Combating India’s Internal Security Challenges by Using Advances in Forensic Science Technology: An Insight

Dr. Prashant Mehta

National Law University, Jodhpur

Our Problems

• The continuing tensions between India and Pakistan have a direct bearing on theinternal situation in India.

• The presence of hostile neighbor's enables the internal conflicts to get externalsupport, which includes money, arms, and sanctuaries.

• The rise of contentious politics based on sectarian, ethnic, linguistic or otherdivisive criteria, is primarily responsible for the many communal and secessionistmovements flourishing in India.

• The democratic institutions and the state structures are still not strong enough to fully harmonise these conflicts in a peaceful manner.

• India has been facing all types of violent conflicts based on religion, caste, language, ethnicity and regional loyalties. Political insecurity further compounds the problem.

• The police-politician-criminal nexus can embolden the criminal elements. Their activities can create an environment of lawlessness

Our Problems

• The crime syndicates are finding the new communication and informationtechnology very useful.

• Many of the insurgent and militant groups are not driven by ideology, but by sheergreed. Money power is a bigger motivating factor than ideology.

• With the ‘Golden Crescent’, and the ‘Golden Triangle’ in India’s neighborhood,drug trafficking poses yet another threat to our security.

• In North East some groups seek secession from the Indian Union, some othersseek separate states and yet others greater autonomy within the existing state.

• The root cause for the rise in Left extremism is the inability of the states to addressthe many genuine grievances of the people. A callous district administration,especially in the rural areas, a clogged judicial system and feudal attitudes havecompounded the problem.

• Their aim is to overthrow what they call an unjust socio-economic system. Corruptpoliticians, policemen and civil servants have made their own adjustments withthese groups. A live-and-let live attitude is mutually beneficial to all of them.

Forensic Science

• Forensic science is the use of science in the service of the law.

• Sciences used in forensics include any discipline that can aid in the collection,preservation and analysis of evidence such as chemistry (for the identification ofexplosives), engineering (for examination of structural design) or biology (for DNAidentification or matching).

• Analysis of forensic evidence is used in the investigation and prosecution of civiland criminal proceedings.

• Forensic evidence is also used to link crimes that are thought to be related to oneanother. For example, DNA evidence can link one offender to several differentcrimes or crime scenes.

• Linking crimes helps law enforcement authorities to narrow the range of possiblesuspects and to establish patterns of for crimes, which are useful in identifying andprosecuting suspects.

• New technology can be used and refined not only to keep forensic scientist on thecutting edge of science, but to maintain the highest standards of quality andaccuracy.

Digital Evidence

• Digital devices are everywhere in today’s world, helping people communicatelocally and globally with ease.

• Computers, cell phones and the Internet as the only sources for digital evidence,but any piece of technology that processes information can be used in a criminalway.

• The important thing to know is that responders need to be able to recognize andproperly seize potential digital evidence.

• Digital evidence is defined as information and data of value to an investigation thatis stored on, received or transmitted by an electronic device. This evidence can beacquired when electronic devices are seized and secured for examination. Digitalevidence:– Is latent (hidden), like fingerprints or DNA evidence– Crosses jurisdictional borders quickly and easily– Can be altered, damaged or destroyed with little effort, Can be time sensitive

• There are many sources of digital evidence, where evidence can befound: Internet-based, Stand-alone computers or devices, and Mobile devices.

• These areas tend to have different evidence-gathering processes, tools andconcerns, and different types of crimes tend to lend themselves to one device orthe other.

Explosives Analysis

• A detailed investigation of a blast site will reveal crucial clues to lead theinvestigation. By thoroughly documenting the condition of the scene, including anystructural damage and injuries or fatalities, investigators can slowly piece togetherwhat occurred.

• Fragments of an exploded device will often be left intact, including switches,wiring, timers and circuit boards. Fragments of circuit boards, fingerprints, evenpieces of pet hair have been used to help narrow the investigation and nab aperpetrator.

• After an explosion, residue from the explosive that was used will be left behind. Toidentify the type of explosive used, investigators may use an ion mobilityspectrometer (IMS), a handheld chemical detection device, to identify residuesthat may be present around the blast site.

• In addition to collecting physical evidence, video footage may be available fromsecurity cameras or from witnesses’ cell phones.

Narcotic Drugs

• The illegal drug trade creates a global black market economy that puts the publicat risk, not just from the substances being distributed, but also from thesubsequent crimes committed by users, traffickers and manufacturers.

• These crimes typically include burglary, assault and fraud, but can also involvemore serious crimes such as homicide, abduction and human trafficking.

• Forensic drug chemistry uses a series of processes performed in the field orlaboratory to detect the presence or absence of controlled substances.

• Chemical analysis performed in the laboratory on submitted evidence detects andidentifies illegal drugs, and helps law enforcement prosecute offenders.

• This practice uses a variety of chemical analysis methods to conduct bothpresumptive and confirmatory tests on seized material suspected to be or containillegal substances.

• Results from this analysis often serve as the basis for criminal proceedings andhelp to determine sentencing for convicted offenders.

Fire Arms

• The field of forensic firearms identification, sometimes called ballistics, is at itsheart the ability of a firearms examiner to determine if a particular bullet orcartridge case was fired from a specific firearm.

• This determination can be made thanks to small, often microscopic markingson bullets or cartridge cases that are unique to ammunition fired from thatfirearm.

• Although the examiner cannot determine who actually fired a weapon,matching the ammunition to a weapon provides vital facts for theinvestigation.

• In conjunction with this, the examiner has the ability to explain how a firearmfunctions and what safety features a firearm might have.

• This can have an impact on investigations of suicides, unintentional shootingsand accidental firearm discharge.

DNA

• The establishment of DNA analysis within the criminal justice system in themid-1980s revolutionized the field of forensic science.

• With subsequent refinement of DNA analysis methods in crime laboratories,even minute amounts of blood, saliva, semen, skin cells or other biologicalmaterial may be used to develop investigative leads, link a perpetrator orvictim to a crime scene, or confirm or disprove an account of the crime.

• Because of the accuracy and reliability of forensic DNA analysis, this evidencehas also become an invaluable tool for exonerating individuals who have beenwrongfully convicted.

• Jurors now increasingly expect DNA evidence to be presented in a wider arrayof cases, even when other types of evidence may be more valuable to theinvestigation.

Finger Prints

• We touch things every day: a coffee cup, a car door, a computer keyboard. Eachtime we do, it is likely that we leave behind our unique signature—in ourfingerprints.

• No two people have exactly the same fingerprints. Even identical twins, withidentical DNA, have different fingerprints.

• This uniqueness allows fingerprints to be used in all sorts of ways, including forbackground checks, biometric security, mass disaster identification, and of course,in criminal situations.

• Fingerprint analysis has been used to identify suspects and solve crimes for morethan 100 years, and it remains an extremely valuable tool for law enforcement.

• One of the most important uses for fingerprints is to help investigators link onecrime scene to another involving the same person.

• Fingerprint identification also helps investigators to track a criminal’s record, theirprevious arrests and convictions, to aid in sentencing, probation, parole andpardoning decisions.

Biometrics

• A biometric is a physiological or behavioral characteristic of a human being that can

distinguish one person from another and that theoretically can be used for

identification or verification of identity.

• Why Biometrics:

– Identity thefts,

– Something you know can be stolen,

– Predicted or hacked,

– Reliability on manual verification.

• Biometric applications available today are categorized into 2 sectors

• Psychological: Iris, Fingerprints, Hand, Retinal, and Face recognition

• Behavioral: Voice, Typing pattern, Signature

Technique Strength Weakness

Retina Highly Accurate Inconvenient for persons with eyeglasses; dislike contact with device and light beam

Iris Highly accurate; works with eyeglasses; more acceptable to users than retina scan

New technology, cost, although this is rapidly changing

Finger Print Mature technology; highly accurate; low cost; small size, becoming widely acceptable

Users can create high FRR; some persons dislike contact with device

Hand/Finger Geometry accurate and flexible; widely acceptable to users

User interface is bulky; dislike contact with device

Face Recognition Widely acceptable to users; low cost; no direct contact; passive monitoring possible

Face recognition is less accurate than other methods

Voice Recognition Usable over existing telephone system; good for remote access and monitoring;

Less accuracy; subject to background noise

Signature Recognition Widely acceptable to users Less accuracy; not widely used yet, but has potential with PDAs

Keystroke Recognition Widely acceptable to users; low cost; uses existing hardware

Less accuracy

Document Examination

• The discipline of forensic document examination, often referred to as “questioneddocuments,” is frequently associated with white-collar crimes such as check fraud;however, in practice, this area of forensic science can be used in a wide array ofcases from medical malpractice to art forgeries to homicides.

• Armed with sophisticated technology, forensic document examiners can peer intothe visible and invisible marks on a document to extract an abundance of detailsthat may verify authenticity or provide additional information crucial to theinvestigation.

• The digital age has made the work of forensic document examiners even moreimportant.

• With the availability of powerful software programs such as Adobe® Photoshop®,Acrobat® and others, it has become significantly easier for criminals to create andmanipulate all manner of fraudulent documents from contracts to currency.

• Counterfeit currency can also be identified easily using forensic tools.

Conclusions

• The internal security problems should not be treated as merely law and orderproblems.

• They have to be dealt with comprehensively in all their dimensions and at all levels— political, economic and social. They are all interlinked. At times, the requiredmeasures will conflict with each other. Going too far in one direction could becounter-productive.

• The security requirements have to be met, but that does not mean giving thesecurity agencies a free hand. Striking the right balance is the key to success inmeeting these challenges effectively.

• We need a comprehensive security policy that will be implemented effectively atall levels.

• Effective use of Forensic Science techniques can help solve many problems relatedto internal security.