Support to police forces looking to in-source forensic science operations
Forensic Access is already supporting a number of police forces who are actively working towards in-sourcing more of their forensic science work. This page describes the various ways in which forces can access the expertise of Forensic Access in support of in-sourcing initiatives.
Design of forensic laboratories
The team at Forensic Access has a great deal of experience at designing laboratories suitable and safe for forensic science work; in fact in 2008 we designed and converted (from office space) our own labs in which we now carry out our casework, including major crime cases (including work for which we have achieved accreditation to ISO 17025). We have used our skills and know-how for a number of customers and are currently involved in a major project to help design a specialist laboratory.
Over the last few years we have been maintaining a register of consultants: people involved in the forensic profession across many different disciplines. In addition, due to the connections many of us at Access have, in the forensic science industry, we can help identify suitable scientists against specific requirements. We can also assist in selection of suitable candidates from your own lists and even with the interview process should you desire.
Forensic Access has always been proud of the training it provides; in fact for many years Forensic Access trained all the new casework recruits (junior and more experienced) for one of the leading forensic science providers. Our expert forensic scientists are currently running training courses for some of the major police forces and for a specialist supplier of equipment to forensic science providers.
Obviously, it is particularly important to be able to demonstrate competency of forensic scientists, especially for Quality Accreditation and to satisfy the needs of procurement contracts. We have a lot of experience at designing and running customised competency/proficiency programmes for in-sourced police forensic labs and would be happy to discuss your requirements and our service with you.
Forensic Access received its ISO 17025 accreditation, for a number of methods, in May this year – we are already applying for extensions to our scope. Forensic Access is the third forensic science company that our Quality Manager, Kathy Clarke has taken successfully through ISO 17025 accreditation. We are now offering Kathy’s help to support police forces who are considering implementing or extending a quality management system. We can help in a number of ways, from assessing and reporting on what we believe would be needed for certification/accreditation of certain operations, to assisting in the implementation of a quality system, to carrying out audits of the system and recommending improvements to help ensure the system is robust and ready for any external assessment by certification/accreditation bodies.
In addition to these support services we can also offer a number of services to actually assist with the forensic casework itself. The first three items listed below reflect our knowledge of forensic defence work, and the need for robust peer reviewing of work and ensuring that statements and final scientific interpretations really reflect the scientific evidence found in the case.
Our team are particularly experienced in the vitally important task of assessing different items in case for their “forensic” potential and then setting a forensic strategy suitable to the offence, the case and the item. They have gained considerable experience at doing such from the types of casework on which they have worked over the years and the number of cold cases on which they have assisted.
It is obviously of great importance to have all forensic work peer reviewed. If you, as a force, don’t have enough experienced scientists to be able to peer review work in a robust fashion, we offer a service (across a number of evidence types) to assist you with this.
In addition to the peer review check it is important to ensure that any Statement produced at the end of the scientific work is of sufficient quality to be robust against any defence scrutiny. Of particular importance is the evaluation of the findings. We have a lot of experience at checking such as part of our defence work, and would be pleased to assist you with ensuring that your statements and evaluations interpretations are appropriate to the case and the work undertaken.
Finally, of course, we have many forensic scientists who can assist with your actual screening work. For example, we could assist with an assessment and screening service of clothing for potential evidential traces or even carry out appropriate swabbing in volume crime cases, at the police premises or in our own accredited laboratories. We would be happy to discuss your particular requirements in this respect.
Contact Forensic Access
If you want to find out how we can support your major crime work, please contact Forensic Access.
