Track 9 and ¾? The almost invisible protagonist of modern detective work, the forensic police
With the unification of the 3 Belgian police services in 2001, the Central Directorate of the Technical and Scientific Police was established as part of the Federal Judicial Police. Twenty years later, the impact of the unification on the operation and organisation of these services is examined, as well as the influence on the quality of the forensic technical investigation carried out in preparation of the accreditation process according to ISO/IEC 17025. Different economic and scientific challenges of the technical and scientific police will show that there is still much room for improvement. A qualitative trace investigation requires good communication within the police services themselves and with the leading magistrate, sufficient knowledge and experience of the forensic techniques and a good balance between the number of cases and the available resources.