Forensic Services
Encyclopedia
Forensic Services is a unit of the Metropolitan Police
of London
, England
. Part of the Specialist Crime Directorate
, their duties range from evidence recovery following burglaries to anti-terrorism work. It is divided into six units:
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Part of the Specialist Crime Directorate
Specialist Crime Directorate
The Specialist Crime Directorate is one of the main branches of the London Metropolitan Police Service. It deals with a wide range of criminality from murder to organised crime. Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick is currently the head of the directorate...
, their duties range from evidence recovery following burglaries to anti-terrorism work. It is divided into six units:
- Forensic Services Command Unit for Territorial Policing is responsible for the examination of all crime sceneCrime sceneA crime scene is a location where an illegal act took place, and comprises the area from which most of the physical evidence is retrieved by trained law enforcement personnel, crime scene investigators or in rare circumstances, forensic scientists....
s. The 32 London Boroughs are divided into four "Links", with each Link covering eight boroughs. A "Borough Forensic Manager" has a team of "Assistant Forensic Practitioners" (AFPs) who examine crime scenes and support "Crime Scene Managers" at more serious crime scenes, such as murderMurderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. A Forensic Intelligence Unit links evidence recovered from different crime scenes.
- Forensic Investigation - Specialist Crime conducts forensic investigations of homicideHomicideHomicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
, armed robbery and any other crime that falls within the remit of SCD.
- Specialist Evidence Recovery Imaging Services provides photographic services to the Met Police. It responds to major crime scenes, terrorist events and public order and CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) incidents.
- The Fingerprint Bureau compares finger and palm marks from crime scenes against offender databases, arrestee fingerprintFingerprintA fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s against databases of unidentified marks, and fingerprints of suspects specified by investigating officers. The Bureau is responsible for archiving material from investigations and is also responsible for comparing the fingerprints of all arrestees in London in order to establish their identity. The Bureau also retrieves finger and palm marks by chemical and physical means and co-ordinates fingerprint evidence for presentation in court.
- The Evidence Recovery Unit provides chemical treatment prior to fingerprint, DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
and firearms examinations and use of specialised photographic lighting techniques.
- The Counter-Terrorism Team is responsible for retrieving evidence from terrorist activities.