Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector 

Dr. T.B.P.M. Tjin-A-Tsoi 

Chief Executive Officer 

Netherlands Forensic Institute1

- - - - - - - - - 

March 2013 

 

1

 The Netherlands Forensic Institute is an independent and not-for-profit government agency. It is part of the 

Ministry of Security and Justice. 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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Introduction 

The forensic science sector is in transition. New insights, technologies, and 

customers, combined with falling costs and increasing capabilities cause the 

sector to grow rapidly. As a consequence the role of forensic laboratories is 

changing. Today’s laboratories are able to investigate more and a greater 

variety of traces, and to extract more information from less material, than 

ever before. Forensic IT2 has opened a completely new category of 

investigation, as specialists explore digital traces on information carriers such 

as cell phones, laptops, and car computers. Meanwhile, advances in the 

study of DNA have made it possible to investigate minute traces and even 

provide information on the physical characteristics of the donor. In addition, 

all this information can now be produced more quickly than was ever 

thought possible. Due to these developments, rapid and well-founded 

reconstructions of events based on trace patterns found at crime scenes are 

becoming a tantalizing possibility. And these advantages come at a lower 

cost than many conventional investigative techniques.

As a result, the role of forensic science is changing. Whereas before, it was 

cast in a supporting role, it is now set to become the playmaker in many 

types of investigation, providing quick and reliable information on scenarios 

and suspects and thus, in a sense, directing the efforts of investigators. At 

the same time, forensics is changing from a profession in which individual 

experience and expertise of practitioners play a dominant role to one where 

skilled knowledge workers are integrated in an increasingly complex 

infrastructure of empirical science and cutting-edge technology. 

Taking advantage of these developments to achieve the full potential of the 

forensic sector will naturally require some adjustment. Despite the sector’s 

rapid growth in recent years, its structure remains largely unchanged. With 

more than 400 forensic laboratories in the US alone and a somewhat smaller, 

but still very large, number in Europe, it is a rather fragmented field. Most of 

 

2

 Forensic Information Technology 
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these laboratories are primarily production units that lack sufficient mass or 

funding to conduct research, or to develop innovative products and services. 

Furthermore, this lack of critical mass creates major organizational 

vulnerabilities, which are in part responsible for the backlogs that haunt 

many forensic laboratories. 

This paper presents an overview, from the standpoint of the Netherlands 

Forensic Institute (NFI), of some of the trends and pressures that will affect 

the structure and governance of the sector today and in the years to come. 

The paper also outlines a way forward, based on measures that the NFI has 

itself taken to address these challenges. 

1. Growth—one of the main trends in forensics today 

One of the clearest and most important trends in forensics is its remarkable 

growth over the past 15 years. At the NFI, the number of cases handled per 

year is now six times what it was in 2000. In fact, the caseload has grown 

more in the past 15 years than in the previous 50. In the same period, the 

NFI’s workforce has nearly tripled, growing from about 200 to 600 people. 

This is clearly part of a larger trend, with caseloads growing steadily at 

forensic laboratories around the world. Although the recent budget cuts and 

the economic downturn may temporarily slow the growth of the forensic 

sector, the fundamental drivers of change persist and will continue to assert 

themselves. 

Factors driving growth 

The growth in forensics has been driven by three main factors: (1) the 

introduction of new technological capabilities, (2) increased general 

awareness among customers regarding the value and efficiency of forensic 

science, and (3) the advent of new types of customers from outside the 

scope of traditional forensics. Let us look at these factors in turn. 
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New technological capabilities

Much of the recent growth in forensics has resulted from the introduction of 

new technologies, most notably high-tech biometrics (predominantly 

forensic DNA), forensic information technology (IT), and forensic chemistry. 

Just twenty years ago, the first two of these disciplines were not practiced at 

the NFI; today, they are the largest and fastest growing disciplines at the 

Institute. 

That these new technologies should lead to growth is not surprising. When 

any new investigative technique is introduced, the pressure to put it into 

practice quickly increases. Of course, in forensics—as in other fields (e.g., 

health care)—ethical and quality issues may need to be resolved before a 

new technique can be used. Otherwise, if it provides valuable information, 

there will be a strong demand for it to be used immediately and on a wide 

scale. Since, in this way, any new scientific insight or technology creates its 

own demand, forensic innovations are likely to continue to spur growth in 

the field. 

It is significant that the three disciplines mentioned above (forensic DNA, IT, 

and chemistry) do not simply add new and refined technological capabilities 

to the forensics toolbox. They also address new classes of trace evidence—

classes that previously may not have been collected and analyzed. This 

applies both to biometrics and to forensic IT, but the discipline of forensic IT 

is particularly significant in this context, as it opens up a whole new world of 

trace evidence. Today, it is almost impossible to prevent leaving digital 

traces—in cell phones, on computers, on the Internet, in digital surveillance 

cameras, in an ATM, in a navigation system, in a car’s on-board computer, 

and so on. People have a symbiotic relationship with both the physical and 

the digital world. This has profound consequences for forensics, because 

everything we do leaves a trace in these worlds. It will therefore become 

increasingly important that forensic service providers be able to retrieve 

relevant data from all available digital sources and to analyze these 

intelligently. 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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Of course, additional growth is also generated through the continuous 

improvement of existing technologies. As they become more sensitive, the 

amount of relevant information that can be retrieved from traces will 

increase, as will the number of traces that can be analyzed in the first place. 

For example, 15 years ago, a relatively large sample was needed for reliable 

forensic DNA analysis. Today, forensic laboratories need just a fraction of 

that: often no more than 50 picograms. Traces that in the past would have 

yielded no relevant information can now change the course of an 

investigation. 

Moreover, advances in technology mean that forensic laboratories are able 

to do much more with the same resources (in money terms) than before—so 

that the value of the laboratory as a whole has increased significantly. 

Greater awareness of the value, efficiency and potential of forensics 

The use of forensic investigations has increased not only due to the advent of 

new technologies but also due to an increased awareness of what forensics 

has to offer. Existing and potential end-users, the press and the public are all 

more aware today of the extent of forensic capabilities. This, in turn, is 

generating an increasing demand. Forensic investigation is gradually 

assuming a more central and high-profile role, and is becoming an essential 

tool for law enforcement, homeland defense, and others entrusted with 

maintaining justice, social order and security. Increasingly, court cases 

depend on DNA evidence, security and terrorism threats are being prevented 

on the basis of digital traces, and a wide variety of investigators are taking an 

interest in what forensics has to offer them. 

Historically, forensic science has served primarily as the tool of prosecutors in 

preparation for trial, not necessarily as a tool of investigators. With the 

advent of faster methods and forensic databases (DNA, fingerprints, 

firearms, etc.) over the past several decades, forensic science is becoming an 

invaluable tool in criminal investigations and intelligence, even before a 

suspect has been identified. For example, investigators can now compare 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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questioned traces collected from crime scenes or victims with large database 

pools of known perpetrators, frequently leading to the identification of 

suspects who would otherwise remain unknown. 

As users become more aware of the benefits of the new tools and expertise 

available, they see new ways to use forensic science. For example, the police 

are under great pressure to apprehend criminals while at the same time 

ruling out innocent civilians as suspects. Forensics can help them meet that 

need by providing reliable information through technical means (i.e., without 

harassing innocent citizens). This increased awareness of what advanced 

forensics has to offer is leading to increased demand on the part of 

traditional customers of forensics laboratories. 

New customers 

The capabilities of forensic service providers have not passed unnoticed in 

domains outside of criminal justice and law enforcement. In fact, a wide 

range of governmental organizations—involved in everything from defense 

and intelligence to administrative law and regulatory oversight—are using 

forensics in their investigations. This new demand for forensic science is a 

main driver of growth in the sector as a whole. Nevertheless, not many 

traditional crime labs are taking advantage of this fact.

Of course, new customers have different needs from those within the 

criminal justice system (police, prosecutors and the judiciary). For example, 

the type of information required and the balance between speed and 

accuracy may be quite different. Accordingly, in recent years, many of these 

organizations have created their own specialized forensic units and, in some 

organizations, their own databases. However, these units are often small and 

somewhat disconnected from the wider forensic community. This has 

increased the fragmentation of the forensics sector as a whole, and has 

occasionally resulted in some organizations “reinventing the wheel.” 

Nonetheless, these changes also represent an opportunity for the forensic 

sector. Serving a broader customer base not only reduces organizational 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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vulnerability, but can also give rise to improved services at lower costs 

through economies of scale. The atypical requirements of new types of 

customers stimulate innovation and drive the development of new 

knowledge, which will ultimately benefit all customers. 

As a result of these shifts, a new outlook of the forensic community is 

emerging. It no longer solely provides forensic services in the fields of law 

enforcement and criminal justice. Forensic institutes become first and 

foremost high-tech knowledge hubs, filled with knowledge workers who 

deliver their services to the (mostly government) agencies that may require 

these and who enrich the hub in the process. At the NFI, this process could 

be observed at first hand: by serving non-traditional customers, inside and 

outside of the Netherlands in 17 countries (at the time of writing), the 

organization has acquired capabilities and experience that it would not 

otherwise have been able to obtain, and that are now also available to 

“traditional” customers. As knowledge hubs, forensic institutes become more 

valuable if they enlarge the network to which they belong and in which the 

operate. 

Non-traditional customers include ministries of defense, municipalities, 

intelligence agencies, benefit and tax fraud investigators, the financial 

market regulator, transport safety boards, competition authorities, and 

international bodies, such as the international tribunals and criminal courts, 

but also Europol, Interpol, the IAEA, and the United Nations. 
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2. Customer focus 

The current heightened awareness of forensic science, together with the 

recognition of its value, means that users and customers not only make 

greater use of it, but also place greater reliance on it. In short, forensics has 

moved from occupying a supporting—almost behind-the-scenes—role to 

becoming a key protagonist. It has, for many users, become “mission 

critical.” As a result, customers are becoming increasingly demanding, 

subjecting what they receive from their suppliers to ever-closer scrutiny. 

Consequently, suppliers will need to pay much more attention to their 

customers’ needs. 

Identifying customers’ primary needs 

Forensic laboratories supply their customers with “value-added” 

information—specifically, about past events and behaviors, as well as about 

the individuals involved in these events. This information is obtained from 

the traces that resulted from these events and behaviors. All customers want 

the supplier laboratory to provide as much relevant information from 

available traces as possible, and they want the information to be reliable and 

objective. They do not want the information to depend on the particular 

forensic investigator handling the case; and, if necessary, they want the 

forensic investigators to be able to show a solid scientific basis for their 

conclusions. 

Customers also want the laboratory to be able to handle as many trace 

investigations as possible, because in general (though not always) a larger 

number of trace investigations yields more information. It also reduces the 

risk, down the line, that police investigators or prosecutors will be criticized 

for failing to order trace investigations that are potentially exculpatory, or for 

failing to do everything possible to apprehend the criminals. When forensic 

laboratories have a fixed budget, the drive to increase the total output of the 

laboratory implies that the average cost per investigation has to be reduced. 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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To most customers of forensic laboratories, receiving the results of the 

forensic investigation as quickly as possible is extremely important. This is 

especially true in the intelligence gathering and investigation phases, when 

time is of the essence. After a crime has been committed, the first 48 hours 

are often critical in the investigation. In the intelligence phase, being able to 

analyze traces quickly and reliably can mean the difference between being 

able to prevent a crime (such as a terrorist attack) or not. The value and 

impact of forensics increase greatly when results can be delivered quickly. 

In other words, the primary needs of the customer can be summarized as 

follows: more, better, faster, cheaper. In fact, “more”, “faster” and 

“cheaper” are highly correlated from an organizational and governance point 

of view, as will be discussed below. The forensic community has historically 

paid less passionate attention to these customer needs than to the technical 

content of the forensic trades and the individual skills of the practitioners. In 

most cases, the costs of individual forensic investigations are not considered 

at all, either directly or indirectly. Many forensic investigators, laboratory 

directors, and even customers, actually resist the idea that costs should play 

any role in the decision-making process before committing to forensic 

investigations. The implicit belief seems to be that one cannot and should 

not let financial considerations play such a key role when important societal 

issues (such as apprehending a criminal and dispensing justice) are at stake. 

However, since open-ended financial arrangements are an illusion, the 

practical results of this way of thinking are backlogs, stagnation, and a farfrom-optimal—even unknowing—allocation of scarce resources. 

All this is changing, however, and will continue to change due to the 

increasing reliance on forensic investigations and the pressure this puts on 

forensic laboratories. The same can be said about the drive to increase the 

information value extracted from traces, as well as the scientific basis and 

objectivity of forensic conclusions. Both require focused and customeroriented research and development. However, at the moment, partly 

because of the arts-and-crafts culture of the forensic field, and partly 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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because of the fragmented structure of the sector (see the previous section), 

there is a lack of R&D of this type. 

Achieving more, better, and more valuable information

Forensic laboratories can increase the value of the information they provide 

in at least three ways. The first is by increasing reliability by strengthening 

objectivity and scientific underpinning. The second is by providing more 

information at “activity” level, i.e., information that reveals how traces fit 

together in larger patterns of crime related activity. Finally, laboratories can 

enhance the information they offer by developing tools and methods that 

bring to light traces that have hitherto been unavailable because they are 

imperceptible to the human senses. 

Improving scientific underpinning

Up to just a few decades ago, forensic science had more in common with a 

collection of arts and crafts than with a mature science. In some areas, 

forensics is essentially still in the pre-scientific era, a fact reflected in the 

observation by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that some forensic 

disciplines lack a scientific basis.3

 Clearly, if the interpretations made by 

forensic scientists are not objective or lack a strong scientific underpinning, 

the value of the information and interpretations forensic labs provide is 

diminished. The arts-and-crafts culture, the small scale of most forensic 

laboratories, and the high pressure on throughput, have had the result that 

the scientific and technological development of the field have not been as 

rapid as it could have been. In addition, knowledge is often not shared and 

managed, but resides with skilled, individual practitioners. In essence, these 

professionals become their own measuring instruments, and the database 

from which they operate and evaluate forensic evidence is based on personal 

 

3

Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, NAS, 2009: “The simple reality is that the 

interpretation of evidence is not always based on scientific studies to determine its validity. This is a serious problem. 

Although research has been done in some disciplines, there is a notable dearth of peer-reviewed, published studies 

establishing the scientific bases and validity of many forensic methods”... “The fact is that many forensic tests have never 

been exposed to stringent scientific scrutiny. Most of these techniques were developed in crime laboratories to aid the 

investigation of evidence from a particular crime scene, and researching their limitations and foundations was never a top 

priority.” 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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experience. Consequently, interpretations are more subjective than is often 

realized. To a certain extent, this is probably unavoidable, but it would be 

too easy to say that it is entirely unavoidable. With empirical scientific 

research, it should be possible to strengthen the scientific basis of many 

forensic disciplines. 

Providing activity-level information 

A second way in which laboratories can increase the value of the information 

they deliver is to provide customers with more information at “activity” level. 

Many forensic laboratories restrict themselves to “source level” 

investigations, focusing on the origin and composition of a given trace. 

However, from the point of view of the customer, it is also important how 

and when the trace was made; i.e., what events transpired to leave a certain 

trace (or pattern of traces). In the case of DNA and latent fingerprints found 

at a crime scene, for instance, it would be useful to know not only to whom 

the DNA or latent fingerprints belong, but also what activity led to the 

evidence being deposited there. Was it an activity related to the crime, or 

was it entirely unrelated? So far, relatively little research has been carried 

out to increase the capabilities of forensic investigations at activity level. In 

those cases where forensic practitioners have included some analysis at 

activity level in their reports, it is often based on the practitioner’s particular 

experience, rather than any empirical scientific research. However, the 

added value provided by activity-level information suggests that such 

research is highly desirable. It is, however, expensive, time-consuming, and 

requires substantial case-loads to be able to create the necessary empirical 

databases. Critical mass and cooperation among laboratories are both 

essential in this regard. 

Detecting, recording, and retrieving minute traces

A third way in which laboratories can increase the value of the information 

they provide to customers is to gain access to traces left at the crime scene 

that are currently too small to detect with the human senses. Detecting such 

traces is becoming a new “holy grail” of forensics. Although it is currently 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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possible to investigate such minute traces in the laboratory, it is still 

impossible (within a reasonable timeframe) to detect, register and represent 

all these important traces not merely in isolation but also in the threedimensional patterns in which they occur at the crime scene. It may be 

possible to investigate 50 picograms of cell material containing DNA in the 

laboratory, but how does one find such small quantities at a crime scene? 

This is certainly an important R&D challenge. (Incidentally, it should be noted 

that the growing numbers of traces that will become available in this way 

make it all the more important that forensic laboratories take steps to 

increase their efficiency and productivity, because increased numbers of 

traces will steadily increase the caseload: see below.) 

Shortening delivery times 

As was discussed above, quick delivery is one of the most important needs 

that customers of forensic laboratories articulate. In fact, as forensic 

investigations are increasingly becoming “mission critical” to customers, 

forensic laboratories have to reconcile themselves to the fact that 

customers—if given the choice—would like the results immediately. This 

does not mean that customers in all circumstances need the results 

immediately, or that they are always in a position to act on the information 

the moment it is provided. However, regardless of how fast investigators are 

able to act on the laboratory’s results, it is a laudable goal for forensic 

laboratories to reduce the odds of being the choke point in the critical path 

of criminal investigations. Furthermore, suppliers (forensic laboratories in 

this case) usually do not have all the information necessary to determine 

what is important to the customer, and there may be subjective or even 

emotional (but not necessarily irrelevant) reasons why customers want fast 

delivery. However, historically the sense of urgency felt by customers 

regarding fast delivery was not always shared fully by the forensic 

community. The NFI was no exception. However, as will be discussed below, 

the problem is not caused exclusively by a lack of focus on speed by forensic 
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laboratories. It is also caused by the institutional arrangements and financing 

structures in which the forensic sector operates. 

There are at least three ways in which delivery times can be shortened: by 

solving the backlog problem; by improving process management; and by 

creating new, faster technologies. 

The backlog problem

Two factors that have a significant impact on the caseload of forensic 

laboratories are the crime rate and the scientific and technological 

capabilities of the laboratories. The way in which the crime rate impacts 

forensic laboratories is similar to the way it influences the broader law 

enforcement community. However, the impact of scientific progress and 

technological innovation is far more complicated, and clearly sets forensic 

labs apart from their main customers. Advances in forensic technology tend 

to increase the caseload of laboratories—sometimes dramatically—even 

when the crime rate is going down. Conversely, to some extent powerful 

forensic techniques replace more “traditional” and time-consuming 

investigative methods, or at a minimum can provide more focus to a criminal 

investigation. These phenomena could be clearly observed in The 

Netherlands, where the crime rate has gone down in the past decade, while 

the number of cases the NFI handles has increased by a factor of six. This 

increase is almost exclusively confined to the forensic fields that have 

experienced significant technological advances. The largest increase in 

demand has been witnessed in forensic DNA analysis, forensic IT, and 

forensic chemistry. However, more recently, technological and scientific 

advances in other fields – such as new fingermark detection methods and the 

evaluation of partial fingermarks – have also had the effect of greatly 

increasing the demand in these fields. As soon as new, powerful and 

validated forensic techniques become available, customers want to use them 

in their criminal investigations. 
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These “technology-driven” demand shocks, during which the demand for 

certain forensic services increases quickly, are often not adequately factored 

into the budgetary models used to allocate resources to the different entities 

within the law enforcement community (if such models exist at all). Forensic 

laboratories are usually not paid for the amount of work they are 

commissioned to do (the demand), but are instead given a fixed budget that 

is supposed to cover all the work sent to them. An increase in demand 

caused, for example, by an innovative forensic method, does not 

automatically lead to a commensurate increase in financing, which could 

then be invested to create additional production capacity. Conversely, 

demand is not tempered by a “fee”, and most labs do not have production 

agreements (i.e., Service Level Agreements) with their customers, limiting 

the amount of work that can be commissioned. Forensic investigations cost 

money—sometimes a lot of money—but the parties commissioning these 

investigations are often not conscious of this fact. For them, the forensic 

investigations are “free”, and they behave as if there are no budgetary or 

capacity constraints. This is the double-edged sword that has created 

backlogs all over the world. Due to the existing institutional arrangements 

and funding structures, budgets are not adjusted quickly enough when 

demand shocks present themselves, and customers are not disciplined by 

any kind of fee structure, or production agreements, that signal to them that 

forensic investigations cost money and that resources are limited. The 

inevitable result of this is a backlog. The fields that are hardest hit are often 

those that are most dynamic and that show the most scientific and 

technological progress. The huge DNA backlogs in many forensic laboratories 

around the world are an illustration of this phenomenon. 

When resources are limited, as is invariably the case, prioritization becomes 

a necessity. However, the fact that forensic services are treated as if they 

were “free of charge” robs customers of the opportunity to evaluate costs 

versus potential benefits, given the fact that resources are limited. The 

inevitable result is that scarce resources are not being used in the most 
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15 

efficient and effective way, and significant waste is occurring even as 

backlogs pile up. 

Some may object (for a variety of reasons) to any notion of “charging” for 

forensic investigations. This is perhaps in part because they 

fear commercialization. However, what is being discussed here is not some 

sort of commercialization scheme, but rather a more efficient allocation 

method, i.e., one that prevents backlogs and waste, and leads to more 

informed and conscious prioritization mechanisms. It requires a repudiation 

of the double illusion that forensic investigations cost nothing and that 

forensic laboratories have unlimited capacity. It does not necessitate the 

establishment of any for-profit entity. Indeed, given the large number of 

cases that pass through forensic laboratories each month, it is neither 

practical nor necessary for them to start sending out bills for every 

investigation completed. This would create a huge and undesirable 

bureaucracy between agencies. An easier way—and one that has been 

implemented at the NFI—is to reach an annual agreement with the main 

customers on the number of forensic services (of different types) that the 

laboratory will deliver during the following year. The total “fee” of these SLAs 

is then equal to the agreed budget for the laboratory. Any additional work is 

fee based and requires separate agreements4

. 

Improving process management 

Historically, the field of forensic science is a collection of communities of 

craftsmen and highly educated experts in a large number of different fields. 

Forensic laboratories often contain many different forensic disciplines (more 

than 30 at the NFI) and sometimes tend to resemble a collection of fiefdoms. 

Deep interdisciplinary cooperation is relatively rare, and individualism is an 

often-dysfunctional part of the culture. Practitioners in the field of forensic 

 

4

 For jurisdictions in which the implementation of fee structures is simply not an available option, the creation of 

service level agreements can still be one of the most effective ways to manage supply and demand. 

Nevertheless, in order to link service levels (supply) and budgets, one still needs a way to calculate the cost of 

the services delivered. 
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science are highly committed, closely focused on the content and quality of 

their work and, in general, not particularly interested in process 

management, efficiency, delivery times, costs, or other matters of this 

nature. Because of this, process optimization has been somewhat neglected, 

resulting in practices that are often less efficient than they should be. 

By applying modern process redesign methods, spectacular progress can be 

made towards faster delivery times, higher productivity, and lower costs. 

Process redesign can also help with backlog reduction. Many of these 

methods are data-driven and quantitative, which means that natural 

scientists and engineers can relate to the methodology. To restructure and 

improve the processes at the NFI, the methodology known as “Lean Six 

Sigma” 5 has been introduced. A large number of employees (up to a third of 

the total workforce) were trained in basic or advanced process redesign 

skills, so that process management became part of the culture and 

vocabulary of the organization, rather than an unpopular instrument 

imposed by management. 

Creating faster technologies

Many forensic laboratories are not active in R&D or product development, 

while those that are tend to focus on exploring scientific matters or 

improving existing techniques. R&D specifically aimed at faster production is 

relatively rare. Nevertheless, significant gains can be made by refocusing 

R&D more closely on techniques and methods that will accelerate 

processing. 

Experiences at the NFI 

Like many other forensic institutes around the world, the NFI used to have a 

significant backlog problem. However, the organization has now successfully 

implemented a number of the measures described above, with the result 

 

5

 Michael L. George, Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma Quality with Lean Speed, McGraw-Hill Osbourne Media, 2002 
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that the backlog has been eliminated. The following section describes three 

of these measures in more detail: introducing Service Level Agreements 

(SLAs) with customers; process redesign to streamline production; and 

refocusing R&D activities to focus on speed. 

Introducing SLAs with customers

The first strategic measure implemented by the NFI was to introduce an 

annual SLA with its two main customers (the police and the prosecution 

service). This is a formal document defining the working relationship 

between the NFI and the customer, and specifying the number of 

investigations the NFI will carry out for that specific customer over a period 

of one year. 

An important advantage of an SLA is that it forces customers to 

prioritize. Some people in the field implicitly believe that prioritizing among 

investigations is unethical, as being somehow incompatible with the notion 

that Justice should be blind. Nevertheless, even if justice is blind and all cases 

are equally important, the same cannot be said of forensic investigations if 

they are considered in the specific contexts of the cases in which they arise. 

A forensic investigation that is crucial in case A may be unnecessary in case B. 

Furthermore, the fact remains that the capacity of a forensic laboratory is 

limited, and any work that is assigned beyond that level will, under a “noprioritization policy”, simply increase the backlog and extend delivery 

times. In practice, it is impossible to avoid prioritization: if the customer does 

not do so explicitly, it will be done implicitly and therefore ad hoc. Work will 

be de facto prioritized on the basis of “first come, first served”. From the 

point of view of the public good and society’s needs, this is surely a situation 

that is far from ideal. 

The SLA makes it clear that resources are limited, and that intelligent 

prioritization is required. Prioritization of investigations is the responsibility 

of the customer, as the customer is naturally most familiar with the various 

cases and the relative urgency of the forensic investigations being 
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considered. In practice, this is performed, when necessary, by liaison officers 

of the main customers. The step from capacity to budgets is made by modern 

cost accounting methods, such as Activity-Based Costing, which allows the 

organization to calculate the costs of individual investigations. In the 

Netherlands, the total “fee” for the work specified in the SLA is paid by the 

Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, which also owns the NFI. 

The SLA, which is “renegotiated” annually, prevents the accumulation of a 

backlog, and gives the customer an opportunity to stipulate requirements 

regarding important issues such as quality, logistics, and communication. This 

mutual formalization of the relationship gives both parties a better 

understanding of what is required, what they can expect and what is 

attainable. At first there was considerable pushback regarding the idea of 

introducing an SLA. However, once the logic was internalized and the 

advantages became apparent, it became an accepted and valuable 

instrument to improve a system that had created a backlog of 18,000 cases, 

and which had led to many instances of friction because of unclear mutual 

expectations. 

Customers whose investigations are not paid for by the Ministry of Security 

and Justice pay a fee for the products or services they require. Furthermore, 

if the police or the prosecution request more investigations than are covered 

by the SLA, they pay for the additional work out of their own funds. The extra 

revenue that the NFI generates in this way is transparently re-invested in 

additional capacity and R&D. In this way, a strong link between supply 

(capacity) and demand is maintained. 

Streamlining production through process redesign

The second strategic measure introduced was a determined effort to 

improve process management at the NFI. As mentioned above, the Lean Six 

Sigma methodology was borrowed from industry and applied to eliminate 

waste of various kinds, including lost hours in the production processes. This 

made it possible to identify the variables that are critical to achieving the 
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19 

required speed and quality. Based on insights from this methodology, the NFI 

redesigned its processes, eliminating waiting time and economizing wherever 

possible to promote efficiency and speed. 

The first step was to redesign processes to reduce “dead time”—i.e., time 

that a case spends at the NFI but during which it is not being processed in 

any way. Rigorous analysis of every group at the NFI showed that the time 

spent conducting investigations was only a fraction of total delivery time. 

Throughout the remaining period, the investigation was simply in a state of 

suspended animation, waiting for the next step in the process to begin. 

At first, there was some pushback to the effort to redesign the production 

processes at the NFI. Some professionals tend to distrust or even resent the 

idea of process management. Motivated by their profession and the content 

of their work, they fear that shortening delivery times will have a negative 

effect on quality. However, as the primary focus was on eliminating “dead 

time”, no credible argument could be made that process redesign would 

have a negative effect on quality. And in fact, no such effect was observed. 

Another concern was that process redesign would turn highly qualified 

employees into “assets” on a production line, who would carry out a limited 

set of standard tasks. In some cases, this may be a result of process 

redesign—especially when standardization is the solution to a particular 

problem. The current culture in many laboratories of journeymen forensic 

scientists involves taking cases sequentially “from crime scene all the way to 

the courtroom”. In many cases this model is highly inefficient and 

unnecessary. Often the efficiency and throughput can be increased markedly 

by introducing a division of labor and some type of “assembly line” 

operations. Not all processes can be restructured in this way, but many can. 

Some forensic scientists may be concerned that a division of labor will make 

their work less interesting, or that they will not be able to control the (quality 

of the) whole process personally. The claim that quality necessarily suffers 

from this type of process redesign is unjustified. Nonetheless, a division of 
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labor does have an impact on the way people work and on the content of 

their work. In some cases, job descriptions need to be reconciled with the 

appropriate level of education and qualifications required for the new jobs. 

Ph.D.’s are not required for conducting some of the jobs with highly 

standardized or repetitive tasks. Failure to redesign the processes could 

result in failure to achieve the appropriate efficiencies, which is not a realistic 

option in the long run, but failure to redefine the job descriptions could 

demoralize highly qualified forensic scientists because of a mismatch 

between expectations and requirements. 

Refocusing R&D 

The third strategic measure taken by the NFI to combat backlogs and long 

delivery times was to refocus its R&D efforts on finding innovative ways of 

increasing the speed of forensic processes. The NFI examined its own 

activities in R&D and concluded that these activities lacked a clear focus. 

Even though delivery times were the main concern of the customers, almost 

none of the R&D projects in the organization were aimed at creating 

technologies or methods to shorten them. Clearly, this had to change. 

Looking at the whole range of R&D activities relating to forensics, three main 

categories could be discerned: basic research, applied research and product 

development. From the NFI’s point of view, it was considered that basic 

research activities were best pursued in cooperation with universities and 

other partners, or left to them entirely. The NFI has been instrumental in 

setting up such a pure research program in The Netherlands, funded by the 

national science foundation (NWO)6

. Furthermore, we believe that 

improvement of the scientific underpinning and objectivity of forensic 

investigations would clearly benefit from a larger-scale, international effort. 

For this reason, the NFI has been seeking partners abroad, particularly in 

Europe and the United States. 

 

6

 NWO is the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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The type of R&D that could most fruitfully be pursued by the NFI and other 

forensic service providers was the development of products and services, as 

this would fit in well with its chosen focus on customer needs. To guide 

innovation in this area, the NFI adopted the concepts of “Co-creation” and 

“Lean Innovation.” These methods stress intensive cooperation and 

interaction between customer and provider in the innovation process. In this 

way, the R&D process is steered towards the innovations with the highest 

value for the customer. An example of a service that the NFI developed in 

this way was “DNA 6 hours.” Inspired by the customer’s need for speed in 

the delivery of results, this methodology guarantees that the customer 

receives a report on a crime scene DNA sample, including the results of a 

comparison with the DNA database, within 6 hours. In practice, however, the 

turnaround time is generally much shorter, at approximately 3.5 hours. 

Taking this idea further, the NFI has also introduced a “sprint portfolio”: a set 

of very fast versions of the usual services provided by the NFI. 

Results 

Implementation of these three strategic measures has resulted in the 

elimination of the 2007 backlog of 18,000 cases (approximately 70,000 

forensic investigations) and a remarkable decline in the average delivery time 

at the NFI. In 2007, average delivery time was approximately 140 days. This 

includes both “routine” investigations as well as highly complicated 

customized and interdisciplinary investigations. At the end of 2012, this 

number had fallen to 13.8 days, and it is still falling. This represents a 

reduction of the delivery time of more than 90 percent. Furthermore, 

“customer satisfaction” (which is measured every two years by an 

independent agency) has increased markedly, and is now at the same level as 

customer satisfaction at private companies in other sectors.
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3. Defragmentation 

Because of the relatively recent origins of forensic science and the 

institutional structure in which it arose, the field is fragmented. It is 

fragmented in the sense that it consists of dozens of different areas of 

expertise that rarely engage in deep interdisciplinary cooperation. The focus 

tends to be on areas of expertise, and on experts, rather than on providing 

integrated information services to customers. Furthermore, the field of 

forensic science is also fragmented because most forensic laboratories only 

serve the geographical jurisdiction of their main customer. In most cases, 

they only have one or two customers (e.g., the local police force or 

prosecutor’s office), which is partly caused by the fact that forensic labs in 

many cases are part of the main customer they serve. As a result, the field of 

forensics has developed into a sector comprising a large number of relatively 

small and local laboratories that necessarily act as pure production units. As 

an example, in the United States, much as in Europe, we find over 400 

publicly funded forensic labs employing around 13,000 employees. Forensics 

still is a rather local affair. This is changing however. 

No intrinsic borders

Forensic science and services are not intrinsically bound by jurisdictions or 

even national borders. In principle, therefore, there is nothing to prevent 

consolidation, collaboration, and cross-jurisdictional or even cross-border 

traffic of technology and services. Today, the fragmented condition of the 

forensic science sector remains largely intact, but as the field continues to 

grow and innovate, it is inevitable that some forensic service providers will 

develop their own specialist capabilities, creating an irresistible stimulus for 

cross-jurisdictional traffic in forensic products and services. It would be 

unrealistic to assume that all local forensic laboratories, especially the 

smaller ones, would be able to provide state-of-the-art services across the 

full range of disciplines. Furthermore, they cannot be expected to have 

sufficient critical mass to ensure continuity and quality, or sufficient 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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resources to support proprietary R&D programs. The reality is that most of 

them will remain pure production units in a limited number of forensic 

disciplines, containing small and vulnerable expert groups depending on just 

a few key people. Also, budgetary constraints, especially in an economic 

downturn such as we are experiencing now, will continue to put pressure on 

the forensic sector to produce more efficiently. Fragmentation costs money, 

because it cannot capture economies of scale and leads to suboptimal 

allocation and exploitation of what is essentially a very scarce resource. 

More generally, the relatively small size of many laboratories, combined with 

the fact that they usually serve only one jurisdiction and operate solely 

within the criminal justice system, constitutes a significant and unnecessary 

impediment to the development of the field as a whole. This is true in 

relation to scientific knowledge and technology, and in relation to 

operational efficiency. For example, investments in equipment or R&D that 

may not make sense on a local level—because of insufficient caseload—may 

be justifiable on a regional or even global level. Similarly, such investments 

may make even more sense if the forensic laboratory is allowed to broaden 

its customer base, thus expanding the caseload still further and creating 

critical mass. Inevitably, setting up a modern forensic laboratory is an 

expensive business, due in part to the infrastructure required. Some 

disciplines are more expensive than others, but where, in particular, the fixed 

costs are high, significant economies of scale can be achieved as the size of 

the caseload increases. In other words, the fragmentation into many 

relatively small production units is inefficient, leads to vulnerabilities, 

contributes to the backlog problem, and is an obstacle to the kind of research 

and innovation that would propel the field forward.

Capacity problems

As stated above, forensic science is not a unified field, but rather a collection 

of specialist disciplines. At the NFI, for instance, more than 30 separate 

disciplines exist. Some of them are staffed by just a few experts, as the 

caseload is not large enough to justify additional staff. Consider just such a 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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small discipline, staffed by three qualified forensic examiners. If one of them 

falls ill, attends a training course or leaves the organization, this will have a 

considerable impact on available capacity. Although such fluctuations in 

themselves pose considerable organizational problems and contribute to the 

growth of backlogs, the trouble they cause is, of course, compounded by the 

inevitable and unpredictable fluctuations in the inflow of cases. In addition, 

suppose the organization wishes to spend about 10 percent of its capacity on 

R&D in this field. In a team of three examiners, this amounts to 0.3 full-time 

equivalents: in other words, these examiners, either jointly or individually, 

can at best devote only a small portion of their work time to innovation. 

However, in the real world, the caseload is such that it will tend to drown out 

the R&D, with the result that no significant R&D effort is achieved at all. The 

result is stagnation of the field. 

If the forensic laboratory could service a much larger geographical area and a 

larger number of customers, then the caseload at a certain point would 

become sufficient to support a staff with critical mass. If there are 10 or 20 

qualified forensic examiners in the discipline in question, for instance, one or 

two of them could be freed up to conduct research full-time. Furthermore, a 

larger staff has much more flexibility to deal with setbacks such as illness. In 

short, the current fragmentation of the forensics sector, with its many, 

relatively small, laboratories, is not conducive to R&D, and gives rise to 

problems relating to flexibility and continuity. 

Some might argue that the lack of R&D could be solved by creating a 

centralized system of R&D-oriented institutes, possibly at universities or 

other institutions. These would then perform most of the research. The 

theory is that this research would subsequently diffuse into the forensic 

system. There are reasons why a certain amount of skepticism towards this 

approach is justified. Experience shows that a severe disconnect is likely to 

arise between the central research institutes and the hundreds of production 

units doing all the casework. After all, even integrated technology companies 

find it a struggle to maintain an R&D program that accurately and 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

25 

continuously reflects their customers’ needs. If (independent) research 

institutes are so far removed from actual casework and from customers, it 

will be very difficult to keep them on the right track. The probable outcome 

would be research that is very clever, but not necessarily what customers 

want or need. Customer needs are often surprising, as the NFI (and many 

companies in the private sector) have learned the hard way. In order to be 

able to appreciate customers’ needs, it is necessary to remain in close 

contact with them and/or with those who will use the information provided 

by the investigations in question. 

The foregoing suggests that it is forensic institutes themselves that are best 

placed to carry out R&D programs, alone or with partners. This, at least, 

provides some guarantee that results will be of the highest value to 

customers. However, in order for the institutes to be able to support 

significant R&D programs, to guarantee continuity and to capitalize on 

economies of scale, they need to create critical mass. This can be achieved by 

consolidation (fewer and larger institutions), by specialization, or by 

broadening their customer base to cover all government agencies that have a 

forensic need. 

4. A growing need for training and education 

As mentioned above, forensic investigations are becoming increasingly 

important and “mission critical” to customers. At the same time, forensic 

science and technology are becoming more complicated and difficult to 

understand for the layman. This constitutes one of the fundamental 

challenges of the field. For almost everyone, a suspect’s confession is much 

easier to understand than, for example, the evidential value of a complex 

chemical analysis. Nevertheless, the latter may provide a much higher 

evidential value. Furthermore, using forensic investigations correctly, in a 

non-biased way, and interpreting results as intended, is not as easy as it may 

seem. 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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All this points to a growing need for training and education. This applies not 

only to forensic investigators, but even more so to the users of forensic 

information. This is largely due to a change in the whole process of criminal 

investigation. In a sense, the role forensics plays is similar to automation in 

factories: it “technologizes” the production process in criminal investigations. 

In manufacturing, the nature of the “human factor” has changed. Manual 

labor has been partially replaced by technology (machines) and knowledge 

workers (who design, create, and program the machines). Similarly, 

traditional labor-intensive investigative methods are being replaced or 

complemented by forensic science and technology. But this means that all 

the stakeholders in this process need to be trained to deal with this new 

situation. Police officers, prosecutors, and judges, for instance, need to know 

how to use forensics properly: they need to ask the right questions, and they 

need to interpret forensic results correctly. 

Several years ago, in line with the need for more education and training, the 

NFI set up its own Academy with the express purpose of providing a wide 

range of stakeholders with the forensic knowledge and skills they need for 

their work. These stakeholders include forensic investigators, judges, police 

officers, first-responders, policy makers, and lawyers. Although each group 

has different requirements, the general aim is to train them to collect traces 

correctly (and not destroy important traces), to use forensic laboratories 

effectively (and ask the right questions), and to interpret the results of 

forensic investigations correctly. The NFI Academy has been a huge success, 

providing approximately 10,000 person-days of training in 2012 for 

interested practitioners from around the world.

5. An integrated model 

Over the past few years, the NFI has implemented (and indeed is still 

implementing) an “integrated” organization model based on the analysis and 

principles presented above. This means that the organization not only 
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27 

provides forensic services to (domestic and foreign) government agencies, 

but that it also performs its own research and development in order to 

improve its services and create innovative new ones. In its R&D effort, the 

NFI cooperates with many companies, universities, and knowledge institutes 

around the world, especially in the Netherlands, Japan, and the United 

States. The R&D is partially financed by the fee received from customers who 

pay for the services of the NFI. The fact that the NFI can and does deliver 

products and services to government agencies in the Netherlands and 

abroad, as well as to intergovernmental organizations, is also part of the 

integrated model. 

Forensic products and tools

The NFI still conducts many standardized “commodity” services. The 

organization also takes on a large and growing amount of custom work. This 

type of work often leads to specialized high-end products and tools, because 

examiners need them to do their cases. This may take the form of both 

hardware and software. Subsequently, such products and tools can be made 

available to the forensic community at large, to beneficial effect. However, 

the benefit goes beyond the immediate use of the product or tool. The 

revenues so earned are invested in new R&D to enhance current forensic 

capabilities and investigation techniques. If many integrated forensic 

institutes around the world were to do the same, this would create a whole 

new dynamic in the field. Conversely, if innovative products and tools that 

require large investments in R&D were distributed free of charge, this would 

only mean that funds to fuel the innovation engine would become depleted, 

stopping further innovation in its tracks. Laboratories that do not invest in 

R&D would benefit from the investments of others, who would subsequently 

become starved of funds themselves. Clearly, that is not a sustainable model 

for innovation, and it would perpetuate the situation in which most forensic 

laboratories are mere production units. 
Trends, Challenges and Strategy in the Forensic Science Sector Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-a-Tsoi 

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Concluding remarks 

Forensic science is clearly at an important stage in its development. New 

advances in technology have placed forensics in an accelerating cycle of 

growth, as a wider range of parties than ever before comes to realize just 

how useful forensics can be for their own purposes. But this popularity—

gratifying as it may be—nonetheless brings its own challenges, as 

laboratories become bogged down in work and customers become more 

demanding. This paper has reviewed some of the practical problems that the 

sector will need to resolve if it is to meet the demands of society: 

understanding what customers need, increasing the value of the information 

we provide to them, and generally accelerating our operations. More 

profoundly, however, we will need to undergo a shift in mindset and 

governance. 

Several years ago, the NFI saw itself faced with these challenges and, in 

response, developed and implemented a number of measures that have 

enabled it to eliminate its backlogs and dramatically improve the quality and 

delivery times of its forensic investigations. In this way, it has been able to 

markedly improve customer satisfaction and has shown that its integrated 

model is a viable way forward. The forensic sector has great potential, but it 

will certainly find itself challenged to live up to the high expectations that 

customers and society have of it. It is equally certain that the sector can only 

succeed if it takes up the challenge and makes fundamental changes where 

necessary. 

Acknowledgement 

The author would like to thank Mr. Mark Stolorow (NIST, USA), Prof. Arian 

van Asten (NFI) and Mr. Marcel van der Steen (NFI) for their valuable 

contribution.