ABSTRACT
In West Germany each of the 11 local jurisdictions has its own autonomous police which have forensic science laboratories of differing quality. These laboratories concentrate their efforts on case related questions, hence Research & Development has, perhaps by default, become a subject handled almost exclusively by the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA). In the Federal Republic of Germany, there are 11 decentralized State Criminal Police Offices having more or less well-equipped forensic science divisions, which in a way are competing with the Forensic Science Institute of the Federal Criminal Police Office. The forensic science unit in any Federal State should be in a position to perform all types of examination on their own. The Forensic Science Institute of the BKA consists of six specialized units: physics, chemistry, biology, documents, handwritings and firearms and tool marks. The method of nuclear magnetic resonance needs to be explored with regard to the vast potential it holds for use in forensic science.
