Dear Colleagues in Forensic Sciences,
Allow me as Chairperson of the INTERPOL Organizing Committee of the 19th Forensic Science Managers Symposium to bid you a hearty welcome; this on behalf of my fellow Committee members as well as INTERPOL.
We are gathered here for the next three days to review and reflect on global developments in forensic sciences that have occurred over the past three years. These developments are as many in numbers as they are controversial in outcome and ramifications.
The more than 105 senior forensic scientists representing 45 countries at this event will be please to learn that we have listened to you when you instructed us at our 18th Symposium under this very same roof held in 2016 to assemble a body of research based knowledge and present it to you in a digestible format ready for global consumption not only at your senior level but also ready for dissemination to all levels of our industry.
You may recall that we have conducted a survey amongst delegates at this very same event held in 2016 to determine needs and preferred topics and this event will incorporate all of your requirements.
We will cover a number of topics relevant to our science and these are criminalistics, forensic chemistry, electronic evidence and identification sciences which represent the following thematic areas like wildlife forensics, environmental forensics, drugs, human trafficking, “follow the money”, forensic management and combating organized crime.
In terms of the proceedings to be conducted over the next three days the agenda is clear and will basically cover the forensic sciences on days one and two whilst the actual reason for our gathering, namely on day three will cover the business meeting.
We will host not less than six poster sessions which will be presented as interactive digital presentations by the actual authors. Please make a note in your dairies of these scheduled times slots as they are not to be missed.
We have reviewed a record number of scientific publications and these will be presented in digital format ready for ease of reference on your consumption.
We will also capture and record for future record all panel discussions, questions from the floor and business meeting proceedings.
All of the above will be published in the peer reviewed Elsevier Forensic Science International Synergy with Editor-in-Chief Dr. Max Houck, the co-presenter of Forensic Management thematic. Our Committee subjected three offers to a rigorous and painstaking tender process and selected the aforementioned publication for a number of reasons.
I also wish to extend our sincere gratitude to INTERPOL who through its more than five decades of formal association with the forensic science community allowed this triennial symposium to occur as clockwork. This is achieved through availing us their considerable infrastructure and capacity and here I want to stop and specifically mention the services of the translators and the technical staff working behind the scenes. A special thanks to you all.
Finally a word of profound thanks to my Committee members; your assistance in this mammoth task was immeasurable and we have set a scientific precedent that will be a hard act to follow for years to come.
Disclaimer
This is a republication in journal form of a conference proceeding that was produced for the 19th Interpol Forensic Science Managers Symposium in 2019 and was originally published online at the Interpol website: https://www.interpol.int/content/download/14458/file/Interpol%20Review%20Papers%202019.pdf. The publication process of this was coordinated for the Symposium by the Interpol Organizing Committee and the proceeding was not individually commissioned or externally reviewed by the journal. Any opinions expressed are those solely of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their agencies, institutions, governments, Interpol, or the journal.
Declaration of Competing Interests
The author was the chair of the Interpol Organizing Committee of the 19th Forensic Science Managers Symposium from 2016-2019. No other competing interests exist.