Australian Federal Police officially opens expanded forensic laboratory in Sydney
Federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus KC and AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw have today (March 2) opened the Australian Federal Police’s newly expanded forensic laboratory in Sydney.
The new facility is 75 percent larger than the previous facilities and is powered by a number of new technological features.
The new facility features multi-purpose laboratories that can work on different disciplines in parallel and process multiple orders involving a large number of seizures. New engineering technologies are also being used to help track “serious organized criminals in transition” and identify traffickers of child abuse material.
The facility has been operational since the middle of last year and also has cybercrime forensic capabilities.
“Since June (2022), teams have carried out forensic examinations for around 130 investigations into multiple types of crimes, including child protection, counter-terrorism, cybercrime and drug importation,” said Dr Simon Walsh, AFP scientific director, in today’s statement. .
“While our previous forensic laboratory helped us secure many convictions, it was important to future-proof one of our busiest locations with the space and tools it needed to continue the fight against crime,” Dr. Walsh said. “The new laboratory has already had a significant impact on our research. In one case, our scientists were able to extract components from a mobile phone severely damaged in a fire and recover important evidence.
“Previously, we may have requested assistance from a partner agency, but sharing exhibits may be restricted due to operational security.
“We can now provide a much-needed boost to AFP operations regionally and also work more collaboratively with our law enforcement partners here in New South Wales and interstate to help combat crime.” .
New digital forensic capabilities are giving the facility an advantage in investigating the growing number of crimes that have a technological factor. At the same time, it is now easier to recover evidence from damaged devices before they are detained by the police.
Two darkrooms also allow the new fingerprint lab to process fluorescent prints.
“Forensic science is a fundamental part of the investigation process and can make or break a process,” DR Walsh said.
