What Is a Forensic Document Examiner?

The Forensic Affairs Department provides comprehensive scientific forensic services for Hong Kong's criminal justice system. Its scope includes a series of professional testing work, interpretation of the meaning of the test results and professional advice to ensure correctness, accuracy and efficiency.

Hong Kong Forensic Department

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The Department of Forensic Affairs provides comprehensive scientific assurance services for Hong Kong's criminal justice system, covering a range of professions

Forensic Affairs Department, affiliated to the Government Laboratory of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The main service target of the Ministry of Forensic Affairs is the government department that maintains legal discipline, and government-funded institutions such as the Hospital Authority need to submit the cost of laboratory services.

In addition to testing the physical evidence sent by various departments in the laboratory, the department also provides 24-hour crime scene investigation services that assist in identifying and collecting scientific physical evidence from a professional perspective. There are many types of scenes that can be handled, ranging from simpler thefts to serious cases such as homicide and rape. In addition, more specialized investigations are required on certain sites, such as the cause of fire alarms, the reorganization of serious traffic accidents, and blood splash maps.

Assistant Government Chemist (Acting)

Chief Chemist

Senior Chemist

Hong Kong Forensic Department Biochemical Section

The biochemical components are two groups, A and B. Their main working properties are the same. They are both analysis and testing of the submitted biological evidence to verify and identify them. Most of the physical evidence is samples of crime evidence from crime scenes. Such crimes include homicide, rape, theft, etc. The purpose of the test is to try to trace the source of the physical evidence, such as the blood or semen found in the rape case and the suspect; the use of paternity testing techniques to find possible parents of the abandoned fetus in infanticide cases; and confirmation of trafficking in illegal meat sales markets The meat is dog meat and so on.

Professionals in this group are also involved in some special investigations, such as blood splatter analysis at the crime scene.

Chemistry Section, Hong Kong Forensic Department

The Chemistry Unit handles a wide range of different types of cases, with particular emphasis on crimes against persons and property. This group of work can be broadly divided into three categories:

1. Trace evidence exploration

2. Various types of chemical analysis

3. Fire scene survey

In addition to handling the laboratory work, professionals in this group will also be called to conduct on-site investigations to determine the cause of the fire.

The general analysis of chemicals and alcohol content mainly uses direct analysis methods. However, the inspection of trace exposure evidence is relatively difficult and requires a lot of human resources. This work includes inspection of trace materials such as clothing fibers, glass, paint Oil and soil. The test of the evidence of micro exposure, although it will consume / use a lot of manpower and working time, the results of the test often play an important role in the investigation of serious crimes, thereby affirming the staff's commitment and bear.

Hong Kong Legal Department Database Section

Established:

The Legislative Council introduced amendments to three security regulations in early 2000. The regulations are the "Dangerous Drugs, Commissioner-General's Independent Commission Against Corruption and Police Force (Amendment) Ordinance 2000". After more than 20 rounds of discussions among members of the Legislative Council, the bill was passed into law in June 2000. The Dangerous Drugs, the Commissioner's Commission Against Corruption and the Police Force (Amendment) Ordinance 2000 stipulates that the Hong Kong Government Laboratory shall set up a DNA database on behalf of the Commissioner of Police to store serious arrestable offenders.

responsibility range:

The DNA Database Group was established at the Hong Kong Government Laboratory in October 2000. Its main task is to analyze samples from convicted persons, suspects and volunteers with serious arrestable crimes to establish, manage and maintain computerized DNA database.

The criminal's DNA database is suitable for proofreading with undiscovered data. The unresolved data is provided by the biochemical team, and the analysis techniques used by the biochemical team and the database team must be consistent to ensure data compatibility and comparability.

DNA databases have specific requirements on computer equipment, especially software, to ensure effective management. This team successfully used the DNA Indexing System Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) software program developed by the FBI to establish a local DNA database. The system tightly combines forensic science and computer technology and applies electronic proofreading DNA technology, thus becoming an effective case-solving tool.

Another major responsibility of the DNA Database Group is to assist other law enforcement agencies and the Security Bureau to smoothly and successfully implement the regulations. Therefore, a working group needs to be set up, including members of the Police Force, the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Government Laboratory, to propose a computer and statistics , Equipment and tools, training and monitoring and internal guidelines. The progress of these working groups is monitored by representatives of the above-mentioned departments and a follow-up group and steering group composed of the Security Bureau. The relevant (amendment) regulations came into effect on July 1, 2001.

Hong Kong Forensics Department

The main task of the parent-child identification team is to use genetic testing methods to help verify the parent-child relationship claimed by applicants in immigration cases.

The parent-child verification team serves people who have claimed the right of abode in accordance with Paragraph 2 (c) of Schedule 1 to the Immigration Ordinance. The applicant must apply for a certificate of right of abode in accordance with the Director of Immigration in accordance with paragraph 2AB (2) of the Immigration Ordinance in the manner specified in the Gazette notice. As some applicants have submitted insufficient evidence to prove their parent-child relationship, the HKSAR has amended the Immigration Ordinance to empower the Director of Immigration to require applicants and their claimed parents to undergo a designated genetic test to assist in reviewing residence Application for Certificate of Entitlement. The Immigration (Amendment) Regulations 2001 came into effect in July 2001. The Director of Immigration specified in the Gazette the procedure for genetic testing and appointed the Hong Kong Government Laboratory to be responsible for the test.

In addition to assisting in processing applications for certificates of entitlement, other parent-child identification applications are required to be handled by the parent-child verification team.

The paternity test group uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) -based short tandem repeat sequence (STR) DNA analysis technology. Because the sensitivity of the polymerase chain reaction is extremely high, using a swab to collect epidermal cells in the mouth can extract enough DNA samples for analysis. The paternity test group used 15 short tandem repeat sequence sites in routine testing. Statistically, the probability of the technology excluding non-blood individuals was greater than 0.9999.

Hong Kong Forensics Department Physics Section

The main function of the physics group is to provide comprehensive physical testing services to other government departments. The testing scope includes traffic accident reorganization, tire inspection, serial number restoration, forgery identification and case-related shoe print analysis.

Traffic accident reorganization is the use of different scientific fields such as mathematics, physics, automotive engineering, and site survey techniques to find the cause of traffic accidents. Forensic inspection of tires can assist in finding out whether an accident is caused by a flat tire or a collision, providing useful information for further investigation. Car serial number restoration is to identify whether the body and engine numbers of the vehicle have been changed, and to restore the original numbers if possible. Forgery authentication involves the use of scientific instruments to verify the authenticity of precious metals, gems and coins in circulation in Hong Kong. This group also handles a large number of cases related to theft, including the preservation or matching of article marks and shoe marks.

In addition, the Physics Section also provides consultancy services to provide police and other government departments with professional advice on traffic accident investigations. The main purpose of this service is to provide impartial expert advice to the courts in order to enforce the relevant legislation. Another task of this group is to provide relevant law enforcement units with training courses on accident investigation and traffic accident reorganization. Students learn the latest developments from the course.

Hong Kong Forensic Investigation and Management

There are three groups:

Site investigation team

2. Quality Management Team

3. Training group

Site Investigation Team :

The on-site investigation team provides 24-hour on-site investigation services to the police and other law enforcement agencies. This service is performed by a team of scientific forensic directors. They belong to the grades of specialized service directors of laboratories. They all have many years of laboratory work experience and are specially trained to become crime scene investigation professionals.

The extensive participation of laboratory personnel in the collection of on-site crime evidence is rare in the crime evidence laboratories of various countries. However, after years of experience in Hong Kong, this system is considered to be superior and can ensure the quality of on-site investigations and the quality of evidence collected. Because of the on-site evidence, if it is not handled or stored properly, it will easily be destroyed, leading to the loss of evidence. On-site investigation by qualified and experienced laboratory personnel will be more effective.

Scientific forensic officers investigate general crime scenes, in other words, they will appear at most crime scenes. However, there are some site surveys that require specially trained professionals to perform, such as traffic accident reorganization, reproduction of changed car numbers, fire investigations, blood splash analysis, and drug production sites. The above site surveys were performed by colleagues in relevant groups. When necessary, the Scientific Assurance Officer will work with professionals to carry out the survey.

In 2007, scientific forensic officers and professionals surveyed a total of 329 general crime scenes, 34 fire scenes, 123 traffic accident / vehicle-related scenes, and eight blood-requiring sites. There were 515 scenes of splash trace analysis and 21 drug scenes.

In addition to on-site investigation duties, the director of scientific forensics also needs to write on-site investigation reports, research and introduce new on-site investigation techniques, and provide training for disciplined personnel in the police and other departments.

Each successful forensic investigation begins with a professional on-site investigation. The employees in the group worked very hard on each site, often working overtime and performing tasks in harsh on-site environments, which reflected their professionalism.

Quality Management Team:

This group is responsible for promoting and developing the quality management system of the Forensic Affairs Department of the Government Laboratory in accordance with the requirements of the American Society of Forensic Laboratory Directors (ASCLD / LAB) certification and internationally recognized good laboratory practices.

The Quality Assurance Committee of the Forensic Affairs Department is composed of the Assistant Government Chemist of the Forensic Affairs Department, the two chief laboratory analysts of the Forensic Affairs Department and the senior chemists of this group (the latter is also called the Quality Assurance Manager of the Forensic Affairs Department). Under the supervision of this committee, this group provides quality assurance guidelines to various forensic affairs department groups and assists them in implementing relevant measures, such as updating quality and training manuals. The group also conducts quality audits every year and regularly reviews the entire quality system. The Department of Forensic Affairs has a number of quality auditors accredited by the American Association of Directors of Criminal Forensic Laboratories, and in addition to internally trained quality auditors, they make significant contributions to the annual quality audit.

In order to ensure that the services provided by the government laboratory meet the quality requirements of the American Society of Forensic Laboratory Directors certification, especially in terms of comparability and traceability between laboratories, to achieve international standards, this group is responsible for regularly assisting the Department of Forensic Affairs Each group holds an internal verification ability test and arranges to participate in international verification ability tests.

Training group:

The training team aims to maintain a high-performance professional team to help achieve the department's development goals. The training team provides employees with different forms of learning opportunities to create an environment that helps employees grow and a culture of continuous learning.

In addition, in order to make the industry have a better understanding of the services provided by the department, so as to strengthen everyone's partnership, the training team will help arrange the reception of visitors from other departments and give lectures and introductions on the department's business.

Hong Kong Forensic Drugs Controlled Drugs Section

The Controlled Drugs Group is responsible for testing items suspected of being regulated under the four regulations on the control of dangerous drugs, pharmaceuticals and poisons, antibiotics, or chemicals.

In the test cases, the items involved could be drugs of abuse seized from drug addicts, or large quantities of proprietary medicines seized from unlicensed clinics or unauthorized traffickers, including those found at illegal drug manufacturing sites. Exhibits. The main clients are the Pharmaceutical Affairs Department of the Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department.

In order to eliminate possible errors in the test process, the group strives to improve the test technology and enforce rigorous review procedures to ensure that the accuracy reaches the highest standards. Each item submitted for inspection will be systematically screened for controlled substances, and then its infrared spectrum and / or mass spectrometry will be used to determine its composition, and finally its content will be verified by chromatographic or spectroscopic methods. All results must pass two review reviews.

Forensic Toxicology Section, Hong Kong Forensic Department

The scope of work of the forensic toxicology group can be divided into three parts: toxicology analysis, urine analysis and drink driving.

The toxicology analysis team is responsible for providing comprehensive drug or poison analysis services to the police, clinical pathologists (hospital authority) and forensic officers (department of health) in criminal crimes with suspicious causes and various types of drugs or poisons involved . The evidence processed by this group is mainly biological test materials such as blood, urine, stomach contents and liver. Evidence related to toxicology, such as poisons and drugs, will also be submitted to the laboratory for investigation.

The urinalysis team's work includes regular testing of urine samples for drug addicts receiving methadone treatment. In addition, the team is also responsible for conducting urine analysis on monitored drug abusers (mainly adolescents) and offenders to monitor whether their urine contains opiates or non-opiates. The clients of the urine analysis team are the Department of Health, the Social Welfare Department, the Hospital Authority, the Correctional Services Department, the Police Department and other drug rehabilitation agencies.

In support of the Government's amendment to the Road Traffic Regulations, the Drunk Driving Group was established in December 1995. Under the ordinance amended on October 1, 1999, a person contains more than 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of breath (equivalent to 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood or 67 per 100 ml of urine Mg of alcohol) is illegal. When the police conduct a breath test, if the test subject contains 22 to 37 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliter of breath, he can ask the blood or urine sample to replace the breath test result with an alcohol test, and these samples will be submitted Go to the drunk driving team for analysis. The above three groups also provide professional advice on the toxicology and pharmacology of drugs and alcohol to courts and other clients.

Hong Kong Forensic Department Document Identification Section

The Document Identification Section provides comprehensive document verification services to the judicial and law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong, such as identifying handwriting, signatures and typescripts, inspecting altered documents, and authenticating documents such as ID cards, credit cards, passports, etc.

The group promised that 80% of the handwriting analysis cases could be completed within 66 days, and 80% of the suspicious document analysis could be completed within 33 days. Most of the workload of the document team came from the Hong Kong Police Force, and the rest came from the Immigration Department and the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

In the past ten years, this group has done a lot of research on Chinese handwriting identification and published many papers. It is recognized as the leader in Chinese handwriting analysis.