August Vollmer and Forensic Science at the San Jose Police School 1930-1959

• In Event: Historical Perspectives on Policing

Abstract

Forensic science has been questioned as science because many forensic techniques are said to have developed within police services rather than research-driven science. Neither legal scholars nor forensic scientists have explored the role of police in the making of forensic science as a historical question. This paper investigates the role of policing in the emergence of forensic science with a look at the teaching of forensic science within the USA's first university-based police school, the Police School at San Jose State University. August Vollmer founded the police school in 1930 and promoted it as a national model. The discussion uses the concept of 'forensic culture' to look at the context in which forensic science emerged, including the influence of criminology; specifically, anthropometric identification, trace analysis and crime scene investigation, forensic psychology/lie detection, and the crime laboratory.

Author

• Paul Knepper, San Jose State University