The Forensic Evidence Department at the Abu Dhabi Police handled 11,056 cases during nine months of this year. Colonel Abdulrahman Al Hammadi, Director of Administration stated that the Department established the Car Paint Database, expanded the types of technical examinations at the Document Examination Department, and equipped the mobile forensic laboratory to examine the effects of fire and electrocution. Colonel Al Hammadi also revealed the Department's intention to develop a laboratory to examine bones, hair, and fibers. Moreover, he added that the Department established a new car paint database and other databases to detect crime and perpetrators.
He said that the cases handled by the Department during the nine-month period varied between criminal cases, documents examination, fire and machines traces, poisons, drugs, forensic photography, forensic biology, alcohol, and forensic chemistry.
Furthermore, he noted that the department is working on activating the firearms identification system IBIS and linking it locally with various state laboratories, as well as establishing a shooting range, and developing a plan for the development of technical inspection units for travel documents at land, air, and sea ports in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, as well as DNA analysis unit in the Forensic Evidence Department.
On the other hand, he mentioned that Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters is seeking to upgrade the forensic laboratory to the ranks of distinguished global laboratories, keep up with the development in detecting crimes, and use state-of-the-art techniques in order to achieve the goal of making the Forensic Evidence Departments the best operations in this area.
He stressed the commitment to continuous improvement to improve performance in order to provide high-quality criminal services, in accordance with the best international standards for police, judicial, and governmental organizations, as well as provide excellent services to achieve the highest levels of satisfaction for the public such as the “certificate of good conduct” and the “Camel dope tests.”
As for the major techniques to deal with these cases, he said that the Forensic Evidence Department is always eager to use the latest technology and hardware, due to their importance and association with criminal justice, referring to the use of IBIS to check for firearms, and a microscopic comparison to scan different documents types, currency and travel documents, a comparative projector to check and compare fingerprints, seals and trademarks, and an astro-zoom microscope with color digital camera to scan documents.
Among the many devices used by the department are: the currency-counting machine (Banknote counter), equipped with counterfeit currency detectors, a Gas chromatograph mass spectrometer to detect petroleum materials treated with fire residues, a DNA extraction machine, the (EZ1-XL) machine to extract DNA, and another apparatus for analyzing fluid chromatograph equipped with the double mass spectrometer to detect steroids, a polygraph, an audio fingerprint comparison machine, in addition to other machines to absorb harmful fumes during chemical treatment of fingerprints, and other modern devices.
He added that with the evolution of criminal method, modern technology maintains pace to identify offenders. These technologies are updated continuously aligning with the largest forensic laboratories and benchmarking the best globally applied techniques, such as using a genetic fingerprint tests.
DNA Profiling or Genetic Fingerprint is revealed as the qualities pass from one generation to the next, and half of genetic traits are inherited from the father and half from the mother. Everyone has a distinct genetic composition and t