’t stop it from greatly contributing to the findings at the scene. Blood evidence may be categorized into this group in certain cases at crime scenes, especially in cases of transfer between two objects or people. In this study, the transfer of blood across both porous and non-porous substrates was examined to determine the persistence of blood across both substrates. The resulting stains after each trial of transfers were tested with a presumptive blood test commonly used in crime labs, the Kastle-Meyer test. Throughout all trials of the experiment, it was determined that blood on a non-porous surface typically dries faster as long as there isn’t a pooling effect, which hinders the ability for a stain to be continuously transferred and detected by Kastle-Meyer. Conversely, porous substrates are more likely to absorb and retain the blood in the material, allowing the blood to be released when pressure is applied, causing the stain to transfer more easily and result in a stain that will produce a positive Kastle-Meyer result.

Chemiluminescent reagents, such as BlueStar® forensic reagent, are used during crime scene investigations to detect latent bloodstains as they react with the iron in blood to produce bright chemiluminescence. There are several substances that cause false positives with BlueStar® reagent, including plant peroxidases and certain metal compounds. These false positive substances are commonly seen in cosmetic products. The widespread availability and popularity of cosmetics makes it possible that false positive substances may be encountered at crime scenes and could potentially interfere with investigations. The cosmetic products chosen for this study included two of the following types of products at different price points: foundation, primer, moisturizer, cleanser, and setting powder. The ten cosmetic products were tested with BlueStar® forensic reagent in two rounds of testing on multiple surface types to mimic different ways investigators may encounter the products at crime scenes. The results of the tests were overall negative as the products did not produce any chemiluminescence, indicating that the products do not cause false positives with the BlueStar® forensic reagent and are not concern for investigators. As a majority of the products contain ingredients known to cause false positives with BlueStar®, the completely negative results raised several questions. More exploration of the interaction between cosmetic products and BlueStar® reagents needs to occur in order to clarify and confirm if cosmetics pose a risk to crime scene investigators.

The topic of elder abuse is relatively unknown and not talked about among the general public. Traditionally, society values one’s life the younger that person is on the grounds that the younger person has most likely not experienced life to the fullest extent as much as the older person has. The point of bringing up this way of thinking is not to refute it but to point out that a product of this societal mindset is that the elderly population is often forgotten about or placed on a lower priority level when considering medical and safety issues. This is a major factor that contributes to the vulnerability of older persons, who often must give up their autonomy due to the aging process and learn to live while being dependent on a caretaker. Elders are often in situations where they are isolated from the rest of the world and place their trust in their caretakers to help them live out the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, the process of aging and becoming dependent opens up the opportunity for this vulnerable age group to be taken advantage of and abused. The National Council on Aging reported that about 1 in 10 elderly Americans that are 60 years old or older have been abused in some capacity, and only about 1 in 14 of these cases are reported (NCOA, 2020). As the world population ages, these statistics face the risk of getting worse and exposing more elders to abuse while less and less abuse cases are reported to authorities. This presents the opportunity for elder abuse research to guide healthcare institutions that are related to caring for the elderly on how to care for and prevent elder abuse from occurring; however, this research is quite limited in comparison to the research, treatments, and prevention programs developed for other types of domestic abuse. The aim of this paper is to create an overall understanding of elder abuse as a whole and get a sense of the state of elder abuse so recommendations can be made on how to proceed in bettering the current issues elder abuse faces.

A lab protocol was created in order to introduce arson evidence analysis to students. The procedures dictate a thorough introduction from evidence handling procedures to analysis of common accelerant mass spectrum. The objectives of the lab protocol included classifying and describing various pieces of arson evidence and common accelerants as well as synthesizing information about accelerant composition to interpret GC-MS data output. This would allow the student to experience first-hand what the subsection of arson analysis has to offer in the field of forensic science which could help the student decide on more specialties to study later on. I was unable to run the lab protocol in a laboratory setting, therefore in the future I want to use the lab protocol and receive feedback in order to improve the protocol so the student is receiving the best possible learning outcomes. The experience of creating a lab protocol in forensic science gave myself a greater understanding of what goes on behind an academic learning procedure and more insight on arson evidence analysis.

The purpose of this creative project was to create a forensic science program that accommodated Diné Philosophy and Culture. Indigenous representation is a key factor in promoting the advancement of the native ways of life. This thesis provides a culturally aware program that assists students to learn about taboo fields within the restrictions of the cultural teachings and traditions. This thesis developed a week-long forensics program targeted to Navajo middle school students with the cultural restriction in mind. During this process, the most difficult was integrating not only the taboos but also the foundations. At the end of this project, the most significant way to create an outreach program for Navajo students is by utilizing the Diné philosophy teaching models. This project is important because to create an effective science community there has to be equal representation for it to grow.

Fingermarks have been used by law enforcement agencies to identify suspects in criminal activity. Although fingermarks remain persistent over time, the degradation pattern of latent fingermarks remains unknown. Previous studies examined the morphology of friction ridges on a two-dimensional scale, but recently 3D technology has been employed to examine how the height dimension degrades overtime. The Sa statistic was formulated to monitor the aging process of friction ridge heights from 6 donors. Fingermarks were deposited on two nonporous substrates (glass or plastic) and aged under dark or light exposure for 98 days. Pressure, time of contact, and treatment of finger prior to deposition were held constant while temperature and humidity were monitored throughout the study. Experimental variables included substrate and light exposure. Females exhibited slower degradation than males. For fingermarks deposited on glass, faster degradation was seen under light exposure. This finding was consistent for fingermarks deposited on plastic, but instrument contamination may have been possible. Slower degradation was seen on glass under both light exposures. This study indicates the Sa statistic is valuable for assessing fingermark degradation of friction ridges. However, due to a small sample size and variability in the rate of degradation between donors, genders, under different lighting and substrate conditions, the age of latent fingermarks cannot be determined at this time.

Forensic science is the application of science to matters of law, especially criminal investigation and procedure.​ ForenSICK Science​, on the other hand, is an educational YouTube channel. It was created in early 2019 after listening to two people on a podcast confidently preach surprisingly inaccurate information about forensic science. My goal in the creation of the channel was to give people the proper information regarding the practice. This goal grew to encompass several different fields including continued education practices, informal and nonformal learning, and combating “science speak.” Using YouTube as a tool in this journey was the first step in combating forensic inaccuracies.

It is no surprise that crime has become an interest to people both nationally and globally. It is impossible to turn on a TV without hearing cable news talking about a bank robbery or a murder, or a political hearing of some sort. Crime TV shows are incredibly common—there are whole channels dedicated to just crime, and many prime-time TV shows deal with some form of crime, most often the law enforcement teams that interact with it. Movies and books about crime are also incredibly common—most movie theaters have at least one horror movie or psychological thriller on show at a given time, and books stores and libraries have entire sections about true crime and mysteries.
Crime has become an inescapable part of being a consumer and viewer in today’s society. The interest in crime, however, could not have just been created by the media or a few specific parties and gained the amount of attention that is has today. Crime has been of interest since ancient times, seen immortalized in art and literature with famous events like the death of Socrates and the assassination of Julius Caesar. However, only more modern advances in media and the growth in consumerism could have led to interest and commodification of crime as we see it today. Landmark cases like Ted Bundy and O.J. Simpson have contributed to the growth of the media landscape, but because of the cyclical nature of the news and consumer cycle, these cases would not differ much in the way that they would be covered today, even with the new methods of disseminating information that we have today, such as social media and news websites that are accessible by everyone. Crime as entertainment has been a product not just of the media and popular culture but also from American consumers who continue to give media and pop culture producers a consumer who wishes to view their content and to continue to further the interest in crime. Media and popular culture are not the only people to blame for the popularization of crime as a product; people in the United States, and globally, are just as much responsible for the creation of crime as entertainment.

This thesis examines the use of two novel technologies in forensic science: familial DNA matching and genealogical DNA matching. I define DNA and describe how DNA is employed in multiple ways by law enforcement to aid in solving serious crime investigations. I also provide other modern-day common uses of DNA. I will then explain the technology of familial DNA searches and genealogical DNA searches. Drawing from case law and legislation, I will discuss arguments supporting the use of the DNA technologies as well as possible privacy concerns with these methods. I will also review possible concerns with the collection, usage, breadth, and storage of DNA information.
Considering cases such as the Golden State Killer case and BTK, a debate arose over whether the DNA matching methods covered in this thesis were ethical police work with people disagreeing about whether the privacy interests of the relatives of the suspects outweighed the State’s interest to find the murderers.
The authors of the Constitution did not have the ability to predict the technological advances since the establishment of the Constitution nor the issues that have arisen out of this advancement. For this reason, constitutional law does not explicitly address the right of privacy relevant to the technology of 2019, including DNA matching. Rather, contemporary courts must determine rulings based off of the original text of the Constitution, Amendments to the Constitution, and subsequent rulings decided by the Supreme Court. While organizations and individuals have raised privacy concerns with familial and genealogical DNA matching, current case law and legislation have not ruled the matching technology to be unconstitutional.