ICSIA's Newsletter January 2015
ICSIA Examiner January 2015
Daryl W. Clemens, Editor
 

From the Editor

Welcome to winter. The snow is blowing, and apparently nobody got what they wanted for Christmas, so they just have to go and steal it from the neighbors.  I was surprised I didn't have more present theft before the holiday, but they are making up for it afterwards.

I'm also due to be done as editor here. So far though, we have not located a replacement. If you have some computer and writing skills, and would like to have a voice in the future of ICSIA, drop Hayden or I a line.
 
Daryl
 
Got comments/questions or want to submit an article for The Examiner?  e-mail me: Daryl W. Clemens

Director's Letter

Greetings!

I hope everyone had a peaceful holiday and you were able to spend quality time with your families.

With all the activity going on in the world it causes us be more alert in all that we do. 

Jamaica has 13 new Members in ICSIA, welcome to ICSIA!  Christopher Anderson continues to do an excellent job there training and soliciting new members.

We have a new Regional Division, South America with Lloyd Roches of Belize being named the new Regional Director and Shernadine Peters as Assistant Regional Director.  Belize SOC is 100% membership in ICSIA!   Welcome to ICSIA and Congratulations on your appointments!

We have new members from South America and apparently more to follow!  The language barrier for new international members is the stumbling block.  We have members in Brazil and they speak Brazil Portuguese which is different than the Spanish spoke in the various South America and Central America countries.  Hopefully as we grow we can resolve those issues.

I am happy to announce our CSI Conference is moving along well and can be reviewed at our web site, http://www.icsia.org/conference/2015/index.html   Chad Pitfield is the Conference Chair and is busy working on the conference. From what I see it looks like it is going to be another great conference!   So get your registrations in so you can attend the 3 day event and network with others throughout the world.  Please check the conference page often as there may be changes as we get closer to the conference.  Please direct any questions about the conference to Chad at chad.pitfield@icsia.org  
 
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the conference, stay safe!
 
Hayden B. Baldwin, Executive Director
International Crime Scene Investigators Association (ICSIA)

ICSIA's 2015 Conference


New Orleans, Louisiana (Jefferson Parish) 
Welcomes the 2015 ICSIA Conference.
May 19th-21st, 2015
 
More details will be posted on icsia.org as they become available, but make plans now to attend.

The Science Behind Firearm and Tool Mark Examination

by Nancy Ritter

Firearms have numerous metal parts. During the manufacture of a firearm, the machining process leaves unique, microscopic markings (called tool marks) on some of these parts. When most firearms are fired, these tool marks are transferred to the discharged ("spent") cartridge casings and bullets. This evidence can be collected from the scene of a crime, such as a homicide or shooting, and firearm and tool mark examiners can compare them with a test-fired firearm that, for example, has been confiscated from a suspect.

Since 2009, NIJ has funded research to determine the accuracy and reliability of firearms examinations — that is, whether a fired bullet (sometimes referred to as a spent projectile) was ejected from a particular firearm or the probability of finding unique patterns on casings that are shared by spent ammunition from the same firearm. NIJ's most recent findings, released in February 2014, established an error rate of less than 1.2 percent in matching bullets fired from Glock semiautomatic pistol barrels to the actual firearm.


Read More (This excerpt and the full article it links to were published by the National Institute of Justice).


Five New FCSI's

The following people have been awarded certification and deserve congratulations on their accomplishment:
 
1. Nickolas Barnes - member # 732
2. Damian Williams - member # 586
3. Jerome Hobbs - members # 670
4. Sean Grey - member # 593
5. Omar Bellanfantie - member # 695

Improving the Understanding and the Reliability of the Concept of “Sufficiency” in Friction Ridge Examination

by Cedric Neumann, Christophe Champod, Mina Yoo, Thibault Genessay, Glenn Langenburg

Fingerprints have been used with considerable success over the past century to determine or verify the identity of individuals using finger impressions taken under controlled conditions, or from friction ridge impressions left inadvertently on crime scenes. In particular, latent print examiners are concerned with the determination of the identity of criminals through the examination of partial, potentially distorted and degraded friction ridge impressions recovered on crime scenes. These impressions will be designated in this report either as latent prints (to follow the practice in the US) or as marks (in line with the European terminology).

Read More (.pdf format document, from the National Institute of Justice)
 

On the Web- 

By Daryl Clemens

Exploring techniques for identifying body fluids on criminal evidence from Security Info Watch
Across China: "Chinese Holmes" completes mission impossible from GlobalPost
Homicide cold cases grow chillier as clues disappear, police resources dwindle from San Jose Mercury News
 

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
 

2015 AFTE Conference


The 2015 Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) Training Seminar is going to be held in the newly-renovated Fairmont Hotel located in the Dallas Arts District.  The meeting will have several interesting workshops, one of which will cover the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. 
The Fairmont hotel is located within walking distance to many of Dallas’ best areas for shopping, dining and entertainment.  Come enjoy the seminar and the great things Dallas has to offer.

You can find out more about the conference on the AFTE Web Site
Above image by Andrew Lewin

Fingerprinting in Adverse Conditons

By Dick Warrington

This article originally appeared in Forensic Magazine® October/November 2014, Reprinted with Permission.

If you’re lucky, you may arrive at a crime scene and find an ideal situation for processing. Usually, though, scenes are not pristine. You may have anything from an unsecured shed to open fields to swamps and ponds. Weather is often a problem. In this issue, I’ll look at fingerprinting essentials in extreme conditions.

Read More
Above photo by: Michelle Ress

Cell Phones

Guidelines on Mobile Device Forensics
NIST Special Publication 800-101
May 2014

This guide provides basic information on mobile forensics tools and the preservation,
acquisition, examination and analysis, and reporting of digital evidence present on mobile
devices. This information is relevant to law enforcement, incident response and other types of
investigations. This guide focuses mainly on the characteristics of cellular mobile devices,
including feature phones, smartphones, and tablets with cellular voice capabilities. It also
covers provisions to be taken into consideration during the course of an incident investigation.

This guide is intended to address common circumstances that may be encountered by
organizational security staff and law enforcement investigators involving digital electronic data
residing on mobile devices and associated electronic media. It is also intended to complement
existing guidelines and delve more deeply into issues related to mobile devices and their
examination and analysis.

Read More (.pdf format)
 
Copyright © 2015 The International Crime Scene Investigators Association, All rights reserved.