The Case for Centralisation of Medical-Jurisprudence in the Colonies
| Author | A. E. Harwich,F. T. Tarry |
| Published date | 01 October 1938 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3801100413 |
| Date | 01 October 1938 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Case for Centralisation of Medical-
Jurisprudence in the Colonies
By A. E.
HARWICH,
F.R.M.S.
Uganda
Police
With
aForeuord by F.
T.
TARRY
Chief
Constable,
Exeter
City
Police
THE plea which
Mr.
Harwich makes for the appointment of
liaison officers in connection with the organisation of the
Forensic Science laboratory is timely.
The
need is already well
recognised for the services of the pathologist, the physicist,
the chemist, and the biologist in the scientific examination of
clues, as is also the need for each expert to be fully qualified in
his particular sphere.
It
may be claimed that, in the com-
paratively short time since Forensic Science assumed im-
portance in detective organisation in the English police service,
the members of these professions whose services have been
made available have brought to the work high qualifications
and professional skill. But, skilled and qualified as the scientists
may be, and intricate and useful their equipment, the success of
Forensic Science ultimately depends on
the
measure of know-
ledge, spread over the general body of police, of the resources
ready and capable of solving the problems which confront the
detective and the policeman as crimes are reported from day to
day.
The
nature of the general
run
of crime and the activities of
criminals, being akin to the general livelihood of the com-
munity, make it inevitable that the constable on his routine
duties on beat or in station will, in the majority of cases, be the
first contact which the police organisation makes with the
injured party or the informant; and, further, that he will be
the first police contact with the scene of the crime. Hence the
emphasis on the need for all constables to be trained not only
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