Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh joined forensic experts and police
representatives today to officially open the Bureau of Legal Dentistry
(BOLD) at the University of British Columbia.
A project of the Faculty of Dentistry, BOLD is Canada’s first facility
devoted exclusively to police work, research and instruction in
the use of forensic dentistry for crime investigation and prosecution.
Funding for BOLD was part of a $1.6 million package of anti-crime
measures announced by the provincial government last year. The Attorney
General’s Ministry contributed $500,000 to the project, while the
Faculty of Dentistry provides salaries, secure space and administrative
support.
The bureau will be headed by David Sweet, a lecturer in the Dept.
of Oral Medical and Surgical Sciences who also acts as a forensic
odontology consultant for the provincial Coroner’s Service, the
RCMP and the Vancouver and Victoria police departments. As one of
only a handful of certified forensic odontologists in Canada, Sweet
has testified as an expert witness in trials across the country
and internationally.
Sweet predicts that the results of BOLD research, which will be
shared worldwide with police agencies and experts in a variety of
forensic disciplines, will have significant consequences.
“BOLD will provide a conduit through which the dental experts on
the team may bring the power of science further into the realm of
the justice system,” he says. “The advances produced in this laboratory
will help police solve crimes and the justice system deal with the
persons responsible. More crimes will be solved and more criminals
will be apprehended.”
As part of the attorney general’s anti-crime initiative, a task
force was established to re-open investigations into unsolved homicides.
Sweet is searching for DNA evidence that may provide new leads in
two of these investigations.
Another project will study the recovery of DNA evidence from teeth
and saliva. This will give investigators the ability to gather evidence
from previously unconventional sources such as toothbrushes, dentures
or from human skin in the case of a bite mark injury.
Researchers will also develop 3-D computer models of bite mark
evidence to study the dynamics of the biting process and evaluate
the use of computers to compare specific teeth to bites on objects
or skin.
BOLD will offer training to police and prosecutors in the new technologies
as well as develop new undergraduate courses and graduate research
training for forensic experts from Canada and internationally.
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