In criminal investigations, forensic science plays an essential role as it enables investigative authorities to identify perpetrators of illegal activities and place suspects in crime scenes. Besides, forensic science investigators are also better placed to determine precisely how and when crimes occur. As per the National Institute of Justice, forensic science is useful during criminal investigations and in the criminal justice process (McEwen, 2010). It helps identify and preserve evidence besides the identification of suspected criminals. Forensic science has proven useful in the matching of DNA samples collected from crime scenes to alleged criminals, enhancing the understanding of blood spatters patterns and the study of unidentified drugs. Additionally, through forensic science, investigative authorities are better placed to analyze physical evidence collected from crime scenes to arrive at informed decisions concerning a criminal case confidently. It should be noted that the forensic evidence collected during investigations is also relevant in court as supportive evidence during trials.
Forensic investigations are usually carried out in crime detection laboratories, which typically comprise of different units. Each of the units in forensic crime detection laboratories is specifically designed to detect and investigate and evaluate specific pieces of evidence from crime scenes. Some of the units that comprise a forensic detection laboratory are the biology unit, firearm unit, document examination unit, photography unit, latent fingerprints unit, polygraph unit, and the toxicology unit (McEwen, 2010). As stated, all the forenamed units of a forensic detection laboratory play a crucial role in evaluating crime scene evidence and have to collaborate for productive investigative endeavors to succeed. As aforementioned, the toxicology unit is one of the vital components in forensic investigations. In practice, this unit examines body organs and fluids to determine the absence or presence of either drugs or poison. Toxicology units play an essential role in identifying and quantifying drugs, poisons, and alcohol in biological samples such as body tissues, blood, and urine. Law enforcement officials apply the information collected from the forenamed samples in determining whether laws are broken and when to prefer criminal charges against suspected individuals. In totality, forensic toxicological investigations encompass the study of deleterious effects emanating from the exposure to substances (McEwen, 2010). These investigations are not limited to the human body; they also study the effects of these substances on other organisms and the environment. A forensic toxicology unit in a forensic laboratory has three primary functions. One of these functions is the analysis of samples. In the analysis, forensic toxicologists are tasked with identifying, quantizing, and detecting chemicals and drugs in samples ( Lappas & Lappas, 2016) . Another function of the toxicological unit in forensic laboratories is the interpretation of sample results. Primarily, through the interpretation of results, toxicologists are tasked with providing their opinions for the presence of substances detected in samples investigated. For instance, toxicologists’ have to explain the effects that chemicals or drugs identified in a suspect’s or victim’s sample may have produced.
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The other significant role of forensic toxicology units is to report on their findings ( Lappas & Lappas, 2016) . In this regard, forensic toxicologists are required to present an analysis and interpretation in written form. Concerning analysis, forensic toxicologists select, identify and transmit toxicological samples. It is imperative to note that the processes of sample selection, collection, and transmittal take place before toxicological samples arrive at the forensic laboratories ( Lappas & Lappas, 2016) . On the other hand, the preservation of samples is a continuous process which is carried out until the samples are discarded. It should be noted that methods applied during the analysis of samples on forensic toxicology depend on the selected analytical strategy. This process may also involve a reanalysis of the collected evidence. Additionally, after critically analyzing and interpreting the evidence identified, toxicologists are required to present the results of the forensic studies and act as expert witnesses in civil trials. Another critical role of forensic toxicologists concerns the conduction of research in their specific fields. In practice, through research, forensic toxicologists come up with novel analytical methods and applications as well as case reports that serve to enhance their professional practice ( Lappas & Lappas, 2016) . The case reports emanating from forensic toxicologists’ research endeavors usually illuminate information concerning the detection of increased abuse and sample handling procedures. These pieces of information are crucial in forensic toxicology studies. Lastly, forensic toxicologist also plays a vital role in upholding ethics in the dispensation of their professional duties. It is important to note that without the upholding of ethics, the endeavors of forensic toxicologists will be worthless ( Lappas & Lappas, 2016) . Therefore, forensic toxicologists must perform their duties with impartiality and honesty. In turn, it helps them avoid instances where misrepresentation of evidence may occur, leading to the determent of investigations. The presence of a toxicological department in a forensic lab is valuable as this unit helps in investigating several disciplines of crimes. One of the disciplines studied by toxicological units is Postmortem toxicology (Death investigation toxicology). In these investigations, toxicologists usually analyze body organs and fluids from death cases and interpret the information collected from these cases. Such investigations are typically carried out in cases of sudden death, and toxicologists usually carry out these investigations in conjunction with pathologists (Yadav & Tiwari, 2017). In practice, the role of toxicologists in these cases mainly involves the establishment of poison, drugs, or alcohol cause the death of a subject. When determining the cause of death during postmortem toxicology, toxicologists use state of the art equipment that identifies and quantifies drugs or chemicals in tissue samples or blood samples of the subjects. The use of state of the art equipment makes it possible for toxicologists to detect small quantities and amounts of toxic substances in the samples provided and perform accurate measurements to ascertain the number of chemicals present in the tissues (Yadav & Tiwari, 2017). It should be noted in their endeavors forensic toxicologists can accurately establish the cause of death and the amounts of chemicals that contributed to the subject’s death. Another critical discipline where forensic toxicologists are involved in is human performance toxicology. In practice, human performance toxicology is concerned with how drugs and alcohol affect human performance. Additionally, this discipline also deals with issues concerning medico-legal consequences of alcohol and drug use and abuse. In this discipline, forensic toxicologists investigate crimes that are drug-facilitated such as homicide, impaired driving, maritime and motor collisions, and vehicular assault. This discipline of forensic toxicology is also referred to as behavioral toxicology ( Levine, 2006). In carrying out investigations under this discipline, forensic toxicologists use biological samples to perform alcohol and drug analysis. Besides, forensic toxicologists also use other biological samples such as oral fluids and hair in their efforts to determine the extent, timing, and any impairment that results from patterns o alcohol and drug use ( Yadav & Tiwari, 2017) . Additionally, forensic technologists are also tasked with identifying the substances present in the subjects’ samples during their analysis. It should be noted that after a proper analysis, interpretation, and reporting of their findings, forensic toxicologists are usually required to testify in court concerning the forensic evidence collected. Forensic toxicology units are also involved in Doping control. It should be noted that most of the sport’s governing bodies have put in place rules regarding the use of performance enhancement drugs in the attempts to protect the welfare and health of athletes. In this discipline, forensic toxicologists also apply specialized analytic equipment to detect the historical and current use of banned substances such as anabolic steroids, stimulants, and diuretics (Yadav & Tiwari, 2017). Moreover, Forensic workplace drug testing is another discipline in which forensic toxicologists are involved in. It is important to note that the use of drugs by employees at the workplace affects the safety of employees in question and property. The importance of workplace drug testing is further enhanced in jobs that are safety-sensitive due to the increased risk of such positions. The success of forensic toxicology in investigations is highly dependent on the samples available for analysis. In practice, the accuracy and reliability of the interpretation of the toxicological result are determined by the integrity and nature of the samples analyzed. With this in mind, toxicologists must select and store their samples appropriately to ensure that the results to be derived from these samples are accurate and admissible in court ( Yadav & Tiwari, 2017) . Forensic toxicologists carry out systematic toxicological analysis on the forensic specimens presented for analysis to mitigate against the compromising of samples. In essence, Systematic toxicological analysis involves the identification of a “general unknown,” in contrast to detecting common metabolites or drugs from a finite list. It is also important to note that sampling in forensic toxicology provides a representative sample that is easy to analyze and interpret owing to its manageable size. At present, there are various Samples used in toxicology studies and investigations. One type of sample used in forensic toxicology is urine. Urine samples are commonly used in toxicological tests for employees and athlete tests ( Levine, 2006) . It is also important to note that urine is also applied in some instances in postmortem toxicological analysis. The use of urine samples usually does not reflect the presence of toxic substances, but the un-complexity of its matrix makes it easy to apply in toxicology investigations. Another sample that is commonly used in the toxicological analysis is blood. In practice, the blood sample holds an advantage as compared to other toxicological samples because of the wide range of analytical methods that can be applied to the sample ( Levine, 2006) . Additionally, toxicologists are in a position to identify the profile of the toxic substance that influenced a subject to perpetrate a crime through a blood sample. Hair is another vital sample collected by forensic toxicologists, and it is useful in providing information concerning drug exposure history. In this light, hair samples usually come in handy during workplace toxicological tests and athlete tests as well. Besides hair, forensic toxicologists also use oral fluid samples, which are vital in depicting recent drug use in subjects ( Levine, 2006) . These samples are usually collected using non-invasive means appropriate for investigating crimes such as driving under the influence. In postmortem analysis, the commonly used sample is the vitreous humor. It is used in the analysis of substances such as nitrogen, chloride, and sodium urea, which are essential in the evaluation of conditions such as diabetes, degree of hydration, and electrolyte imbalance (Issa, 2019). Besides, virtuous fluids, tissues are also essential samples in toxicological postmortem investigations. By using tissue, forensic toxicologists are usually in a position to gather supplementary information to aid in the interpretation of their findings. Lastly, gastric contents also form part of the samples utilized in postmortem forensic toxicology. It is important to note that oral ingestions are a popular means for analyzing the exposure to poisons or drugs, making gastric contents fundamental samples in toxicological investigations (Issa, 2019). Forensic toxicology plays a vital role in the investigation of crimes. At present, sex crimes and drug-related crimes are the most common crimes that can be solved using forensic toxicology. Primarily, toxicology can e applied in the determination of the makeup of the drug used in committing a homicide. Besides, forensic toxicology can also be used to single out suspects in drug-related homicides through narrowing down the list of suspects with access to the drugs used in committing homicide incidents. A sample case in which forensic toxicology was used was the 2010 case involving the death of Nicholas Odze, a 4-year-old boy who died on September 10, 2010 (Olmeda, 2010). In this case, the mother to the boy had initially reported to the police that she had administered a Lunesta pill to him since he had trouble sleeping. However, after toxicological tests had been carried out on the boy, it was established that the boy had taken a combination of drugs, which included ibuprofen, oxycodone, eszopiclone, and oxymorphone (Olmeda, 2010). These toxicological findings led to this incidence being ruled as a homicide. In this sample case, the forensic toxicologists’ input in determining the cause of death of the boy, and the test carried out were in line with the dictates of the profession. In practice, forensic toxicologists are required to properly analyze various samples such as urine, liver, bile, blood, and gastric contents from the subject’s body during investigations involving intentional or accidental drug overdose (Dhingra & Juglan , 2017). The analysis carried out by forensic toxicologists is usually conducted regardless of how thorough the on-scene investigations or autopsy were done. Primarily, the precise cause of death in such cases remains speculative until forensic toxicologists complete the chemical analysis o the samples collected from the subject’s body (Dhingra & Juglan , 2017). From the forenamed, it is evident that forensic toxicologists and the toxicology unit in a forensic laboratory are vital in evaluating and providing a final assessment on a subject’s cause of death. Considering the importance of forensic toxicology in solving drug, poisonous substances, and alcohol-related crimes, the addition of toxicology units in the city’s forensic lab will go a long way in increasing the laboratory’s capacity to investigate crimes occurring in the city. Additionally, the presence of a toxicological department will also serve to service other sectors within the city and its environs. For instance, this unit will provide work-related toxicological tests as well as testing athletes for banned substances. In totality, the addition of a toxicological unit in the city’s forensic laboratory will not only serve to enhance the work of the law enforcement agencies in investigating crimes but also improve the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the community.
Conclusion
Forensic laboratories play a crucial role in investigations as they provide forensic evidence that is useful during court proceedings. Forensic laboratories have different units, each of which is charged with investigating and analyzing specific evidence and crimes. The toxicological unit is one of the essential units in forensic laboratories tasked with the analysis and interpretation of evidence collected from biological tissues and the environment and in the identification of suspected criminals. The presence of a toxicological unit will serve to increase the testing capacities of the forensic lab through the addition of other disciplines that this unit will be able to investigate. Through this unit, the forensic lab’s ability to test a wide variety of samples will be enhanced, leading to the successful prosecution of crimes in the city and, consequently, reducing the current prevalence of crimes in the city.
References
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Lappas, N. T., & Lappas, C. M. (2016). The duties and responsibilities of forensic toxicologists. Forensic Toxicology, 25–38. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-799967-8.00002-5
Levine, B. (2006). Forensic drug testing . In Barry, S. L., & Sarah, K. (Eds.), Principles of Forensic Toxicology. Springer International Publishing
McEwen , T. (2010). The role and impact of forensic evidence in the criminal justice system. National Institute of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236475.pdf
Olmeda, R. (2010, January 7). Coral Springs toddler’s death ruled homicide; toxicology tests findsLunesta, oxycodone in child’s system. The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved from https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20100107/coral-springs-toddlers-death-ruled-homicide-toxicology-tests-finds-lunesta-oxycodone-in-childs-system.
Issa, Y. S. (201 9).Forensic toxicology . In Ozgur, K., & Banu, A. (Eds.), Poisoning in the modern world - New tricks for an old dog? IntechOpen.
Yadav, M., & Tiwari, A. (2017) . Forensic toxicology and its relevance with criminal justice delivery system in India. Forensic Research & Criminology International Journal, 4 (4), 122-128. doi: 10.15406/frcij.2017.04.00121
