Crime Scene Investigator Network Newsletter

MAY 2007

Welcome to the May 2007 Crime Scene Investigator Network Newsletter

Optimized Digital Recording
of Crime Scene Impressions

Brian Dalrymple
Len Shaw
Keith Woods

From the Journal of Forensic Identification
Vol. 52, No. 6, November/December 2002*

The evidence photographer is faced with a wide range of photographic challenges at crime scenes. Recording crucial evidence in the form of fingerprints, shoeprints, or other impressions is often problematic. These images may be extremely fragile as well as difficult to see. The background color or texture can easily overpower subtle detail. Curved, specular, or uneven surfaces may resist attempts to record all of the detail in one exposure. Lastly, exhibits bearing evidence can often be difficult or impossible to remove from the scene for photography in a controlled environment, without risking damage to the evidence.

In most circumstances, conventional photographic procedures are used successfully to record such evidence discovered at crime scenes. The experienced photographer may employ oblique, tent or coaxial lighting, tilt and swing camera movements, or polarizing and contrast filters to obtain a suitable recording.

Digital evidence enhancement techniques, such as Fast Fourier Transform and Image Subtraction, have been described previously in detail. It is not the purpose of this study to reiterate those descriptions or to report case results, but rather to recommend specific procedures for the maximum recovery of evidence when analog techniques are suspected to fall short. The successful application of computer technology depends on the technician recognizing the potential of these procedures and following the required necessary steps in recording images at the scene.

Four situations, based on the collective case experience of the authors, were re-created to explore the effectiveness of digital techniques, the application of which depends on recordings taken at the scene in specific order and procedure. Although the images acquired in this study were transferred to a desktop computer for processing, the same results could have been obtained on a laptop computer at the scene. Resulting digitized fingerprints can be forwarded for AFIS search with minimum delay.

< read the complete article and view example photographs >

*From the Journal of Forensic Identification Vol. 52, No. 6, November/December 2002. The Official Publication of the International Association for Identification "Reproduction of the Journal of Forensic Identification, in whole or in part, for noncommercial, educational use is permitted provided proper citation of the source is noted."

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New CSI and Forensic Job Announcements

Forensic Specialist | Buena Park, California Police Department
Final Filing Date: June 8, 2007
$3,816 - $4,873 per month
Under general supervision, locates, collects, preserves and processes evidence from crime scenes in order to accurately identify perpetrators; testifies regarding evidentiary procedures at court hearings; and perform related work as required.
<View complete job listing>

Forensic Specialist (Crime Scene Investigation) | Orange County, California Sheriff
Final Filing Date: Open until filled
Salary: $38,396.80 - $51,417.60 per year
Perform routine field, laboratory and/or darkroom assignments for which well defined procedures and guidelines have been established; assists on complex assignments under close supervision; performs latent to inked fingerprint comparisons. Assignments will be made to the crime scene investigation unit or to the latent print unit.
Crime Scene Investigation: Processes and photographs less complex crime scenes; searches crime scenes for fingerprints and other physical evidence; develops latent fingerprints; performs less complex laboratory examinations on physical evidence using established methodologies; prepares finished crime scene sketches for court; prepares reports reflecting work activity.
<View complete job listing>

Firearms and Toolmark Examiner | Hamilton County, OH Coroner’s Laboratory
Final Filing Date: Open until filled
Salary: The salary for this position will depend on experience.
Major duties include the normal microscopic comparison of firearms evidence, operation of the NIBIN/IBIS terminal, toolmark comparisons, distance determinations, serial numbers restorations, function tests and training law enforcement personnel. This position does not involve GSR (primer residues) analyses, footwear/tiretrack comparisons, or crime scene processing. The examiner will join a staff of three other firearms examiners. The examiner will be required to comply with safety, quality control, and other administrative criteria of the ASCLD/LAB accreditation program.
<View complete job listing>

Latent Print Technician | City of Pensacola, Florida
Final Filing Date: June 4, 2007
Salary: $1242 - $1930 Bi-Weekly
This is highly responsible technical work examining, evaluating, and comparing fingerprints with known suspects.
<View complete job listing>

Search for more job listings in Crime Scene Investigations and Forensics
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Online CSI Degree Programs

Several degree programs are available online including Criminal Investigation (CSI), Forensic Psychology, Forensic Nursing, Economic Crime Investigation, and others. Check the listings on the Crime Scene Investigator Network and receive free information regarding these online programs.

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CSI In The News

<Tour program in Riverside offers education in crime scenes>
'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' probes cases in Las Vegas, New York and Miami, so why not Riverside? Blood splatter, fingerprints, a bullet's trajectory ... it's all covered in "Criminal Forensics: Extracting the Evidence in Riverside," an immensely popular program offered by Road Scholar, the upscale, younger version of the Elderhostel learning vacations.
The Press-Enterprise, Janet Zimmerman

<Mesa police seek new forensic center>
They work out of storage closets and examine latent prints in tiny squares for hours on end. They stash records anywhere they will fit and test ballistics in a small room next to cubicles. Employees of the 15,000-squarefoot Mesa Police Forensic Services Section have been crowded into their work spaces for about a decade, but have still managed to maintain a faster turnaround time for forensic analysis than the state’s crime lab, officials said. And that time frame should improve even further if a new 48,000-square-foot building is ever built.
East Valley Tribune, by Katie McDevitt

<South Africans visit Scottsdale for lesson in forensic art>
As a police inspector in South Africa for the past 18 years, Kenneth Mbonani has helped a lot of people. With his talents in composite sketching, Mbonani has worked with witnesses on cases involving rape, armed robbery, murder, fraud, hijacking and kidnapping. “But I think that we need to enhance what we’re doing,” he said. So Mbonani and another police officer from South Africa, Edward Van der Westhuizen, came to Scottsdale to take classes at the Scottsdale Artists’ School from one of the world’s foremost experts in forensic art.
East Valley Tribune, by Katie McDevitt

<Forensic dentists may find identity of Lake County remains>
Forensic dentists today will attempt to identify the person whose skeletal remains were found in a wooded area Saturday night. Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said an autopsy performed Sunday of the skeleton showed that the bones likely are those of a female in her 20s, although he couldn't be sure of the gender.
Daily Herald, By Corrinne Hess

<Forensic science errors are cited; strict rules urged>
An influential California commission said Thursday that forensic science errors are a major contributor to wrongful convictions and called for better training, more monitoring and stronger standards in the real world of "CSI." The report cited the Innocence Project at New York's Cardozo Law School, which identified forensic science testing errors in 63% of a set of nationwide DNA exoneration cases analyzed. The California commission also raised a red flag over the ability of the criminal justice system to expose mistakes in scientific evidence.
Los Angeles Times, by John Spano

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