This is how Sue Baumforth sees her role as a Forensic Investigation Manager. Sue was the guest speaker at this month\u2019s speaker meeting presided over by Team President Jill Gooch. As well as a career in Forensics, Sue is also a Soroptimist and member of SI Wolverhampton Club. The talk given to her fellow Soroptimists was fascinating and demonstrated the passion she has for this important work in West Midlands Police.<\/p>\n
Sue was born and grew up in Cheshire but studied for a degree in Religion and Ethics in Birmingham. Her first job, surprisingly, was in a remote part of Shetland on a salmon farm. She was responsible for exploring the ethics of salmon farming in a humane and sustainable way. Later Sue returned to the Midlands as a Scene of Crime Officer.<\/p>\n
SOCO\u2019s are called in to examine and collect forensic material which could be used to convict a criminal for a serious crime such as: burglary, assault, arson, rape, murder. Sue explained to us that Forensics means to: Examine, Preserve, Record, Retrieve <\/strong>evidence.<\/p>\n The oldest type of evidence is fingerprint. First used in the 19th<\/sup> Century as ID in a murder trial, your fingerprint is unique, always stays the same and is relatively easy to retrieve.<\/p>\n It was Sue\u2019s comprehensive explanation of how DNA evidence is collected and used which interested the audience the most. Nuclear and Mitocondrial DNA can be collected at a crime scene from saliva, fingerprints, footwear, fibres, semen, masks and vessels to name but a few. Sue stressed the need to collect, record and seal samples and evidence very carefully to prevent contamination of evidence which could jeopardise a successful conviction.<\/p>\n Sue explained how Sir. Alec Jeffries was the first to successfully develop DNA fingerprinting. In 1986 he was asked to assist in the investigation of the murder of two girls: Dawn Ashworth and Lynda Mann. DNA profiling established a connection between the two murders and identified the real killer Colin Pitchfork. The technique was not without problems and was often treated with suspicion but is now used routinely. The National DNA Database holds 6.6 million samples.<\/p>\n Sue then gave us a taste of how new technologies are increasingly being used as evidence such as digital devices, mobile phones and texts, Google Maps, doorbell cameras, smart speakers, CCTV. Whilst these are useful we must remember that they are also useful to the criminal and can raise issues related to privacy. Sue explained an intriguing technique of Micro-scanning of bones to help provide evidence such as in cases of child abuse.<\/p>\n Sue ended her talk by explaining that her work is now focussed on family crime and domestic abuse. It was clear that Sue is passionate about her work. She asked for her fee to be donated to the charity Liver Foundation UK and dedicated to the memory of victims of crime mentioned in her talk. She believes it is important for her to be a voice for the victims of crime who have no voice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is how Sue Baumforth sees her role as a Forensic Investigation Manager. Sue was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-club-news"],"yoast_head":"\n