AN INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH FOR INCIDENTS INVOLVING CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS (CWAs)

Abstract

During the last decades, the need for more awareness and adapted practices regarding the forensic investigation of incidents involving chemical warfare agents (and more globally CBRN incidents) has been highlighted. The lack of a global approach and specific investigation strategies for these events has been mentioned in numerous publications, which have also underlined the need of capabilities development in this field. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has since 2016 launched a Temporary Working Group on Investigative Science and Technology with the focus to increase forensic capabilities. One of the reason why the investigative approach is not yet a matter of course may be that the first attempts of forensic investigations were based on a direct implementation of forensic methodology within the standard operating procedures in place to manage CBRN incidents. However, this may not have been the best strategy as the priorities, actors involved and scene dynamic are different between incidents involving chemical warfare agents and what may be considered as a more “traditional” crime scene. Therefore, the investigative approach of incident involving chemical warfare agents need to be adapted and specific capabilities need to be developed (e.g. to work with a PPE or to handle contaminated evidences). These capabilities are multiple and the investigative methods have to be adapt since the start of the investigation at the scene itself up to the analysis that may be done in the laboratory.