THE FORENSICS SECTION

Forensic Science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system and also to provide forensic services to the country at large.

The Zambia Police Forensic Science Laboratory has been in existence since the early 1960s. It is housed at Zambia Police Service Headquarters in Lusaka. The laboratory has several units as follows:-

Scenes of Crime & Photography

This unit is responsible for crime scene investigations. It investigates cases ranging from homicide, arson, breakings and robberies. Its personnel are spread throughout the republic of Zambia. It is also in charge of collecting and processing of fingerprints from crime scenes.

Ballistics and Tool-marks

All crimes involving shooting using firearms leave behind physical elements and trace evidence.Ballistic experts are able to tell which firearm was used in the commission of crime.

Some crimes involve the use of tools such as craw-bars. In the similar manner, the experts are able to link an exhibit tool to a crime scene.

Pathology

Unnatural deaths are investigated by forensic pathologists to establish their cause. Pathologists conduct post-mortems on dead bodies and eventually they are able to tell how a particular death occurred.

Post-mortems can also be carried out on the remains of a person who died many years ago.

Questioned Document

This unit handles cases involving forgery of handwritings and signatures. Documents bearing disputed handwritings and signatures may include cheques, title deeds, certificates, contracts e.t.c.

By carrying out a side   by side comparison of disputed items with control samples, authors of such crimes are identified.

Chemistry

Forensic Chemistry, or analytical chemistry, applied to crime scene analysis. This generally includes bomb fragment analysis and various other types of chemical residue analysis. This unit works in collaboration with the Food and Drug Section at the University Teaching Hospital.

Biology

Forensic Biology is the analysis of body fluids such as blood and saliva for a criminal investigation.  A stain is first identified and further testing is   often performed to determine the possible origin.

          Genetic testing (DNA profiling) is the most prevalent type of analysis used to eliminate or include possible sources, most often the alleged crime victim, suspect or other involved party.                  

Computer Forensics

Computers have come to make our lives much easy and things get done on time with accuracy. Nevertheless, some individuals opt to use computers to commit crimes ranging from economic sabotage, cyber trespass, denial of service and many more. The gargets used range from mini-computers, laptops, ipads, cellular phones e.t.c. Computer    forensics employ hi-tech methods and techniques        to recreate deleted or erased data from computers.