"Identification and tracing is the ability to trace, attribute, and confirm the identity of a person, location or activity to evidential levels, such as tracing missing persons.
Emerging biometrics can be used to ascertain or impersonate a person’s identity. Advances in analysing microbiomes (the combination of microbes unique to individuals) and genetics could lead to new ways to identify and track criminals from traces left behind. Similarly, as computational power increases, so the ability to measure and identify data characteristics unique to a person increase. This puts at risk people’s right to privacy while, simultaneously, providing new ways to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt a person’s location, supporting existing forensic approaches. We are keen to understand what potential criminal and investigative opportunity is emerging and what the limits are of biometrics."
"We welcome your engagement with our ARIs in the following ways:
• If you have evidence that completely or partly supports or answers one of our ARIs, we invite you to share that with us. For any ongoing research relevant to policing and crime reduction, we encourage you to register your research on the College of Policing’s research projects map, which has been designed to promote collaboration and support requests for participants.
• If you are, or plan to be, carrying out research that relates to one of our ARIs, we’d like to hear about it. While we cannot respond to speculative approaches for research funding, we will where possible act to support your ambitions, including finding you policing partners where possible.
• If you are submitting a funding or grant application that aligns with one of our ARIs, we hope that referencing policing’s ARIs will help to strengthen your case for the possible public impact of the research.
• We will use the ARI document to structure our academic engagement, prioritise events and build new connections with external partners. We will be using our ARIs in our engagement with UKRI, and we will publish any opportunities for funding via our website https://science.police.uk/
Please send any correspondence and questions to csa@npcc.police.uk, including ‘ARI’ in the subject heading."
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Forensic science is an important tool in the fight against crime and this proposal will build on cutting edge research to create technology that will revolutionise the way DNA fingerprinting can be used at crime scenes t...
Funded by: EPSRC
Lead research organisation: University of Hull
This project focuses on DNA characterisation at crime scenes, which directly addresses the question of using advances in analysing microbiomes and genetics to identify or track criminals.
Security concerns - about crime, terrorism, mass death atrocities and disasters - are a key driver for the development of new technologies, and human genetics research has played an important contribution here. DNA techn...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: Northumbria University
While this project discusses genetics and security, it focuses more on the comparison of DNA uses in different contexts rather than directly addressing the question of identifying or tracking criminals from traces at crime scenes.
Literally any crime scene contains animal, plant, soil, microbial or environmental traces. Examples include pet hairs or saliva, pollen and algae, soil and soil organisms like bacteria or nematodes, fungal spores, insect...
Funded by: Horizon Europe Guarantee
Lead research organisation: University of Reading
This project discusses the analysis of non-human evidence in forensic investigations, which is related to the broader topic of identifying suspects and victims, but does not directly address the question of using microbiomes and genetics to track criminals from crime scene traces.