National & University laboratories: An ignored forensic science resource

4^th International Conference on Forensic Research & Technology

September 28-30, 2015 Atlanta, USA

Robert D Blackledge

Forensic Chemist Consultant, USA

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Forensic Res

Abstract :

Billions of dollars of tax payers money is spent every year for the operation of national and university research laboratories. This is good! It is essential that the United States maintain its edge in technology. However, as far as the examination of forensic evidence (not just research), these resources are today being ignored by the forensic science community. This is not just bad! It is extremely wasteful and does not serve justice. This presentation will examine how this situation came about, how it may be remedied, and provide examples.

Biography :

Robert D Blackledge has received his BS (Chem.) from The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina, in 1960 and MS (Chem.) from the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, in 1962. Starting with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Tallahassee Crime Lab in 1971, he worked in forensic science for over thirty years. Breaks included eleven years with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory-Europe, and with “Aby’s” NCIS Lab from 1989 to 2006. The author or co-author of over fifty journal articles and book chapters, he is the Editor of, “Forensic Analysis on the Cutting Edge: New Methods for Trace Evidence Analysis”, Wiley- Interscience, 2007.

Email: bigpurple@cox.net