Forensic Analysis
The specificity of a forensic analysis depends on the domain or field of the criminal investigation. Thus, between homicide and corporate date theft, the procedure will vary a lot. There are common features shared as part of the legal system, or some form of common grounds. First of all, finding evidence that can be accepted in a court of law is not enough. Before getting to court, a criminal investigator has to make sure that he/she extracts and preserves evidence, preventing decay or damage that would make it unusable. Furthermore, the forensic analysis actually starts when the crime scene has been thoroughly searched by the forensic experts.
The laboratory forensic analysis can reveal a whole range of traces and evidences that cannot be identifiable on the spot and with regular means. Thus, germs, bacteria, fingerprints, facial portraits, mineral and textile analysis, DNA analysis as well as other elements collected on the the site of a crime get investigated one by one to be proved or improved as relevant or irrelevant for criminal justice. Medical exams are also commonly necessary when there are victims involved in a certain crime; medical experts will perform such forensic analysis, giving the answer to the legal questions.
People often get a false impression that any forensic analysis inevitably refers to manslaughter or some very serious crime involving victims, but forensic investigations are conducted for a whole range of other reasons. Where there is a work accident, a fire, a case of identity or data theft, situations of financial fraud and so on, professional forensic analysis helps close files and clarifies lots of situations. We tend to attribute a criminal justice picture to forensic analysis but this is the model we've grown used from TV series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; yet reality could be very different from that.
Science TV channels like Discovery for instance also allow an insight of forensic analysis, but they surely present the most spectacular of cases. It seems like there is an international trend to be fascinated with the sensationalism of violence and ever younger people are psychologically affected by such trends in the group subconscious. If you feel animated by justice spirits, try not to act on those, because it is forbidden by law to interfere in criminal or forensic investigations. Let's leave the drama aside and allow the professionals to do their jobs. A forensic analysis is not amateur detective work but something a lot more complex from the scientific point of view.