The Victoria Police Forensic Services Department (FSD) examine scenes and exhibits, to support police investigations and provide evidence to the Courts.
Statement of Strategic Intent
The statement of strategic intent for the FSD is 'The Forensic Services Department will deliver an excellent, integrated forensic service to Victoria Police, the Judicial system and the Community.'
Although the definition for 'forensic' is pertaining to or used in courts of law, forensic science is broader than this. It also includes:
- assisting in an investigation, e.g. through use of DNA, fingerprints or other databases, forensic science can provide possible suspects that the police may then interview
- excluding suspects.
FSD is accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities. We take pride in ensuring the ongoing quality of our services and are committed to identifying improvements to ensure best practice.
The forensic examinations we conduct may be scene examinations or exhibit examinations.
Scene examinations
Forensic staff attend and examine many serious crime scenes including homicides, suspicious fires, clandestine drug laboratories, cannabis crops and recovery of bodies after a disaster.
Exhibit examinations
The Forensic Services Department examines more than 55,000 exhibits per year. Exhibits are collected from scenes and from persons (suspects, complainants, deceased and convicted persons).
Assistance to the Courts
Our results provide assistance to the justice process and the courts. The Court may accept our written report or sometimes the experts are required to present their evidence in Court.
Our aim is to provide impartial evidence to assist the Court to understand what occurred. It is up to the jury to decide if the evidence is understandable, reliable and how much weight the evidence has.
Contact the FSD
For student and career enquiries, requests for forensic speakers for schools and community groups, email trainingunit-fsd-oic@police.vic.gov.au.
For compliments and complaints, email quality-fsd-mgr@police.vic.gov.au.
All other enquiries, email quality-fsd-mgr@police.vic.gov.au.
Contact us by phone on (03) 9450 3444.
FSD address
Forensic Services Department
31 Forensic Drive
Macleod, VIC, 3085
Forensic services
Learn more about the areas of forensic science that our Forensic Services Department work in.
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