**Disclaimer – There are mentions of blood, violence, and crimes. If you are triggered by things that involve physical violence, gore, or any of the elements listed above, I would not recommend reading this article.**
The word “forensics” comes from the Latin term forensis, which means “of the forum,” where legal cases were discussed in ancient Rome. Forensics is used to solve mysteries from intertwined and complicated missing persons cases to huge fraud cases. Forensics includes gore, blood, and violence, but it is important for people to understand that there is more to it.
Forensics is the scientific study of solving crimes using methods that strongly lean on logic and hard proof. Forensic professionals usually do not put pieces together to solve a crime; they simply collect relevant information and test evidence to give to lawyers and police so that they can serve justice. Many people learn about forensics from crime shows that dramatize the process for viewers, but it is a serious field that helps bring justice to real victims and society. It is time someone investigated what these investigators are really doing.
Forensics has changed quite a bit compared to the early legal systems when verbal testimonies were the only type of evidence. The main goal of forensics today is to collect important and reliable information. Evidence can easily be contaminated, outdated, or unreliable, so when crime scene investigators (CSI) agents, another term for forensic scientists who collect data at crime scenes, arrive at a scene, they have to quickly determine what is necessary to collect and record to accurately represent the crime scene through evidence and facts, almost like freezing the crime scene in time.
CSI agents have many methods to record and collect evidence, which can often be confused with actually solving a case. Most of the time, that is not what is happening. The work of a forensic professional can vary depending on the specific career. Forensic scientists who work in the lab take any evidence that requires testing from CSI agents and execute those tests to create a proper report. All of this information is often given to a private detective, a police detective, or a criminal investigator to solve the case. These detectives or investigators all usually work alongside a lawyer or someone who can present the information in front of a judge and sometimes a jury. In short: CSI agents gather the puzzle pieces, detectives assemble them, and lawyers present the finished picture.
TV shows have made forensics all about dramatized blood splatter and crime scenes everywhere, but if you peel back the many intricate layers of forensics it truly is the organized search for truth through science and logic. From its beginnings in ancient Rome to today’s DNA labs and digital investigations, the field has always been about evidence and justice. Forensic scientists in the lab and in the field, detectives, and lawyers each play important and particular roles, turning pieces and parts into a clear picture of events. As technology advances, forensics will remain one of the most powerful tools we have to uncover hidden truths and ensure accountability. Our investigation into forensics has found that it is like hitting the pause button on a crime scene. It captures every relevant clue and leaves no stone unturned so authorities can mete out justice to those who truly deserve it based on facts not fiction.
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