What is Forensics?
Forensics can be defined as the application of the principles of natural science to the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of relevant evidence in a manner suitable for presentation in a court of law. Experts in the field of forensics use biological, chemical, and physical techniques to provide timely, accurate, and thorough information about specific items of evidence to all levels of the decision making process in the criminal justice system.

What is the Fish and Wildlife Forensics Program?
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Forensics Program was created to address specific needs of both FWC law enforcement personnel and other non-law enforcement agency programs. In addition, the program has provided services and support to federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Enforcement and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement. The program goes beyond the conventional crime scene investigation training provided to law enforcement officers during the Law Enforcement Academy’s instruction, and provides additional technical training to address the needs specific to the protection of fish and wildlife resources. In addition, the program provides training to scientific staff in matters that concern the interaction between law enforcement and the criminal justice system to maintain the integrity of the evidence and the forensic process. The program also provides expert witness testimony when required. Program staff coordinates interaction between agency officers and scientific experts to provide state-of-the-art technical, analytical, and forensic support to investigations involving violations to the state and federal wildlife code.

The goals of the program include:

• Establish working relationships with other agencies and entities (such as non-law enforcement research programs, universities, and the general forensic community) that conduct forensic and other relevant research. The goal is to increase the Fish and Wildlife Forensics Program capabilities to support forensic investigations while increasing the abilities of the investigators in the field to identify and collect evidence;
  


• Provide forensic support to fish and wildlife conservation management practices requiring positive identification of fish and wildlife remains, and biological and other technical information;
  


• Assist in the collection of data and evidence;
  


• Ease the integration of scientific and law enforcement agency resources;
  


• Identify ways to increase efficiency within the program with the use of time and funds, as well as with the use of relevant agency resources;
  


• Provide expert testimony and opinions in matters regarding wildlife forensics (including fish, marine mammals, and terrestrial invertebrates) during depositions, hearings, and court cases
  

How is forensics applied to the protection of fish and wildlife resources?
Fish and wildlife forensic experts apply many of the same methods used by more traditional forensic experts to solve cases in which a violation to the Wildlife Code (laws and regulations that protect fish and wildlife resources) is suspected. Techniques used to identify biological remains, fingerprints, bullets, gunshot residue, tool marks, tire tracks, footprints, and other pieces of evidence are the same techniques that have been in use by traditional forensic experts for many years. Forensic photography, fingerprinting, physical matching, chemical analysis, DNA forensics, and others are used to investigate violent crimes as well as to solve crimes against fish and wildlife resources. Forensic techniques can link perpetrators to a certain location, illegally harvested fish and wildlife, and items such as firearms, knives, fishing tackle, boats, and other artifacts used during an illegal activity.

Identification of fish and wildlife remains is an important tool to demonstrate that a violation has occurred. Often perpetrators try to conceal they have harvested protected species by saying that the meat is beef, chicken, or fish obtained at the store, or that a particular piece of meat came from a non-protected species. Well-established biological identification techniques are used to identify the tissues in question.

While biologists have been using these identification techniques for a long time, the forensic process requires special procedures to maintain the integrity of the evidence. This becomes important during court proceedings, as flaws and questions regarding how the evidence was handled can have significant negative consequences.

How does the forensics program work?
The FWC Fish and Wildlife Forensics Program provides training to law enforcement officers, investigators, scientists, and other potential experts to enable them to participate in forensic investigations at different levels. FWC law enforcement officers are the first line of contact with violations to the Florida Wildlife Code. They receive training on how to recognize, identify, collect, and secure evidence that can be used to file criminal charges. A good proportion of the evidence collected by the officers does not require further analysis and is secured until needed by the criminal justice system. Other evidence must be submitted for analysis by forensic experts. The officers are trained in how to secure, preserve, and transport evidence without compromising its integrity.

Different types of evidence must be analyzed by different experts. Items such as firearms, bullets, and fingerprints are submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) forensic laboratory facilities. Samples that require identification beyond what the officers and investigators can do in the field are submitted to different agency biologists, mainly experts in specific groups of plants and animals. All samples are carefully protected through a process know as the “Chain of Custody.”

The chain of custody is the record and process most commonly used to introduce physical evidence or the results of testing on physical evidence. People listed on the chain of custody become fact witnesses who can be called to show there was an unbroken chain beginning from the location of the item when it was first obtained, through whatever handling it received, and ending when the item was tested or was introduced as evidence, or both. Breaking of the chain or being unable to document the location and condition of evidence generally results in the evidence and (when applicable) the results of analysis being inadmissible in court.

Where can I find more information about Fish and Wildlife Forensics?
Visit Fish and Wildlife Forensics for more information.