Željko Karas

Short Resume

Željko Karas, Ph.D., is a Professor of Criminal Investigation at the University of Applied Sciences in Criminal Investigation and Public Security in Zagreb, Croatia. He teaches subjects on criminal investigation in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies. His research interests include criminal investigation and evidence in a criminal procedure. His recent publications include papers on undercover police activities and a textbook on criminal investigation. He is an editor of the Police and Security Journal and the Vice Dean for research, quality and international cooperation. He published works on various aspects of criminal investigation, such as the share of certain types of evidence in criminal investigation, the relationship between material and personal sources, factors that contribute to the effectiveness of criminal investigation and the like. He is currently editing a collection of papers on the history of the police in Croatia.

Title of the presentation

Role and Reliability of Forensic Science Methods in Criminal Investigation

Abstract

In science and practice, it has long been discussed whether it is possible to give preference to material or personal sources in terms of their contribution to the effectiveness of criminal investigations. Some police units tried to change the approach to criminal investigation and completely shift the emphasis to forensic methods, expecting their greater success. For the above, the author presents the trends in the use of certain forensic methods during the development of criminal investigation, the results of their evaluation in practice, and expectations in the upcoming development. Contemporary developments in forensic methods and re-examination of certain old criminal investigation methods (e.g. fingerprints, marks on shell casings, etc.) are presented too. The results of the interrelationship analysis showed that it is not possible to give preference to a certain group of methods or sources only, but the criminal investigation can be composed of various types of methods adapted to personal and material sources depending on the type of crime.

Keywords

criminal investigation, forensic methods, personal and material sources, reliability, effectiveness