Welcome to the new Examiner
What you have here is the new format for
ICSIA's official newsletter. It's
arrived directly in your inbox because,
of course, you are a member of ICSIA.
We've decided that sending these
directly to everyone is likely to be
more useful to you than the old system
of posting them on the website. (You do
remember that we have a website, right?
http://www.icsia.org/members/).
Our goal is to have one of these
newsletters in your inbox every other
month. Given the frequency they will be
shorter than some of the past
newsletters, but our goal is to include
at least one new article in each
edition. If you have an article or
other information that you'd like to
share with your fellow members, please
e-mail me:
Editor
Daryl W. Clemens
President's Message
A letter from Executive Director Hayden B.
Baldwin,
Well here it is 2012 already, where did the
year go? When I was a lot younger the year
took forever to get over, now they just fly
by! I say that because I just finished my
forensic consultant contract with Jamaica.
It doesn’t seem like I have been going there
for the past five years. But what a world of
difference in how they process scenes
between when I first went there until now.
In the next issue of the new Newsletter
format I will talk more in-depth about my
time there but for now just know that 5
years ago they were still photographing
crime scenes using black & white film with
cameras that had broken light meters. Now
they have the Nikon DSLR’s and a whole bunch
of new technology!
I bring this up because it is where we are
at today, the ever changing technology. The
crime scenes are basically being processed
the same way they have been for years but
the technology has changed the way we do it.
We see our digital photos instantly, make
computer aided crime scene sketches and
reports. There are even new apps for the
smartphones that will photograph the scene,
calculate the measurements, write a report
and complete an evidence log all right at
the crime scene. It is modern technology at
its finest. Technology is changing so fast
that it is very difficult to stay on top of
what is new and how to use it. That is where
we come in. The best part of any
organization is the ability to share
information with and from its members. We
have not been as successful in that as well
as we would have liked. That is going to
change and this new Newsletter is our first
step in that direction. In each newsletter
will be articles and links to some of the
new technology and reviews of the products.
We will try to keep you abreast of new
techniques and what is new in equipment,
supplies and things that will help each of
us in doing a better job. But we cannot do
these ourselves. It requires input from the
field, you! Communications should not be one
way. We need to hear from you, we need to
work together to exchange ideas and
comments. We have tried various forms of
communications and a forum is the best at
this point. We have a forum strictly for
ICSIA Members. It is a Yahoo Groups forum
and it works fairly well. We also have a
private Facebook page that the general
public cannot see. You need to be an active
member and share your stories, ideas and
comments. We and other members want to share
the same with you. We work in a different
environment than most people. Our sense of
humor is quite different than most. Our
problems are different. Our needs are
different. No one else understands what we
see and do. No one that is, except your
peers. We need to be here for each other.
Until we find something better we will
continue to use the Yahoo forum. MOST of you
are not members of that forum and it is the
only way we can reasonably communicate with
you. Please, you need to join the forum so
you can converse with others and we can
converse with you. We have about 350 members
who are not registered with the forum. You
are missing vital communications with us!
This newsletter will going out to everyone
and thereafter only to those who have
registered on the forum. So we strongly
recommend you to join the forum! You may
subscribe to the forum by sending a blank
email from your email program to
icsia-members-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or directly at the Yahoo forum web site at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ICSIA-Members/join
We have added a new Division to ICSIA, the
Caribbean Division headed by Director
Christopher Anderson, Detective Sergeant in
charge of the Scenes of Crimes Division of
the Jamaica Constabulary Force. “Andy” will
be the contact for the others in the
Caribbean to join ICSIA and provide the
training to bring the Caribbean community in
to the 21
st Century.
We are working on two other markets, South
America and South East Asia. Both may take a
while to develop. There are a lot of
challenges ahead in developing additional
Divisions. The language barrier is primary
the problem while cultural differences are
also a main issue. We are exploring the
possibilities ahead of us.
In the past few years we developed a
Certification program that is worthy of
ICSIA. It is a certification program that is
not complicated but requires the applicant
to prove they have the knowledge required to
process a crime scene thoroughly and that
they have the ability to do so. Please
explore the Certification information posted
on the web site
here.
Earlier I was speaking of this new
technology we are seeing. In the months
ahead we will be talking about it too. Not
only will be talking about it but we are
planning on providing a few online
presentations and training sessions. If we
get the support from you we will expand to
webinars and formal online training. But we
cannot take that step unless we get your
support. We have reduced the membership fees
to $25.00 for 2 years! That is unheard of
with all the other associations. We are
trying to keep the expenses as low as we can
but still provide as much as we can to you.
Traveling for training is out of the
question for most budgets. So online
training will be the next best alternative.
We are negotiating with several companies
right now to provide you with the best
online training we can. I am looking at
later this year or the beginning of 2013 to
have a conference. We may start off small
but we have found a way to present the
conference online so those of you who cannot
travel can still attend the conference. The
technology is there and available to us.
What we need you to do is to support our
efforts and help guide us. We need
volunteers. All this doesn’t happen because
5 people are doing everything, we need your
help! The more you help the more we can
offer the members. The more members we have
the more we can do. The BEST way of getting
more members is by word of mouth. We need
you to tell others about us. After all $25
for a two year membership is really hard to
pass up!
I am looking forward to what I see as an
exciting year ahead of us. We want you to be
a part of it so please, join the forums and
let’s start talking and exchanging ideas!
Thanks, Hayden
Adequate for the Intended Purpose?
By Bob McMicken
Obviously, a camera should be
adequate for the intended
purpose. How do we define that
purpose? How can we test for
adequacy? These questions are not
easy to answer. There are no
universal standards that will cover
everyone from a rookie patrol
officer to a senior crime scene
investigator. However, there
are standards which, while by no
means universal, will give you a
place to start.
Read More