Fixing Forensics with Brian Gestring

Forensic evidence is often the best evidence in criminal trials, yet surprisingly the criminal justice system continues to treat forensic providers like second-class citizens. Instead of seeing the value of scientific evidence which cannot lie or be influenced like people can, the agencies that offer these services rarely provide the necessary funding or support and there are no overarching regulations that govern forensic practice in the U.S. As a result, when things go wrong, they can go spectacularly wrong. Valuable evidence does not get properly documented or collected, examinations are flawed, or the evidence is simply misinterpreted. Through a series of shorts and videos, fixing forensics seeks to increase awareness of physical evidence and its value in an investigation. It will highlight cases where forensic evidence made the difference and point out areas where it went wrong and how the system can be improved to ensure the same failure does not happen again.