The development of crime laboratories in the United States has been characterized by rapid growth accompanied by a lack of national and regional planning and coordination. The oldest forensic laboratory in the United States is that of the Los Angeles Police Department, created in 1923. In 1932, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), under the directorship of J. Edgar Hoover, organized a national laboratory that offered forensic services to all law enforcement agencies in the country.
List major reasons for the increase in the number of crime laboratories in the United States since the 1960s. List 3 advantages of having regional crime laboratories operate as part of a statewide system. How does the organization of Great Britain’s forensic laboratories differ from that of the United States? What is the main difference between the testimony given by an expert witness and that given by a lay witness?
