Discover the National Forensic Isotope Program of
Brazilian Federal Police
In Brazil, the potential of using stable isotopes to clarify practical cases of criminal expertise has been demonstrated for more than a decade. More recently, there has been a growing mobilization of research groups around the forensic application of isotopic science, especially with the advent of the Public Notice for Forensic Science Program nº 25/2014 (“Pró-Forenses”) of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel ( CAPES).
Following this trend, the Federal Police, through its Technical-Scientific Directorate, is in the implementation phase of its National Forensic Isotopes Program. The initiative aims at the development and application of isotopic techniques in forensic examinations of criminal traces in the most diverse areas of criminalistics, such as environmental crimes, crimes against life, crime scene investigations, analysis of illicit drugs, falsification of documents, goods, artworks, among others. The central axis of the Program is the creation of LANIF – National Laboratory of Forensic Isotopes, which will be made possible through the acquisition of two Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry equipment, to be installed in the PF laboratories in Manaus and Brasília.
The National Forensic Isotopes Program of the Federal Police has a partnership with several national and foreign research institutions. Among them, 1. the University of Brasília stands out, which is part of the initiative through two of its laboratories: The Laboratory of Soil-Vegetation Relations of the Institute of Biology and the Laboratory of Geochronology of the Institute of Geosciences. Additionally, the Master's and Doctoral Program in Environmental Sciences at Faculdade UnB Planaltina has been an important instrument for training federal criminal experts in the area of isotopic science and for generating scientific knowledge applied to the development of forensic tools aimed at solving criminal cases, especially in the environmental area. 2. the University of São Paulo, through the Laboratory of Isotopic Ecology - CENA, the Center for Groundwater Research (CEPAS-USP) and the Center for Studies and Research on Disasters (CEPED-USP).
