Dubai Police to use bugs in solving crimes
Forensic Entomology Database to provide investigators with scientific evidence
DUBAI: The General Department of Forensics at Dubai Police has introduced a specialised forensic entomology database to provide the force’s investigators with solid scientific evidence whenever required.
The move will help Dubai’s forensics experts to extract information from bugs, beetles and insects found on dead bodies at crime scenes to solve some of the darkest crimes.
Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Mattar Al Muhairi, Acting Director of Forensic Sciences and Criminology Department at Dubai Police, said the Forensic Entomology Department would help investigations by studying the bugs’ life cycle inside and outside dead bodies.
The move follows the directives of Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Merri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, to keep up with the latest of specialised scientific developments in the field of technology, chemistry, physics and criminal sciences.
Major General Ahmad Eid Al Mansouri, Director of the General Department of Forensics and Criminology at Dubai Police, said the database, which was developed in collaboration with the NSF International, relies on the scientific application of insects and other arthropods in criminal investigation. Insects or arthropods are found in a decomposing vertebrate corpse or carrion.
He added these insect colonisers can be used to estimate the time of death, time interval between death and corpse discovery, also called post-mortem index (PMI), movement of the corpse, manner and cause of death and association of suspects at the death scene.
Maj Gen Al Mansouri added the database will help Dubai Police forensic experts use forensic data based on insects and their larvae morphology, growth histories, species distribution and toxic contents in their tissue in criminal investigation.
Last year, 22 of Dubai Police’s forensics experts, biologists, DNA experts, toxicologists, and crime scene officers took part in an interactive Forensic Entomology course delivered by Jeffrey D. Wells. The course included a practical scenario for the presence of larvae, insects and eggs according to the natural environment of the UAE. It also involved preparing animal samples that were developed in two ways, including samples from the internal environment, specifically at the temperature of houses and rooms to determine the actual time of production of larvae.