Ted Bundy was an infamous serial killer who had confessed to raping and beating at least 36 women to death, but a lot of people think that the actual number is over 100.  Isn’t murder fascinating?  After Bundy was arrested for the possession of murder weapons, just like in all of the crime shows, forensic scientists started linking him to all of the murders, and later, got him to confess to 36 of them.   If forensic scientists hadn’t linked Bundy to these cases, he would have been released after only 15 years of jail time to continue committing crimes.  Because of these kinds of criminal cases, more people should know about forensics because it is the best way to solve crimes and bring criminals to justice.  

Though forensics is a useful tool to fight crime, many people don’t know what it is.  In my survey, out of the 16 eighth graders that I interviewed, only about half knew what forensics is.  Forensics saves lives and brings criminals to justice, but it won’t be used if you don't know what it is. 
A solution to this problem could be offering forensics classes in school, and giving students the opportunity to learn about forensics. 
Just like in Criminal Minds, forensic scientists gain insight into the unsubs that they are trying to identify.  Garvey, an author from ABC CLIO points out that it is important for forensic scientists to gain insight into an unsub and their motives.  Getting to know and understand unsubs by looking into their past or other aspects of their life helps investigators to locate and arrest them.  Forensics is the best type of science to use when solving crimes because after investigators understand the unsub and their motives, it is easier to tell where they are going to strike next.   
Victimology is a useful method that forensic scientists use when the victims of a crime, especially (insert star emoji here) murder crimes (insert star emoji here) are studied to determine if they have anything in common.  Authors from Britannica illustrate that one of the main goals of forensic autopsies is to determine the cause of death of the victim (this is only used for murder crimes).  It is important to find the cause of death of the victim because it can indicate if there is a serial killer.   This also lets forensic scientists know if the unsub has a “type.”  Not creepy at all.  Autopsies can also help determine if an unsub takes “trophies” from their victims to remember their crimes by.  A “trophy” can be anything that the victim was wearing like a necklace, or it could be a part of them, like a rib bone.  This helps investigators tell what a criminal’s motives could be. 
There are lots of different ways that forensic scientists operate!  David Newton, an author for ABC CLIO explains that finding a hair or fiber at the crime scene almost always identifies the unsub.  Newton suggests that noticing everything about a crime scene, even the little things can benefit investigators and may even lead directly to the identification of the unsub.  A hair or fiber found at a crime scene can help investigators create a profile for the unsub.   Creating a profile for an unsub is called profiling and it is helpful in the arresting of criminals. 
In an interview with Kayla Damiono, an eighth grade student, she explains her view on forensics.  Kayla states, “Forensics seems like it is a good idea … having a tool to solve the case is good but not foolproof.”  Forensics is a good tool to use when solving crimes, but it should be used cautiously to prevent wrongful convictions.  
Some people think that forensics is not the best way to solve crimes because it leads to wrongful convictions, however there are lots of new measures that have been created to prevent that. Bernard, an author from Brittanicca explains that Brandon Mayfeild was wrongfully convicted of a crime because a fingerprint found on the crime scene led investigators to him, but the fingerprint wasn’t actually his.   To combat this, new protocols have been placed to ensure that no wrongful convictions are made, some of these protocols include mandatory training and certification and some procedures like autopsies must be recorded to be used as evidence.  
If you have made it this far, you now know that forensics is the best way to solve crimes for many reasons.  If you still don’t think that forensics is a good way to solve crimes, then look at the many cases where people’s lives have been saved and criminals have been brought to justice.  Remember, criminals can be ruthless, and the best way to stop them is to understand them.