ELECTIVE I: FORENSIC PHYSICAL SCIENCES (FACT & FACT Plus 2022)
Forensic Physics
1) General Guidelines for Physical Evidence Collection
Evidence collection from crime scene, victim & deceased in cases of – Homicide Investigation; Investigation of – Death due to fall from height, sexual offences and sex related homicide, Hanging (suicidal, accidental and homicidal), Paint, Glass, Soil, Fibre, Metals,
Sources of Exhibits, Goals of Evidence Packaging- Protection of Evidence from possible hazards; Elements of Packaging Evidence – Packing Material, Sealing of Evidence; Precautions, General Directions, Directions for Specific type of Exhibits – Weapons and tools, Hair and Fibres, Dust or Soil, Arson Cases and Cases of Burning, Tool Marks.
2) Analytical Instruments & Techniques of Forensic Physics
Microscope, Compound Microscope, Polarized Light Microscopy, Fluorescence Microscopy, Comparison Microscope, Stereo-zoom Microscope. Transmission Electron Microscope, Video-zoom Microscope. Scanning Electron Microscope – Energy Dispersive X-Ray. Atomic Force Microscope.
Introduction to spectrophotometry, Interaction of electromagnetic radiations with matter: phenomena of absorption, emission, reflection, fluorescence, phosphorescence.
Detection of radiations: Photographic detectors, thermal detectors, photoelectric detectors.
Basic concepts of atomic spectra, energy levels, quantum numbers, designation of states, selection rules, atomic spectra.
Ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometry: sampling devices, Lambert and Beers Law, calibration of instrument, Infrared spectrophotometry, High Resolution. Detectors. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. rotational, vibrational and electronic spectra, spectra of polyatomic molecules.
Elements of X-ray spectrometry: Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX), wavelength Dispersive X-ray analysis (WDX), X-ray diffraction, Auger emission spectroscopy and applications.
Radio chemical techniques: Basic principles and theory introduction about nuclear reactions and radiations, Neutron sources, Neutron Activation Analysis. Basics of Electrostatic
Effect of Chemical Structure and solvent on absorption spectra, qualitative and quantitative analysis and limitations. Applications in forensic chemistry and toxicology.
Infrared spectrophotometry: Basic principle, components, Sample handling, Dispersive and Fourier transform spectrophotometry, (FTIR). Qualitative analysis and interpretation of IR spectra, correlation of infrared spectra with molecular structure and applications in forensic chemistry and toxicology.
Raman Spectroscopy: Basic principles, Instrumentation, sample handling and illumination, structural analysis, polarization measurements and Dispersive & FT analysis and Applications in Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology. Advantage of Raman over IR and vice versa, Role of microscope.
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS): Instrumentation, interference in AAS, background correction methods, graphite furnace quantitative analysis and applications. Detection limit and sensitivity.
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (AES): Instrumentation and techniques, arc/spark emission, ICP-AES, comparison of ICP vs AAS methods, quantitative analysis, ESCA and its applications.
Fluorescence and phosphorescence spectroscopy: Types of sources, structural factors, instrumentation, comparison of luminescence and UV-visible absorption methods and applications.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: Basic principles, theory and Instrumentation and applications.
3) Pattern Evidence
Tool marks– Types, Class and Individual Characteristics, Comparisons, Impression Marks, Compression Marks, Striated Marks, Combination of Impression and Striated Marks, Repetitive Marks, Materials for making Test Tool Marks, Methods of preparation of Test Tool Marks, Comparison of test and evidence tool marks, Rubber Stamp Impressions, Metallic Seal Impressions, Embossed Impressions and Indentation marks, Mechanical Impressions.
Cast, Engraved and Punched Marks – Methods of their restoration.
Glass: types of glass and their composition, manufacturing of various types of glass and their properties. Soil- Formation, Types, Composition and physical properties. Paints- Composition, Types, Manufacturing and physical properties of paints.
Fibre- Types, Constituents &their forensic importance.
Impression Evidence: Types of Impression Evidence, Significance of Impression Evidence. Tyre Marks Comparison. Skid marks, Serial numbers restoration.
Audio: Basics of sound, human ear and voice, Sound recording and reproduction, Forensic significance of voice.
Basic principles and techniques of black & white and colour photography; Camera and lenses, exposing, development & printing, different kinds of developers & fixers, modern developments in photography; Digital photography, Working of SLR & DSLR Cameras and basics of Digital Imaging Photography, photo-morphing, Crime Scene photography, Laboratory photography; Brief about speaker identification & tape authentication techniques and their applications in forensic science, Data Mining Techniques.
Videography: types of video cameras, recording of playback technique of analog video, recording and playback technique of analog video, basics of video codecs and file formats.
Restoration: Restoration of erased numbers, methods of marking-cast, punch and engraved, methods used for removal of serial numbers, theory behind number restoration, restoration of marks on cast iron, Aluminum, brass, wood, leather etc., chemical methods of restoration (etching), reagents used for various metals, electrolytic methods of restoration-reagents used, ultrasonic cavitation for restoration, magnetic particle method for restoration, other methods of restoration, laser etched serial numbers and bar codes and their restoration, recording of restored marks.
4) Essentials of Mathematics & Statistics In Forensic Physics
Number systems and their Representations, Units of measurement and their conversion, Dealing with Uncertainties in measurement. Types of Data, Basic concepts of frequency distribution, Measure of Central Values – Mean, Median and Mode, Measures of Dispersion, Range, Mean Deviation and Standard Deviation, Correlation and Regression Analysis.
Variance – Coefficient of variation, Moment, Coefficient of Regression, Correlated Measurements.
Probability Theory: Overview and Basic terms – Events, Trials, Mutually Exclusive events, Favorable Events, Exhaustive Events etc., Baye’s theorem, Addition and Multiplication theorem, Conditional Probability, Binomial Probability distribution, Normal Distribution, Hyper-geometric distribution, Applications – Matching of hair evidence, Uniqueness of Fingerprints,
Tests of Hypothesis – Test of Significance of attributes, sample test, t-test and comparison of datasets, Paired Test, Chi-Square test, F-test for equality of variance, Large sample test, Normal Test, Pearson’s ꭓ2 test. Discriminating Power and Evidence Significance: Derivation, Evaluation of evidence, Transfer of evidence – Likelihood Ratio, Probability of guilt, Correspondence probabilities, Weight of Evidence.
5) Forensic Voice Authentication
Physics of sound: waves and sound, analysis and synthesis of complex waves, Human and non-human utterances, anatomy of vocal tract, vocal formants, analysis of vocal sound, frequencies and overtones
Electronics of Audio Recording, Transmission and Playback devices, noise and distortion, voice storage and preservation
Forensic Linguistics: Phonetics, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Stylistics, Pragmatics, Script, orthography and graphology, Difference between language and speech, Psycholinguistics, Neurolinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Scientific approaches; Reliability and admissibility of evidence in the court, linguistic profile, language register
Discourse Analysis: Connivance, acceptance, listening feedback and rejection in the context of Mens-Rea, Narrative, Dialectology, Linguistic variety as a geographical marker, Idiolects and speaker characterization, Phonology, Morphology and Word formation processes as individual linguistic abilities
Various approaches in Forensic Speaker Identification, Instrumental Analysis of speech sample, Interpretation of result, Statistical interpretation of probability scale, Objective/Subjective methods, discriminating tests, closed test, open test, likelihood ratio calculation, Concept of test and error in Speaker Identification, case studies.
Techniques and Best Practices for examination of Audio recording authentication and case studies.
Automatic speaker identification and verification system based on fuzzy logics, neural network, MPCC etc., Voice Biometrics
VoIP and other modes of speech communication and their forensic analysis
6) Forensic Video Analysis
Introduction to video technology: electronic photography, scanning, synchronizing the analog signal, Digital signal processing, color video, Digital television standard, HD
Video, digital scopes, compression, image acquisition and recording formats, optical media, time code, audio for video, displays, Types of video Camera
Basics of CCTV, scope recognizing CCTV evidence & its nature, types of DVRs, DVR recording, evidence, best practices of CCTV evidence retrieval and storage at scene of crime and laboratory, challenges and precaution at the scene of crime, evidence handling procedure, legal issues, recommended equipments needed.
Watermarking, Interlacing, De-interlacing, Double Compression, Duplication, Re-projection
Forensic analysis: Best practices of collection, recovery, enhancement, analysis and interpretation of video evidence
Facial image recognition, vehicle registration plate image enhancement, foreign object detection, Authentication of Video evidence, video source identification techniques, Case studies
7) Criminalistics and Forensic Engineering
Soil: Physical examinations of soil evidence, Soil mechanics, Structure & Composition, Baking, Compaction and Agro-soil additives, Instrumental analysis of soil, Interpretation of soil evidence, Standard Operating Procedures for examination, Discussion on important case studies of soil evidence
Glass: Forensic examination of glass fractures, Physical and Microscopic examination of glass evidence, Standard Operating Procedures for examination, Discussion on important case studies of glass evidence
Paint: Types of paint and their composition, physical examination of paint, instrumental analysis of pigment, interpretation of paint evidence, Standard Operating Procedures for examination, Discussion on important case studies of paint evidence
Fibre: Classification and properties of textile, paper and fibres, Physical and Instrumental analysis of fibres evidence and dyes, Examination of damage to textiles, yarn, weaving & fabrics, Collection of fibre evidence, Interpretation of fibre evidence, Discussion on important case studies of fibre evidence
Cement: Cement and other constituents of Building materials and their properties, Identification of adulterated cement and adulterants, Sampling of evidence materials, Physical and chemical analysis of cement, cement mortar and cement concrete,
Methods of analysis of different constituents of Building materials, Steel bars and metal physics
Nano-science & Nano-technology: introduction to nanoparticles, nanotubes, utilization of nanotechnology in analysis of physical evidences, selectivity of nanoparticles with compatibility and feasibility, Application of nanotechnology in forensic evidence analysis
Arson: Faults and failure of evidence of Arson & Fire due to electrical & mechanical faults/failure, Power Physics: Voltage, current generation and transmission, Current and Power Transformers, 3-phase electricity and Earth faults
8) Collision Investigation and Reconstruction
Road evidence, road engineering and design, Grit, Bitumen, soling and paving of cemented roads, identification and interpretation of road obstructions, defects, marks and damage, tyre marks, skid marks
Vehicle examination: Automobile common component and failure analysis, damage assessment, tyres – types speed and load rating, inflation and failures, brakes –types and brake systems, door lock and speed recording devices, safety restraint system – theory and examination of seat-belt child-seat and air-bag, vehicular fires
Speed analysis: vehicle and road kinematics, coefficient of friction and drag factor, methods of determining drag factor, influence on braking distance
Speed determination: skid marks measurement, speed from vehicle yaw, speed calculation on different road surfaces, falls, flips and vault speeds, special speed problem
Motorcycle accident investigation: types of motor cycle, dynamics rake and turning, acceleration and breaks, mechanical consideration and slide to stop speed determination
Hit and run investigation- examination of suspect vehicle, collection of evidence & control samples, inter-comparison of analytical result of physical evidence
Reconstruction of accident using Computer Aided Designing.
Suggested Readings
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