The other important issue is the preparedness of the death detection system for the increasing demands of national public health and criminal justice. The inquest into deaths differs from the inquest into deaths from the police. Murder detectives answer the question, “Who did it?” Coroners and coroners, as well as police forensic advisors in some countries, answer the question: “How did he die?” The Forensic Death Investigation System is responsible for investigating deaths and certifying the cause and manner of death from non-natural and unexplained causes. Non-natural and unexplained deaths include homicides, suicides, accidental injuries, drug-related deaths, and other sudden or unexpected deaths. About 20 percent of the 2.4 million deaths in the United States each year are investigated by coroners and coroners, which equates to about 450,000 forensic examinations per year. Death investigations have broad societal implications for criminal justice and public health. Death investigations provide evidence to convict the guilty and protect the innocent, whether they are accused of murder, child abuse, neglect or other crimes. Death investigations support civil litigation, such as malpractice, bodily injury or life insurance claims. Screening for deaths is essential to many aspects of public health practice and research, including surveillance, epidemiology and prevention programs, most commonly in injury prevention and control, but also in the prevention of suicide, violence or substance abuse. And death investigations are proving essential in assessing the quality of health care and the country`s response to bioterrorism.

The quality of a death detection system is difficult to assess, but it can be measured using several indicators. One of them is accreditation by NAME, the professional organization of forensic pathologists. Only 42 of the country`s coroners, serving 23% of the population, have been accredited by NAME in recent years. Most of the population (77%) is served by offices without accreditation. Another indicator of quality is the legal requirement for education: approximately 36% of the U.S. population lives where death investigators have received little or no special training (Hanzlick, 1996). In Georgia, for example, the typical requirements for working as a coroner are a registered voter who is at least 25 years old, has no criminal conviction, both through a hybrid system known as a referral system, in which a coroner refers cases to a coroner for autopsy (Hanzlick and Combs, 1998). About half of the U.S. population is served by coroners and the other half by coroners.

Regardless of who runs the system, most death investigations are conducted at the county level. Approximately 2185 death investigation courts are located in the 3137 counties of the country. The historical origin of death investigations as a local responsibility has resulted in large differences in the scope, scope and quality of investigations. Variability is reflected in the organizational placement of the responsible office within government; legal requirements, including certificates and training for investigative personnel; and funding levels. Derek Chauvin`s trial over the death of George Floyd, as well as many “trials of the century,” include a criminal trial over the cause of death. The world`s attention to these processes should be sufficient evidence of the importance of forensic pathology and forensic examination of deaths to society. Deaths are the epitome of injustice, which can trigger riots, which are an objective and strong criterion for public health data, and disrupt family order. Medical investigations into causes of death are an important task for governments around the world. The term “forensic death detection system” is somewhat misleading.

It is an umbrella term for a mosaic of different state and local death investigation systems. Death reviews are conducted by coroners or coroners. Their job is to determine the scope and conduct of a death examination, which includes examining the body, deciding whether to conduct an autopsy, and ordering X-rays, toxicology or other laboratory tests. There are big differences between coroners and coroners when it comes to training and skills, as well as the configuration of the state and local organizations that support them. Coroners are physicians, pathologists, or medical examiners with jurisdiction over a county, county, or state. They bring medical expertise to the evaluation of the history and the physical examination of the deceased. A coroner is an elected or appointed official who usually serves a single county and is often not required to be a physician or have medical training.