Forensic Institute
Forensic Institute
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The basis for the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) was laid shortly after World War II. On 30 July 1945, Dr W. Froentjes founded the Forensic Laboratory. Six years later, a related institute, the Forensic Medical Laboratory, was formed, which would later become the Forensic Pathology Laboratory. The laboratory was headed by the widely renowned Dutch anatomist and pathologist Dr J. Zeldenrust. Messrs Zeldenrust and Froentjes were the pioneers of forensic examination in the Netherlands.
The Forensic Laboratory employed three people at first. In 1951, the Forensic Medical Laboratory was staffed by Dr Zeldenrust and one laboratory assistant. Both laboratories were housed in a building of the National Police Force, where a laboratory for the new institute was set in the canteen of a former boarding school at Raamweg in The Hague.
Building at Raamweg, The Hague, in the fifties
The accommodation at Raamweg soon grew too small in the years that followed. The fields of activity of the two laboratories expanded considerably. Increasing possibilities in forensic disciplines, as well as new fields of research and an increase in the importance of forensic evidence resulted in the two institutes outgrowing their premises. The planned introduction of blood alcohol tests for driving under the influence led the institutes to look for new accommodation in the late 1960s.
In 1973, both laboratories moved to a new office building in the Plaspoelpolder in Rijswijk. It was modern, spacious and designed specifically for the analyses performed at that time.
However, developments in forensic examination accelerated more and more quickly. So quickly in fact that ten years later the laboratories had grown too small again. New scientific and social developments led to more and more new fields of research. DNA analysis became a speciality at the end of the 1980s, and the increasing digitisation of society led to examinations of computers, databases and other IT-related matters.
In 1999, the Forensic Laboratory and the Forensic Pathology Laboratory merged to create the NFI in its present form, in order to work more effectively and more efficiently. By merging, the laboratories combined all the forensic disciplines in a single organisation.
The NFI is currently housed in a modern building in Ypenburg in The Hague. The building was designed specifically to meet the requirements of a forensic laboratory. The institute comprises over thirty forensic disciplines.
Building at Volmerlaan, Rijswijk
The two predecessors of the NFI, the Forensic Laboratory and the Forensic Pathology Laboratory, were housed in the same building. However, each laboratory had its own director. The directors of the laboratories were:
Forensic Laboratory
1945-1974 Dr W. Froentjes
1974-1981 Dr A. H. Witte
1981-1983 Dr J. W. Verburgt
1983-1992 Dr E. R. Groeneveld
1989-1992 E. M. Klep (interim manager)
1992-1999 Dr W. J. J. M. Sprangers
Forensic Pathology Laboratory
1951-1985 Dr J. Zeldenrust
1985-1997 M. Voortman
1997-1999 A. Vendel (interim manager)
1999-1999 Dr L. de Waal
In 1999, the two institutes merged to create the NFI in its present form, which has had the following directors:
NFI
1999-2006 Dr A.S.M. Koeleman
2007-present Dr T.B.P.M. Tjin-A-Tsoi
Dr Froentjes laid the foundation stone of the new NFI building in 2002. In honour of the founders of the NFI, two meeting rooms in this building have been named after Messrs Zeldenrust and Froentjes.
Messrs Zeldenrust and Froentjes
The field of forensic examination is subject to rapid and tempestuous development. Besides having to render account in court, the NFI is increasingly called to account publicly in the media. This raises the standards for the NFI’s communication, and the organisation examines itself critically. The NFI invests in expertise and innovation in response to social and technological developments. The NFI plays a leading role in this, also in an international context, and wants to continue to do so.
Current building at Laan van Ypenburg, The Hague
