FORENSIC COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATES
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There is little question but that the Forensic Sciences are dynamic and that their dramatic growth parallels current advances in technology and system operation.  DNA analysis and the computerization of fingerprints are but a couple of examples.  Forensic Phonetics also is currently developing.  It is defined as a professional specialty based upon the utilization of knowledge about the human communicative processes and the application of the specialized techniques which result.  As with the Forensic Sciences in general, the focus here is on law enforcement and the Courts (12,14).
Forensic Phonetics consists of electroacoustical analysis of speech signals that have been transmitted or stored and the analysis of the communicative acts themselves.  The first involves the proper transmission and storage of spoken exchanges, the authentication of tape recordings, the enhancement of speech on tape recordings, speech decoding and the like.  The second area involves issues such as speaker identification and the process of analyzing speaking behaviors to obtain information relative to the emotional, physiological or psychological states of a talker.  Figure 1 provides a visualization of the field.  Note that the signal vs. human analysis dichotomy has been dropped and five basic areas have been identified.  Also listed are the specialized operations that lead to progress in the cited fields.  Not included are several secondary areas; in those cases, Forensic Phonetics usually is interfaced with Forensic Linguistics (for language analysis) or Audioengineering (for nonhuman signal analysis).  They were not included in the figure since they will not be discussed in this brief review (however, see again 12).  What is covered here will be problems with 1) the integrity of captured utterances (and related), 2) the accuracy/completeness of messages, 3) the identification of the human producing the utterances and 4) the various physical states experienced by a person.  These areas will be defined and the professional response discussed.