Should forensics be used to solve old cases

Crime in some form or other has existed since the beginning of the human race. With the advancements in technology, the concept of crime as well as methods adopted by criminals in its commission have undergone a phenomenal change. On one hand, criminals have been quick to exploit science for their criminal acts, on the other hand, police investigators are no longer able to rely on age-old methods of interrogation, development of sources, and surveillance to detect crime. In this context criminal forensics has found its existence with its own share of advantages and disadvantages which shall be addressed separately. Criminal forensics is an application of various sciences combined. being a vast subject the number of techniques involved in forensics is also more and it primarily contributes its value and application to reinforce the legal system of a country. it comes with a broad spectrum of advantages like determining the cause of death through medical forensics, identifying fingerprints through biometrics, taping voice and calls through phonetics, and in some cases, DNA profiling has allowed law enforcement professionals to solve decade-old cases. Despite numerous advantages forensics comes with its share of ethical, legal and knowledge constraints such as evidence can be prone to manipulation, it is quite expensive, and maintaining privacy and secrecy of information gathered through various sources is quite difficult. Besides criminal forensics is not an easy task to accomplish. it involves a lot of hindrances and challenges. To conclude, it is quite clear even though criminal forensics comes with its share of disadvantages, the advantages clearly outweigh them. It is therefore in the best interest that police machinery and investigative machinery use forensics to be at par with growing technology and also to evaluate the nature of crime and use the same for solving old cases.