Safety Protocols for Forensic Inspections in the Time of COVID-19: An Approach to Protect Practitioners

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire world in ways that were unimaginable in 2019. It has changed how professionals work and interact with one another. To ensure the safety of experts and attorneys, forensic inspection procedures must evolve while still providing a reliable foundation for expert testimony. Traditional field inspections require attendees to be physically present and in generally close proximity. Inspecting artifacts may also require that individual components be serially examined by multiple experts, which increases the risk of transmitting the disease. The authors propose a new approach to forensic inspections aimed at protecting consultants from the biological risk due to COVID-19. This method takes into account anticontagion safety protocols established in affected countries.