Teachers condemned for staging mock crime scene The lifelike mock-up of a crime scene, which was sectioned off with police tape, was maintained for four days without pupils knowing it was fake, as part of a "problem-solving week" about policing at Foxhill Primary School in Sheffield. The apparently injured teacher wore a plaster and at an assembly the children were told there had been a break-in and that she was struck over the head. Telegraph.co.uk - November 10, 2009
Microsoft Forensics Tool For Law Enforcement Leaked Online A forensics tool built by Microsoft exclusively for law enforcement officials worldwide was posted to a file-sharing site, leaving the USB-based tool at risk of falling into the wrong hands. DarkReading - By Kelly Jackson Higgins - November 9, 2009
Forensic Nurses Week - Debut Year While many people think the solution to violence occurs in police stations and courtrooms, there is a dedicated group of nurses who understand "Violence is a Health Care Problem". During the week of November 9-13, 2009 the International Association of Forensic Nurses will celebrate Forensic Nurses Week. Forensic Nurses are on the front line making sure victims of crime receive compassionate health care, while vital forensic evidence is collected and preserved.
Earthtimes.org - November 4, 2009
Digital Forensics Magazine Launched 1st November Digital Forensics Magazine, new online resource for the digital forensics specialist, supporting the professional computer security industry, launched its premier edition, 1st November 2009. Its publishers, TR Media, welcome readers to the new online magazine which can be found at http://content.yudu.com/A1gr30/Issue1/
PR.com - November 3, 2009
Crime Fighting Is Getting A New Take On Crime Scene Cleaning His Cardigan based company Ultima Cleaning already offers an extensive range of services covering pest control, commercial kitchen cleaning, carpet cleaning, fire and flood damage cleaning, hypodermic needle collection and office cleaning.
But crime scene cleaning is providing Ben with a niche market opportunity enabling him to expand the business considerably after winning contracts from police authorities around the UK. This service can range from clearing up after road traffic accidents or murder scenes, to extensive cleaning and sanitising operations following natural deaths when the body may have decomposed.
The Gov Monitor - November 1, 2009
Mercyhurst College unveils human anatomy and forensics lab in North East Mercyhurst College opened a new anatomy and forensics laboratory, including the college's first cadaver lab, on Friday. Pennsylvania's only board-certified forensic anthropologists are on staff at Mercyhurst and teach undergraduate- and graduate-level programs in forensic anthropology, the scientific collection, processing and analysis of human remains. Dennis Dirkmaat and Steven Symes, with help from students, handle an average of 100 forensic cases each year, including high-profile murder investigations. They recovered victims from the crash of Continental Connections Flight 3407 near Buffalo in February.
GoErie.com - by Valerie Myers - October 31, 2009
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Could Start Charging For Crime Lab Use State budget cuts have reached law enforcement. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation wants to start charging local police departments to test crime scene evidence. It could cost local governments tens of thousands of dollars.
NewsChannel5.com - October 30, 2009
Texas Department of Public Safety to hire more workers for computer forensics The Texas Department of Public Safety will hire more employees to help trim a backlog of computer-related investigations. A statement today from DPS says the goal is to decrease the time it takes to conduct forensic computer examinations, especially involving alleged child pornography.
The Houston Chronicle - Houston, TX - October 28, 2009
Solving crimes with simply the snap of a finger Investigators called Alexandria police, who had a gadget straight out of a "CSI" spinoff: a mobile fingerprint reader. Officers got to the cemetery with the device, scanned the dead man's fingers and identified him within three minutes. Washington Post - Washington, DC - by Allison Klein - October 25, 2009
Kansas Bureau of Investigations fights backlog of DNA tests A cramped basement laboratory below a former Topeka school is a far cry from the Hollywood image of forensic crime labs portrayed on television. In fact, the Kansas Bureau of Investigations' crime lab where Carey Sisson processes DNA samples looks more like a high school biology lab than something out of one of the latest "CSI" shows. Combine the quarters with less than competitive wages and an insurmountable workload, and it is clear why Kansas is having trouble retaining cutting-edge scientists. The Topeka Capital-Journal - Topeka, KS, by Kevin Elliott - October 25, 2009
Seminole County crime lab helps Florida Department of Law Enforcement reduce wait on DNA tests Crime-scene technicians in Seminole County used to collect evidence, send it to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab, and then sit back and wait for results of DNA testing. On average, it took 234 days--almost eight months--to get the results. But aggressive steps taken by the FDLE to speed up the process and an experiment by Seminole and three other counties are putting the DNA results in the hands of investigators in an average of 53 days. Orlando Sentinel - Orlando, FL, by Gary Taylor - October 23, 2009
Boulder County to search for new forensic pathologist Forensic pathologists -- doctors specialized in determining the manner and cause of death, particularly in cases of homicides, suicides, and sudden or suspicious deaths -- are in short supply, and the competition among cities and counties to attract one can be fierce. Daily Camera Online - Boulder, CO, by Laura Snider - October 23, 2009
Three crime scene labs to close Union officials have attacked an announcement by the government-owned Forensic Science Service that it will close three of its seven laboratories. BBC News -- UK -- October 22, 2009
New "Rape Kit" Training Video Unveiled Survivors of sexual assault and advocates joined New York State Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Denise E. O'Donnell and medical experts Thursday in unveiling a new "rape kit" training video, "A Body of Evidence: Using the NYS Sexual Offense Evidence Collection Kit", designed for medical professionals to ensure that the inherently intrusive sexual assault evidence exam is less traumatic for victims and more productive for law enforcement. North Country Gazette -- New York -- October 22, 2009
Coroner gets $400,000 grant to set up program to solve missing persons cases with DNA testing The Clark County coroner's office received a $400,000 federal grant to create a program for using DNA testing to help solve missing persons cases. The county will use the Department of Justice grant to set up an 18-month program to exhume, sample and test DNA in about 50 missing persons cases. Samples will be culled from more than 160 unidentified bodies. The first exhumation will be in about 60 days.
Las Vegas Review-Journal -- Las Vegas, NV -- October 21, 2009
Delays in DNA testing plague courts The DNA results could have been damning evidence against Scretching, who denied being at the scene. But when prosecutors tried to use it as evidence in Scretching's trial in May, a Superior Court judge prohibited the jury from seeing it. Results of the DNA tests were so slow in coming that the defense had too little time to evaluate them, the judge ruled. The News Journal -- Delaware, by Cris Barrish and Sean O'Sullivan -- October 18, 2009
FBI Analyst Accidentally Contaminates Chandra Levy Case DNA An FBI forensic analyst mistakenly got some of her own DNA on evidence recovered from the site where Chandra Levy's body was found, attorneys said Friday during a hearing in D.C. Superior Court. The mishap surfaced as the FBI analyst, since fired, was reviewing pieces of evidence that included the former federal intern's bra, tights, underwear and shoes found in Rock Creek Park near where her body was discovered. Washington Post, by Keith L. Alexander -- October 17, 2009
Austin (texas) Police Department using DNA to solve property crimes APD is now collecting DNA at property crime scenes. Crime scene technicians say burglars often leave something behind such as blood on broken glass, saliva or sweat."It's just a matter of getting in there and finding out what they left behind because they always leave something behind on each and every scene," APD Crime Scene Supervisor William Welch said. The backlog is three to six months because evidence for crimes against persons is processed first. Still detectives have high hopes for the future. KVUE News -- Austin, TX, by Noelle Newton -- October 14, 2009
Microsoft gives forensics tool to U.S. police through NW3C Microsoft has teamed up with the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) to distribute a computer-forensics tool to U.S. police for free. The Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE) makes it easy for any officer, not just digital forensics specialists, to record the current processes of a suspect's computer. An officer can plug in a COFEE-formatted USB thumb drive, run COFEE and download data that would have been lost if the computer were turned off for transit to the police station. Seattle Post Intelligencer -- Seattle, WA -- October 14, 2009
Walton sheriff gets largest grant yet The Walton County Sheriff's Office has received a Combating Crime in a Rural Community grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The nearly $819,000 grant is the largest the department has received, according to a news release announcing the award. The bulk of the grant will be used to purchase and equip the Sheriff's Office's first crime scene vehicle. The News Herald -- Panama City, FL, by Kim White -- October 12, 2009
Texas Company Breaks Ground on New Forensic Center in Odessa A Texas company is breaking ground in Odessa on a new building that could be a big help to local law enforcement and citizens for years to come. KFDA TV Newschannel 10 -- Amarillo, TX -- October 11, 2009
Hi-tech crime unit moves to Halesworth (UK) A unit that puts Suffolk police at the forefront of tackling 21st-century crime opened yesterday. The unit, which includes one of the country's most powerful forensic computer servers, has moved from its old home at Felixstowe to Halesworth police station. Formed in 2001, it does the forensic examination and retrie-val of evidence and intelligence from computers, mobile phones and digital cameras. EDP24 -- UK, by Victoria Nicholls -- October 10, 2009
University of CA Davis forensic science program gets $2.2M to study bullets and duct tape The three grants, which aim to put forensic science on a sound statistical footing, were awarded in late September, and work began on the projects last week. One grant of $1.4 million over three years will be spent on developing a bullet-matching database, a news release said Wednesday. Another grant of $700,000 over two years is for studying the impressions left on cartridge cases by firearms. The third grant of $150,000 over two years is for determining whether torn pieces of duct-tape can be reliably matched. Sacramento Business Journal -- Sacramento, CA, by Kelly Johnson -- October 7, 2009
LAPD cuts backlog of untested DNA cases in half The Los Angeles Police Department has cut in half a backlog of untested DNA evidence from rapes and sexual assaults, according to police figures. In late 2008, amid increasing pressure from victims' rights groups and elected officials, LAPD officials acknowledged that nearly 7,500 evidence kits collected from rape and sexual-assault victims were languishing in storage freezers, never having been analyzed. Los Angeles Times -- Los Angeles, CA, by Joel Rubin -- October 5, 2009
Colorado launching $1.2 million DNA-based exoneration review for convicts Colorado has received $1.2 million in federal funds to launch DNA-based exorneration program, officials announced today. The program, "The Colorado Justice Review Project," will review up to 5,000 past rapes, murders and manslaughters to identify cases where postconviction DNA testing could possibly exonerate an innocent inmate. About 1 percent of those cases will then be selected for DNA analysis, and prosecutors will seek judicial review of any cases in which post-conviction DNA analysis proves a conviction is questionable. Coloradoan.com -- Fort Collins, CO -- October 1, 2009
Detroit's rape kits must be checked Last month, the Detroit Free Press reported on Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy's contention that as many as 10,000 untested sets of physical evidence from rapes, called rape kits, may be in Detroit police storage facilities. In response, Detroit police conceded that they don't normally track rape kit evidence and said they would do a count. Freep.com -- Detroit, MI, by Sarah Tofte -- October 2, 2009
Thousands of cases in Houston await DNA tests Nearly 4,000 Houston rape kits and other evidence have not undergone DNA testing -- about seven years after major problems at the police lab came to light. Dallas Morning News -- Dalas, TX -- October 2, 2009
State money dries up for DNA testing of sex offenders Elected officials were alarmed enough this week when they learned that each month 100 more sexual predators are registering in Clark County and filing their DNA. They were even more taken aback, though, when the head of the Metro Police Forensic Lab told them the state is paying for only a very small portion of the testing on that DNA, which the Legislature ordered. Las Vegas Sun -- Las Vegas, NV, by Joe Schoenmann -- October 1, 2009
Two Baltimore programs get DNA test grants Two Baltimore programs that use DNA evidence in criminal cases will receive $307,000 from the National Institute of Justice, part of an award named after a former Maryland death row inmate who was exonerated by the forensic evidence, Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Wednesday. The Baltimore Sun -- Baltimore, MD, by Julie Bykowicz -- October 1, 2009
Lawmakers study new rules for DNA evidence Montana state lawmakers are studying whether the state should require law enforcement agencies to preserve DNA evidence for long periods of time in felony cases such as homicide or sexual assault. Great Falls Tribune -- Great Falls, MT, by John S. Adams -- September 30, 2009
