Scientific Support - About Us - Surrey Police

Scientific Support Unit

Say the word 'Forensics' and often a particular image will leap to mind: it might be fingerprints, or a DNA strand, perhaps a scene from Silent Witness or Inspector Morse.

There are many elements to police forensics, however, each in their own right used to help complete a picture that might otherwise remain as a scattered jigsaw.

Forensic methods can be technically complicated, extremely intricate, and often time-consuming. But by interpreting information found at a scene of crime through this kind of examination, vital clues can be uncovered. This evidence can help create a factual statement, and might be the one thing needed to help police officers complete their investigation.

It could be said that forensics acts as an expert witness, unveiling the otherwise hidden truth.

Data Recovery Unit

The last ten years have seen a tidal wave of technological advance, which in turn has had an unprecedented affect on our daily lives. Personal computers are commonplace. We have access to an almost unlimited supply of information, just as we are able to supply information for others to view. Mobile phones make communication with the rest of the world easier than ever.

Sadly – because of its inevitability – a new form of exploitation has come with this hi-tech surge. Modern technology has changed the way society and people function on an every day basis, and that includes the criminal fraternity.

The use of a computer to assist in committing an offence does not change the essence of criminal activity. Causing damage to or via a computer (such as hacking or deliberately spreading a virus), storing illegal information (such as child pornography), sending threatening or malicious messages, theft of data or components, infringing copyrights (piracy)… All of these are simply other forms of crime.

Because of the nature of these machines and devices, however, computers and related data storage media can be used to provide valuable evidence. The Data Recovery Unit is able to analyze and extract critical evidence, whether it has been hidden, forgotten about or ´destroyed´.

Using various techniques we can, for example, restore deleted or password-protected files, and can frequently recreate an event or chain of events. Even with just a few bits of data, we are able to create a whole picture.

In the information age, very little remains a secret. Criminals know this to use it to their advantage. We, on the other hand, also know it and use it against the criminals.

Operational Forensic Photography

They say the camera never lies.

Evidence, however, can sometimes be a little camera-shy, to say the least. It is the job of the Operational Forensic Photography Unit to help find evidence by bringing it into focus.

Photography is used as an investigative tool by gathering vital information. It might be used to detect clues at major incidents or scenes of crime, to discern the possibility of arson after a fire, or to resolve traffic accidents… The list is broad.

The Unit also carries out examinations, enhancements and recordings of evidence by conventional, digital and thermal means, from a diverse range of exhibits. This includes the use of High Intensity Light Source (HILS) techniques to reveal potential evidence otherwise invisible to the naked eye.

For example, using our sophisticated equipment, we can check to see if documents have been altered, or enhance low-definition impressions, such as shoe prints.

Sometimes, what you see is not necessarily what you get. Sometimes it takes specialist equipment and investigators to find what you can´t see. That´s exactly what our Photography Unit is here for.

Scenes of Crime

The job of a SOCO (Scene of Crime Officer) is to attend crime scenes and other related incidents in order to carry out fingerprint and forensic examinations. They are responsible for assisting in all police investigations as appropriate on matters relating to scientific support.

SOCOs are an integral part of this kind of crime investigation, as it is they who must find and capture evidence, in a manner that will hold integrity to the jury and judge of a court.

Sometimes, watching them report their findings is like watching a magician pull rabbits from a hat! They can get fingerprints from anything from a window to a piece of paper, DNA from a cigarette butt, and shoe prints from almost any surface.

By the very nature of the job, the types of offences in which SOCOs are involved are extensive. No two jobs are the same, but their precision, professionalism and methodical approach remains unchanged. They are extremely thorough in carrying out their duties, and have secured countless detections, sometimes in very distressing circumstances.

Surrey Police Fingerprint Department

There are several reasons why we take fingerprints, but the most important is to confirm a person´s identity.

You may well know a person, but in 10 or 20 years down the line will you still recognise them? Whether deliberately or just through the affects of time, they may change beyond recognition; maybe they have changed their name and given themselves a whole new persona. Fingerprints and palm prints are a natural signature that people carry with them forever.

Of course, this has always been the case, but it was only in the mid-1800s that the benefits of using prints for identification came to light. By the beginning of the twentieth century, a Fingerprint Bureau was developed by British police, and very quickly this highly effective method of detection was helping to crack cases that might have otherwise gone unsolved.

Things have progressed since then. The days of blotters and inky fingers are now a part of the past. In 1999, The Fingerprint Bureau within Surrey Police tool delivery of the next generation fingerprint computer, NAFIS (National Automated Fingerprint Identification System). Livescan systems are now used to take prints electronically by using scanning technology and linking into fingerprint computers to give extremely fast results.