Daryl W. Clemens, Editor
From the Editor
It's a cold and
rainy night here in
Grand Rapids. I for
one am ready for
spring. Last year at
this time we were in
the 70's, this year
not so much.
Overnight lows are
supposed to be in
the teens with
freezing rain/snow
mixed. On the up
side, only two more
overnight shifts and
I go back to a
(slightly) more
reasonable schedule.
We have another good
issue for you this
month, with a couple
of articles on death
scene investigation,
some photography
from Hayden and a
review of some case
note software for
your smart phone.
Daryl
Got comments/questions or
want to submit an article
for The Examiner? e-mail me:
Daryl W. Clemens
President's Message
Greetings!
We have been busy
working on a couple of
projects for the
members. Can’t say right
now but hopefully soon
we will be able to talk
about it. Meanwhile we
are gaining members but
would certainly like to
see more. Please pass
the word and get others
to join us! The more
members we have the more
information we can all
share and learn from
each other.
We invite all of you to
submit an article or
technique to be
published in the
Examiner. I have
submitted a couple of IR
images on black cloth
that you will see
published in this
edition. I am sure you
too have something to
share with us. Please
submit the images to
Daryl.
We currently have one
individual taking the
certification examine
and doing very well. The
examine process takes a
few months to compete.
There was an article in
the latest edition of
the Evidence Technology
Magazine that when I
read I literally laughed
out loud. The technique
they were talking about
using black magnetic
powder to develop
“fresh” prints on paper
is against the proper
way of processing paper
from a latent print
examiners standpoint as
chemicals are the best
method to process the
paper. The reasoning is
that paper is porous and
therefore the oils and
water in the print will
be absorbed by the paper
and chemicals such as
Ninhydrin would be
better than powder.
However the published
technique is not new and
has been used as long as
I remember, over 40
years. But the article
also made me realize
that what I and others
have been doing for
years may not be
information shared with
others. So what we take
for grant others are
learning as “new”.
Stay safe!
Hayden B. Baldwin, Executive
Director
International Crime Scene
Investigators Association (ICSIA)
http://www.icsia.org
hbb@icsia.org
Why Suicide Needs: Forensic
Investigation?
By Mukesh Sharma and
Paramjeet Singh
In this article, it
is being reported
what to do at the
scene of crime (SOC)
where
suicide/homicide is
in doubt, while
visiting the spot.
The points of
suicide/homicide
should be considered
as a collective
manner so that,
results may be
reported to
investigate proper
direction so the
case might be
registered as a
suicide or homicide.
As forensic
investigation part
based on the
physical evidences,
circumstantial
evidence, suicide
note, fan and its
dust removal
patterns etc. must
be considered.
IR Photography
for blood stains on dark
clothing.
by Hayden Baldwin
One of the most difficult task
is to view and document blood
stains on dark clothing or dark
skin. Using Infrared photography
we are able to document the
blood on dark clothing.
Read More
Forensic Science Simplified
The National Forensic
Science Technology
Center launched a new
website this
month to help police
officers, attorneys and
the general public
better
understand forensic
science. Funded by the
Bureau of Justice
Assistance,
science.
This site is a great
resource if you need to
explain forensic science
to someone- if say you
have an attorney who
needs to understand the
evidence you've
collected, or if you are
doing a presentation for
a school group.
The link above will take
you to the guide, and
you can read more about
the project here:
NFSTC launches
ForensicScienceSimplified.org
On the Web-
By Daryl Clemens
LinkedIn continues
to be the place to
go for discussions
about crime scene
processing and
forensic science.
Hayden and I are
both members, and
there are a number
of law enforcement
related groups as
well. ICSIA has a
group there too,
although it is not
limited to our
members only. If you
are not part of our
group, you should
definitely join:
ICSIA on LinkedIn
Among the great
discussions of late
has been this one on
use of presumptive
blood tests:
Anyone using
presumptive blood
testing at the crime
scene? The top
answers seem to be
Kastle Meyer,
Hexagon OBTI and
Hemastix.
Drawing Software
By Daryl Clemens
There was another good
discussion on LinkedIn
recently about what
people were using to
draw their crime scenes
with. I thought it would
be a good idea to go
over some of the options
so that you all would
have an overview of
what's currently
available.
Read More
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ICSIA
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