The dominant conception of forensic science as a patchwork of disciplines primarily assisting the criminal justice system (defined as ‘forensics’ in this article) is in crisis, or at least shows a series of anomalies and serious limitations. While the symptoms have been largely discussed previously, we argue that many of the commonly suggested solutions may not solve the fundamental problem. As a solution, we propose the forensic science community revive the forensic science perspective from its historical roots; that is, the study of crime and its traces. This will lead to the development of holistic models to provide a strategy to integrate technologies, and to help scientists develop their potential to engage in a more significant way in policing, crime investigation and, more generally, in criminology, instead of further compartmentalising the various forensic fields.