Detective Webb's Presentation on May 15th

I took copious notes during Detective Webb's one and one-half hour PowerPoint presentation on forensic investigation and for those of you who missed it, it was exceptional.


I had the feeling it would be and so I asked Detective Webb if I could videotape it for posting here, but she suggested that the photos she would be sharing would be too graphic and, after attending I must agree.

Detective Webb showed us crime scene photos and they really would not have been at all suitable for this space because she walked us through real investigations. She shared unexpected details with us in regard to how she approaches a murder site and collects evidence.

The amount of chemicals she uses - and the order in which they are applied to get results - is fascinating.

I came away from her presentation with a tremendous respect for our London Police Service and for Detective Webb. I don't think I could do this type of work, yet it must be done.

Plus there are so many behind-the-scenes people who do everything from cataloguing fingerprints to handling "cadaver dogs" - dogs that can find a dead body even when it has been buried under concrete by a murderer.

While it would take pages to try and relate all that Detective Webb shared, I would like to post one disturbing fact that Detective Webb shared with us:

Because of shows like CSI, the Police Service is occasionally criticized and second-guessed (not her words, but mine) because the public believes things are possible in evidence collecting that are not, in reality, possible.

In other words, the Police Service is - increasingly - being expected to live up to a standard of detection and forensic investigation that is pure Hollywood fantasy.

I know, myself, that this is true. When I remarked to an acquaintance on how fascinating Detective Webb's presentation had been, he turned very bitter and talked utter nonsense about how the police "know" things and "could" prosecute any person who stole a car - how that person's DNA could be collected and the person tracked down.

Of course Detective Webb had disabused us of that notion.

Only certain criminals, convicted for very specific crimes, have their DNA samples saved. The law is very clear on that. So if a petty criminal who had never been convicted of one of those crimes stole a car and disappeared, he couldn't be tracked down with his DNA. Not to mention that the car could have dozens of people's DNA in it and how could the police know which sample was whose? None of the other people's DNA would be on file either.

Yet this is what the police are faced with: being called to task for not living up to a fantasy standard.

I, personally, want to take this opportuntity to publicly thank the men and women in our London Police Service. For a city our size we don't have a lot of crime. They walk our streets, they investigate our crimes, they clean up the ugliest of messes, and they don't ask for a lot of thanks. But where would we be without them?

We need only look at Iraq to see what life can be like when there is no law, no reliable police presence, and no real justice system.