Roger Summers

Former Director of Forensic Services for Derbyshire Constabulary

Former Director of Forensic Services for Derbyshire Constabulary, Roger Summers possesses over 38 years continuous experience in all scientific support and Forensic disciplines.

Roger Summers began his career as a trainee Scenes of Crime Officer with the Mid-Anglia Constabulary in 1966, transferring to the Metropolitan Police in 1968 as a Forensic/Police Photographer, completing his formal training at the Home Office Forensic Science Laboratory and New Scotland Yard.

He joined the Derbyshire Constabulary as a Scientific Support Officer in 1972, becoming a founder member of the Force Scientific Support Department. He quickly established himself as a highly motivated and enthusiastic team member. He occupied various positions in the force, all on promotion. These include:

He finally held the position of Director of Forensic Services, Head of the Scientific Support Department. He had a corporate senior management responsibility for the Force, Scientific Support, Fingerprint and Photography Departments, Chemical Development Laboratory, Technical Support Unit and Police Surgeons.
Operationally he has been involved in numerous murder investigations and many high profile cases locally, nationally and internationally. Almost all of these have led to successful detections with the offenders convicted.

A lecturer of international repute, he has given several hundred professional lectures and presentations, some as far a field as America, Hungary, Germany, Russia and Switzerland. At the request of the 'Home Office', Dr Summers visited the Netherlands, Spain and Germany to review their procedures in respect of Crime Scene Management. These and other studies led to the publication of a manual of 'Best Practice', and its distribution to all U.K. Police Forces and several Police organisations throughout Europe.

He held the position of National Secretary to the Association of Chief Police Officers, National Conference of Scientific Support and the A.C.P.O. Scientific Support Steering Group - a vehicle by which all matters Forensic were researched, reviewed, and recommendations made to the Association of Chief Police Officers Crime Committee.

He was Forensic Advisor to a former Deputy Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary for over 15 years. During his career he was an active member of many high profile committees such as the Home Office / A.C.P.O. Crime Committee, which led to the establishment of the National D.N.A. data base (which now enjoys a world wide reputation for excellence).

He represented all Heads of Scientific Support Departments in the U.K. for the A.C.P.O. Crime Committee National Fingerprint Evidence standard project group. As a project board member he helped establish new policy and procedures necessary to affect the objective, and implement a complete change in National Policy.

Under his leadership, the Force Scientific Support Department became a model of its type by which many British and some overseas countries turned for guidance and advice, as purveyors of good practice when they were seeking to establish or re-organise their organisational structures or operating procedures.

A founder member of the British Association for Forensic Odontology, for a quarter of a century he has played a leading role in the teaching of Forensic Dentistry and promoting awareness of the subject to police, legal, medical and dental professions. Since its inception he has lectured to Dental Surgeons on the post graduate Forensic Odontology course at both the Royal London Hospital Medical College and at the University of Hertfordshire. He also lectures in Biological Imaging, Forensic science and Life sciences at the Universities of Derby and Nottingham.

Dr Summers helped make 'American Legal History' by producing photographic 'bite mark' evidence leading to the successful prosecution of a Rapist-Murderer (the first time that any person had been charged and convicted of 'First Degree' murder solely on 'bite mark' evidence in the U.S.A).

His expertise as a Forensic Photographer is acknowledged world wide and he is regularly called upon to appear as an expert witness both in this country and abroad.

He is a past National President of the British Institute of Professional Photography, a Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photography (Forensic sector) a qualification held by only 6 others throughout the world, and holds other professional qualifications.

He researched and subsequently published a book, 'The Szeged Anatomical Collection', a record of life time anatomical work by Professor Gillert, using the wax impregnation technique of specimen preservation, Szeged University, Hungary (now part of Hungarian and European medical history).

He has been commended on 6 occasions for outstanding Forensic, Scientific and Forensic Photography by: Her Majesty Judges, Her Majesty's Coroner, Supreme Court Judge, United States of America and a Chief Constable.