This webinar originally occurred on May 26, 2021
Duration: 1 hour
Overview
This webinar facilitated a discussion about bias in a crime laboratory. Questions discussed included: what is bias in forensics? How can it impact your operations? Why is it important? And what are some considerations when building a culture without bias?
The webinar included important aspects of an unbiased culture, symptoms that indicate your culture might be biased, and examples from the Phoenix Police Department and the Virginia Department of Forensic Sciences.
Key components to consider when building this culture include organizational structure, laboratory policies and procedures, business processes, employee training, transparency, and open access. Laboratory leaders must consider how bias can impact the forensic process and implement measures to build an unbiased culture.
Detailed Learning Objectives
- Participants will learn about bias and its potential impact on forensic processes.
- Participants will learn key components of building an unbiased culture in a crime laboratory.
- Participants will learn about programs that have been implemented supporting unbiased cultures in crime laboratories.
Presenter
- Jody Wolf, MS, MBA | Crime Lab Administrator, Phoenix Police Department (AZ) Laboratory Services Bureau
Funding for this Forensic Technology Center of Excellence webinar has been provided by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this webinar are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Contact us at ForensicCOE@rti.org with any questions and subscribe to our newsletter for notifications.
