What Happens Next?
By Dick Warrington
Understanding what happens after CSOs leave the scene can help you do your job better and also help those who need it most: the victims and the people left behind. Professionals in crime scene clean up can contribute to the work of law enforcement and crime scene officers.
Hazardous Materials Preparedness: Training For All-Hazards Response
By Shannon Arledge, CDP Public Affairs
First responders, especially law enforcement, need to recognize the need for enhanced training regarding first response to hazardous materials. ERHM is a five-day class providing responders with a combination of lectures and advanced hands-on practical exercises.
Triage A Computer
By John J. Barbara
Triaging a computer allows investigators to gather volatile data that would be lost by pulling the plug on a live system.
Evidence Collection Course Helps IPs Close Cases
By Spc. Maurice Galloway, 17th FiB PAO
Soldiers from the 203rd MP Bn., along with law enforcement professionals Donnie Weller and David Diaz, held a two-week evidence collection course in April at the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Basra, Iraq, designed to implement standardized evidence collection procedures for the IP.
Evidence Response Technicians
By Dick Warrington
For some major cases, crime scene officers need additional help processing the scene. Many departments are looking to evidence response technicians (ERTs) to solve the problem.
Tool Mark Impressions
By Steven L. Petersen, CCSI, Shawn L. Naccarato, DDS/CCSA
A slightly different technique for collecting tool mark impression evidence.
The Role of the Forensic Crime Scene Officer
By Dick Warrington
Today’s high-tech world greatly increases our ability to put the “bad guys” in jail. But technology only takes you so far. As crime scene officers, we have to expand the role we play in order to take full advantage of the technology out there.
Preparation and Crime Scene Processing
By Dick Warrington
Some of your most important prep work for a crime scene should occur before you ever leave your office. Remember to keep your crime scene vehicle fully stocked with the equipment and supplies that you’re likely to need no matter the type of crime scene.
Documenting Bloodstain Patterns Through Roadmapping
By Daniel R. Winterich
An accurate and methodical technique for documenting bloodstain patterns is invaluable in crime scene analysis.
What Can We Get From a Suspect?
By Dick Warrington
Every crime scene is different. Yet, 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.
Crime Scene Photography: Capturing the Scene
By Dick Warrington
In order to provide a complete record of each scene, you need field notes and diagrams, along with relevant still photographs that correlate with those notes and diagrams.
Marking Evidence at Crime Scenes: Developing a System
By Dick Warrington
One of the most basic—and most important—tasks a crime scene officer has is locating, collecting, packaging, and marking evidence found at a crime scene. In this article, I’ll address the marking of evidence collected.
To Search or Not to Search
By John J. Barbara
Pertaining to the seizure of digital devices, there is some misunderstanding concerning what “executing the warrant within ten days” actually means.
DNA Collection and Packaging
By Dick Warrington
In order to make the most of evidence, you need to know where to look for it, how to collect it, and how to package it. If you put in the effort to do the job right, you will be rewarded with an even stronger case.
Crime Scene Safety
By Dick Warrington
When a call comes in, a crime scene officer must be ready to respond, no matter the situation. Depending on the situation, you'll need to protect your head, eyes, lungs, hands, feet, and occasionally your entire body.
Crime Scene Videos
By Dick Warrington
I’m pleased to announce an exciting new feature available through Forensic Magazine®. Starting this month, you’ll be able to access a selection of crime scene videos directly from Forensic Magazine’sweb site.
Crime Scene Observation
By Dick Warrington
In this article, I’ll explain how to use careful observation to get the crime scene to talk to you about the crime.
Evidence Packaging
By Dick Warrington
No matter what you’re presented with, it’s up to you to capture all of the evidence you find and maintain its integrity. Let’s take a look at the best way to package the evidence you find at crime scenes.
Gadgets
By Dick Warrington
As I travel around the country to lecture and teach at conferences and seminars, I always hear the same comment from crime scene investigators: the “CSI Effect” has profoundly affected the way they perform their job. Juries everywhere expect a high level of professionalism.
Who Says You Can't Do That? Protecting Your Crime Scene
By Dick Warrington
Here’s a scene you’ve probably encountered: an accident occurs on an interstate and traffic backs up in both directions because motorists have slowed down to get a better look. It’s human nature to be curious.
Protecting Your Crime Scene
By Dick Warrington
As crime scene officers we have the responsibility of protecting the crime scene and its integrity, and protecting the dignity of the victim. In this article, I’ll discuss problems you need to watch out for and products you can use to help protect your crime scene.
Tearing Down the House? Clan Lab Remediation: Part 2
By Vince McLeod, CIH, Glenn Ketcham, CIH
This issue’s Safety Guys column is the final one in our initial series on clandestine drug laboratories. This article will look at the next steps of conducting residual sampling, remediation, and final clearance assessments.
Decision Time: Processing Prints
By Dick Warrington
In this issue I’ll take a look at different types of prints and the decision-making that goes into processing them.
Impression Evidence
By Dick Warrington
Suspects often leave important evidence throughout crime scenes: tire tracks, footprints, tool marks, extruder marks on different casings, etc. Casting can preserve this impression evidence for comparison work and analysis at the lab.
Crime Scene Investigator as a Career
By Dick Warrington
The tremendous popularity of the CSI television series and similar programs has led to a huge number of students interested in pursing a career as a crime scene officer.
