Miamoto Paulo, Uehara Clineu Julien Seki
Forensic Anthropology Division of the Medicolegal Direction (DATF-DML), Scientific Police of Santa Catarina (PCI), Florianópolis, Brazil.
Biochemistry Division of the Forensic Laboratory Analysis Direction (DBQA-DALF), Scientific Police of Santa Catarina (PCI), Florianópolis, Brazil.
Forensic Sci Res. 2023 Feb 12;7(4):590-598. doi: 10.1080/20961790.2022.2060653. eCollection 2022.
Santa Catarina is a small, developed, and relatively safe state in South Brazil. Despite having positive social economic indicators, it still faces multiple challenges regarding forensic practices for personal identification. The objective of this paper is to discuss the recent advances and current challenges in the region, from the perspectives of anthropological and dental postmortem human identification, missing persons, and disaster victim identification (DVI) from 2019 to 2021. The recent creation of a Forensic Anthropology Sector (SAF) in the state's official forensic institution (-PCI) has significantly improved identification of unidentified remains and optimised resources available for DNA analysis. However, SAF is still quite understaffed, which negatively affects the recovery of skeletal material, its preparation, and the time needed for filing reports. Santa Catarina has passed legislation for missing persons in 2015, 4 years prior to the sanction of federal laws implementing the national policy for the disappeared. Nonetheless, a lack of integration between stakeholders remains a problem that PCI has tried to circumvent with the Conecta Programme, a multidisciplinary and integrated initiative between families of the missing persons, police agencies, and the Public Ministry. The programme aims to collect not only reference DNA samples, but also relevant anthropological and dental data. It also offers facial progression services in cases of disappearances that occurred many years ago. Despite a history of disasters in the state, PCI still needs to implement international DVI standards at an institutional level. Recent training on Phase 1 DVI procedures, integrated with other responding institutions, indicates better preparation for future disasters. There are many challenges ahead for Santa Catarina's forensic institution and professionals that have yet to be addressed, but the overall situation on routine personal identification, missing persons initiatives, and DVI has improved over the last 2 years.
圣卡塔琳娜州是巴西南部一个面积不大、经济发达且相对安全的州。尽管该州有着积极的社会经济指标，但在个人身份鉴定的法医实践方面仍面临多重挑战。本文旨在从2019年至2021年的人类学和牙科学死后人类身份鉴定、失踪人员以及灾害受害者身份鉴定（DVI）的角度，探讨该地区的最新进展和当前面临的挑战。该州官方法医机构（-PCI）近期设立了法医人类学部门（SAF），这显著改善了无名遗体的鉴定工作，并优化了可用于DNA分析的资源。然而，SAF的人员配备仍然严重不足，这对骨骼材料的回收、处理以及报告归档所需时间产生了负面影响。圣卡塔琳娜州在2015年通过了失踪人员相关立法，比实施国家失踪人员政策的联邦法律颁布早4年。尽管如此，利益相关者之间缺乏整合仍是一个问题，PCI试图通过“连接计划”来规避这一问题，该计划是失踪人员家属、警察机构和公共部之间的多学科综合倡议。该计划不仅旨在收集参考DNA样本，还收集相关的人类学和牙科数据。它还为多年前发生的失踪案件提供面部复原服务。尽管该州有灾害历史，但PCI仍需在机构层面实施国际DVI标准。近期与其他响应机构联合进行的关于第一阶段DVI程序的培训表明，对未来灾害的准备更加充分。圣卡塔琳娜州的法医机构和专业人员未来仍有许多挑战有待解决，但在过去两年里，常规个人身份鉴定、失踪人员倡议和DVI的总体情况有所改善。
