The role of the forensic scientist at pseudo-military incidents

Most forensic scientists called to a scene are briefed by a police officer and requested to carry out a specific function. The investigation of terrorist incidents in Northern Ireland provided a major challenge for scientists, involving large numbers of participants and several separate scenes. In two such cases, the areas initially sealed off were confined to the obvious focus of interest, the bodies and the damaged building, but the scenes expanded to other areas, including firing points and escape routes, house take-overs, hostage situations, and abandoned vehicles thought to have been used in the incidents. Because of security factors, all these scenes had to be examined quickly to preserve any evidence yet carefully to avoid contamination and to ensure the safety of all the personnel involved.