Daryl W. Clemens,
Editor
From the Editor
Welcome
to our final issue of 2012.
I think we've had a good run
this year, but it's not too
soon to start thinking about
next year either. I'd love
to see some more great
articles and photos, and
with the Holiday Season fast
approaching, now is the time
to start those projects so
that you have plenty of time
to work all the kinks out.
We've got another good
edition for you this month
with two articles on
evidence packaging, each
from a slightly different
perspective, as well as an
article on how to photograph
laser reconstructions in the
daylight. (Yes, you can
photograph a laser in full
sunlight- it's a bit tricky,
but it can work).
Daryl
Got comments/questions or
want to submit an article
for The Examiner? e-mail
me: Daryl
W. Clemens
President's
Message
Message from Hayden B.
Baldwin, Executive Director
Greeting Members!
Here it is mid-November and
the holiday season will soon
be upon us. I would like to
take this time to wish all
of you and your families the
Happiest of Holidays! Our
prayers and thoughts go out
to the victims of Hurricane
Sandy. This will not
be a joyous season for them.
Our membership continues to
grow but we still need more
members. Please talk to
other CSI’s about ICSIA
and if everyone can get just
one person to join we will
have doubled our membership
by next year! In light of
that goal we have placed
an AD in the Evidence
Technology Magazine in the
Vendor Showcase section
inside the front cover.
While this is a great spot
to showcase us I believe our
best advertisement is from
you! Please help support
ICSIA in getting one more
person to sign up as a
member!
Daryl continues to work hard
in producing a great
newsletter. He needs your
support. If you have a
photo to share, a story to
share, or technique to share
we would like to hear from
you. If you wish to
contribute an article so you
can say you are “published”
then please submit the
article to Daryl for
approval.
As a reminder we can only be
as great of an association
as the input we have from
you. If we are not doing
something that you would
like to see then please drop
us a note, call us, or
contact any of the members
of the Board of Directors.
We want to hear from you!
We have updated the
definition of a CSI and have
it posted on the web site
at http://www.icsia.org/csidef.htm
Your comments are not only
welcomed but also
encouraged.
We are active on Facebook and Linkedin,
please visit us there!
Happy Holidays to all and be
safe out there!
Hayden B. Baldwin, Executive
Director
International Crime Scene
Investigators Association (ICSIA)
http://www.icsia.org
hbb@icsia.org
Evidence Packaging Standards
and Procedures
By Robert A. Doran
There are four primary
purposes for evidence
packaging: safety,
preservation of evidence,
identification as evidence
and maintaining the chain of
custody. Each of these four
purposes has applicable
standards that should be
adopted and adhered to by
law enforcement agencies.
Classification
The first step in packaging
evidence is to classify the
items for routing after
packaging. Items of physical
evidence that will be routed
immediately to evidence room
storage or the crime lab
should be separated from
items that are lost / found
or abandoned (are not
evidence and the owner is
unknown) and safe-keeping
items (items for which the
owner is known and the items
may be returned to the
owner, e.g.; recovered
property or photograph and
return to owner). Items of
evidence to be routed to the
crime lab should be packaged
separately from those items
to be stored immediately.
Separate packaging should be
used, also, for items of
evidence not found or
collected together.
Read More (.pdf
format)
Daytime Laser
Photography
by Christopher D. Duncan
Investigators attempting to
recreate the flight paths of
fired projectiles or bullets
have a number of options,
including the utilization of
trajectory rods, colored
strings, and lasers. Each
of these reconstruction
tools have their own
benefits and weaknesses, but
lasers have always provided
the straightest and sharpest
representation of a fired
bullet's flight path or
trajectory. Unfortunately,
lasers have typically been
limited to use during the
nighttime or in lowlight
conditions. However, by
using high-powered lasers
and a couple of photographic
accessories, investigators
are able to photograph laser
trajectories at crime scenes
processed in the daytime
hours.
Read More
IAI Anniversary "Brick"
ICSIA has purchased a brick
celebrating the 100th
anniversary of the
International Association
for Identification which
will occur in 2015. The
brick will be part of a tree
shaped display- "Our
Centennial Tree reminds us
of the tremendous legacy
that our Association has
built over the past 100
years. The IAI Centennial
Tree will travel with us
over the next four years and
will be on display at each
Conference." You
can see what the display
looks like in the IAI
brochure.
On the Web
By Daryl Clemens
One of the problems faced by
law enforcement is the use
of inhalants, in fact a
colleague tells me that they
have recently had numerous
deaths attributed to abuse
of "canned air" dusting
spray.
There is a list of commonly
abused inhalents and their
effects at: http://www.inhalants.org/scatter.htm
Also here is a link to an
article on using an infrared
camera (or a standard
digital camera, with the
infrared cut-out removed) to
locate hidden bloodstains: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/343007/title/Camera_hack_can_spot_cleaned-up_crimes
And a novel method of
increasing field of view
with a camera system can be
found here: http://disp.duke.edu/projects/AWARE/
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