Kyprianos Georgiou and Kalisa
Hadji Editors
From the Editors
Dear members,
I hope you are all well and
the weather hasn't been too
cold. We are now coming
closer to the Easter
holidays, so time to relax
with the family over a long
bank holiday weekend. It is
now time for our next
newsletter "The Examiner".
Like I mentioned in
previous editions, we will
be exploring different
issues that CSIs are phased
with on their day-to-day
work. This month's edition,
we will be exploring "Trace
Evidence".
The most commonly known
types of trace evidence is
paint, fibres, glass and
soil debris. Each of these
can be useful in their own
way. In the past few years,
there has been several high
profile cases where trace
evidence has played a huge
part in convicting
criminals. Some trace
evidence can be overlooked
or even missed due to its
nature. A tiny piece of
fibre may be missed which is
actually really important in
matching a criminal to a
crime scene.
The articles attached will
hopefully interest you and
portray the importance of
trace evidence. Collecting
and analysing trace evidence
can help go a long way with
a case.
If you have any questions or
comments or if you would
like to contribute any
articles in future
newsletters, please do not
hesitate to contact me
through this link K.Georgiou@tees.ac.uk
Director's Letter
March Greetings!
We are getting closer to the
conference and I will have the
conference agenda updated by the end
of the week. We have a great
conference scheduled with live
demonstrations of various equipment
and techniques. We are trying a
combination of breakouts, lectures
and a few outdoor demonstrations.
Maybe even a “Who done it” mock
scenes indoors and outdoors weather
permitting. Keep checking the web
site for changes as we approach the
conference in mid May. Looking
forward to seeing you all there!
The forensic science field is
changing by new technology and the
demand for certification and/or
accreditation. The forensic field of
crime scene investigation is fully
involved in this process. We have a
fantastic certification program. If
you have not reviewed the
certification process, please take
the time to review it. The other
aspect is the training issues for
CSI’s worldwide. As technology
increases so does our part in
helping others to gain the knowledge
and skills required as a forensic
crime scene investigator. On-line
training has become popular and we
are exploring the possibilities.
What is it you would like to see us
doing for the members? Let us know.
You can contact me direct at hbb@icsia.org
I would like to take this time to
give recognition to Richard “Dick”
Warrington. Dick has decided to
take life a little easier and has
resigned from the Board of
Directors. Dick has been an asset to
the crime scene community for years.
He has been on our Board of
Directors since its inception in
1999. Besides being the technical
guru for the Lynn Peavey Company,
Dick was also the author of numerous
articles in the Forensic Technology
magazine. He also shared his
information and techniques through
his web site at Gizmos & Gadgets, http://csigizmos.com/
Dick also holds several patents, one
of them being on the Blue Light that
we all use to process crime scenes!
If you ever met Dick, you know he
has a passion for his work and he
would eagerly take the time to spend
with you to show you a few things
and listen to so he too could learn
something new. On the behalf of
ICSIA we would like to say “Thanks”
to Dick for his years of service and
his willingness to share his
knowledge with all of us.
Hayden B Baldwin, Executive Director
International Crime Scene Investigators
Association
www.icsia.org
hbb@icsia.org
ICSIA's 2016 Conference
Kansas City, Missouri
Welcomes the 2016 ICSIA Conference.
May 17 - 19, 2016.
Book your place now for another great
conference.
Collecting Hairs and Fibres
By Hayden Baldwin
The collection of hairs
and fibers is and always
will be an important
function in the processing
of crime scenes. With
this trace evidence the
crime laboratory may be able
to match the fibers from the
victim clothing to the
suspects clothing or use the
hair for a positive
comparison. With the
new DNA analysis hair will
be a very important factor
for positive identification
of the suspect.
The collection of these
items has always been very
tedious at crime scenes.
The normal way of collection
involves a strong white
light and good eyesight.
This method has improved
with the use of alternate
light sources. However
it still requires a tedious
examination of the scene or
item.
For the full article please
click here.
The Scene Will Dictate What You Need
From the Suspect
By Dick Warrington
Our primary job as crime scene
investigators is always the same: to
tie a suspect to the scene. The way
to accomplish this goal is to
collect as much evidence as possible
from the scene and the suspect.
The key point to keep in mind is
that the scene will dictate what you
need from the suspect. For example,
if you find a pair of latex gloves
at the scene, process the inside of
the gloves for prints, then you will
need to swab the hands of the
suspect for traces of the powder
from those gloves. If the victim was
shot, test the suspect for gunshot
residue. Keep in mind that this
evidence is very fragile, so you can
only test for residue if you
apprehend the suspect within four
hours of the crime. If you find
blood at the scene, collect all of
it, since some may belong to the
suspect.
For the full article please click here.
Online Training
ICSIA collaborated with the Criminal
Justice Institute of the University of
Arkansas to produce an online training
course: Crime
Scene First Responder For The Uniformed
Officer
Future Editions of "The Examiner"
The themes for the following 2 editions
of the "The Examiner" are:
1) May
2016: Toolmarks
2) July
2016: Firearms
If you would like to contribute any
papers/articles/stories from your
experiences about any of these themes,
please do not hesitate to contact
us here with your papers in order to
include them in our future newsletter.
Thank you
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