With technology fast infiltrating into all aspects of our life, solving a crime has become almost futuristic in nature. New advanced gadgets and tools are helping to solve crimes, just like a scene out of a science-fiction thriller.

Today, forensic technology is one of the fastest-growing fields in America as seen in the increasing demand of forensic science technicians. With jobs expected to rise by 16% by 2030, prospects for those looking for a career in law enforcement are extremely bright, especially due to various institutions offering to facilitate getting a criminal justice online degree.

Though criminals understand the whole gamut of forensic technology, here are five incredibly cool forensic tools that even they may not even be aware of if they existed.

DNA Phenotyping

We all know that DNA samples gathered from the crime scene can be matched to a suspect. Scientists have now discovered that the 23 chromosomes that code outward appearance, can be used to provide investigators to more vital clues like looks, hair, eye and skin colour of the suspect.The advanced technology can also determine the age and biological background of a person.

Fingerprint Analysis

Fingerprints from the crime scene, just like DNA, can be used for comparison with those of the suspect.That said, sometimes they are faint or not readable. Forensic experts have now started using biosensors to analyise the tiny traces of body fluids which are left behind in the fingerprints. This data can help detect age, gender and even the lifestyle of the suspect. Apart from fingerprints, biosensors can also be used to lift other body fluids from the scene of the crime.

SANS SIFT

The SANS investigative forensic toolkit (SIFT) contains all the tools with which you can perform a thorough cybercrime or any incident inquiry. This open-source system tool is updated from time to time and features:

• Effective utilisation of memory
• 64- bit system
• Compatible to both Windows and Linux
• Advanced tools and techniques

The Sleuth/Autopsy kit

The Autopsy and Sleuth kit is one of the most commonly used and popular forensic tool in existence.These tools are vital for performing in-depth analysis of file systems and a variety of other features including analyising of disk images.

Autopsy is a digital interface platform and a graphical interface to the Sleuth Kit. It is used by the police or corporate examiners to investigate what happened at the crime scene on a computer. It can even be used to recover photos from a camera’s memory card.

Mass Spectrometer

A criminal leaves behind a lot of evidence on the crime scene, like hair, soil, gunpowder residue, glass fragraments and other things which may be transferred between people and the environment during a crime scene. Evidence thus collected can find a missing person or implicate a suspect.

Mass Spectrometers come in extremely handy to analyise trace evidence by determining the composition of these substances.The information collected can lead investigators to a specific location and assist the investigating officers to build up a fool-proof case against the suspect.