Computational forensics

Critical Analysis of Forensic Document Examination The history of document examination is said to have started with an individual named Albert S. Osborn. He was a penmanship instructor and was chronicled as a document examiner in 1887 (Ubelaker, 2012, p. 234). He wrote several books and articles on examining documents and giving expert testimony, with, perhaps his most notable work being Questioned Documents from 1910 (Ubelaker, 2012, p. 234). The title of the book, Questioned Documents,…

Due to a very popular show, Criminal Minds, many people think of profiling as a technique to catch criminals. Yes, this is true; in this show the agents’ use profiling skills and tactics to determined an individuals mindset in order to catch criminals. However, criminal profiling is not the only type of profiling used by law enforcement personnel. There are a few different types of ways one can profile someone, it can be based on their ethnicity or race, nationality or even religion. Much of the…

Crime scene investigation is a vocation that is slowly becoming more popular. Forensic science is a career that has been becoming more known thanks to shows like Dexter, CSI, Law and Order, and many others. However, although these shows are very entertaining, they are very dramatized. Forensic science in reality is much different from television shows. It is much more complicated than portrayed. Crime scene investigation is a vocation that should be pursued by a person who enjoys a challenging…

Fire investigation is a part of every fire. Something not often thought about, rather something that just happens. Whether or not criminal activity is involved is a very significant detail to not only homeowners or business owners, but to the insurance companies. For an owners peace of mind you always want to know who or what the cause of a fire is, and often enough it is the homeowner or business owner himself who is guilty. Going about an investigative search the lawful way often requires…

An autopsy is done to gather evidence of a cadaver in an investigation to know the cause and time of death. The individual administering the autopsy is known as the pathologist who is a medical doctor that determines the time, cause, and means of a crime. The pathologist will determine if a weapon was used to kill the victim, whether the victim lived after the injury, evidence of a struggle self-defense or rape/sex related crimes. Algor mortis is one of the three mortises calculates the average…

In recent years, television shows such as CSI and NCIS have placed science in the spotlight, frequently depicting forensic science as some type of futuristic magic, unravelling crimes within an hour and without error. Of course, these shows are only fiction. One forensic scientist estimated that “40% of the science on CSI does not exist, and most of the rest is performed in ways that crime lab personnel can only dream about” (Winter & York, 2011). With more than 90 million people watching…

Blood is an important piece of evidence at a crime scene. Blood is used for both DNA evidence and blood typing but blood spatter is just as useful. The diameter of blood drops is used to determine the height from which the blood drops fell and the blood drops shape can be used to determine the angle the blood was dropped at. Blood drops can also be used to determine the cause of death at a crime scene and blood drops can even be used to determine the medium that caused the death at the crime…

Windows registry is an excellent data source for digital forensic analysis because it is one of the quickest and most efficient uses of the forensic investigators time to decide whether a particular computer is of value to an investigation (especially in cases where multiple unknown computers are of interest). It can contain very rich data about an investigation without too much research and troubleshooting. The Windows registry two main task for the operating system; it stores all the setting…

From the seminar “Profiling and Investigative Psychology,” I have discovered that criminal profiling has similarities to brand and market segmentation which can be applied to improving my organizational performance. In my current employment, I am responsible for developing cooking appliances that resonate with different groups of people. Psychology is a science that is unprecise, being an art more than a science (H. Tato, personal communication, July 9, 2016). Dr. Tato explained that…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a group of experts that study the characteristics and traits of offenders. Criminal profiling also known as criminal investigative analysis (CIA) is an investigative process that examines the offender’s crime to identify major personalities and behavioral characteristics (Turvey, 2011). Although these investigators are specialists and have numerous training to become subject matter experts, the opinions can differ depending on the profiler. There have…