- CJ 223
- Historical events and evolution of Forensic Sciences
- Roles and Responsibilities
- Evidence Recovery
- Crime Scene Reconstruction
- Digital Stories
- Service Learning
Forensic textbook study comes to life with hands on analysis of the everyday world. Criminalistics class is forensic science. A criminalist is a forensic scientist. Our class covers the past and present of crime scene investigations, evidence collection and analysis, and reporting. This is an elective course in Criminal Justice that studies Forensic Science as a significant element in efforts to control crime and at the same time maintaining a high quality of justice.
In this course the student explores the underlying principles to understand the laboratory procedures of forensic science. The student will recognize the potential value and limitations of evidence recovery and analysis as practiced in laboratory settings. The student will participate in simulations and mock crime scene investigation. The student articulates informed opinions about crime scene analysis and investigative response.
http://colbycriminaljustice.wikidot.com/faculty-page
here
Krizia Cornejo
Criminalistics
Fingerprints offer a reliable means of personal identification. The science of fingerprint identification stands out among all other forensic sciences for many reasons. It has served governments worldwide for over 100 years to provide accurate identification of criminals. No two fingerprints have ever been found alike in many billions of human and automated computer comparisons. The International Association for Identification (IAI) established the first professional certification program for forensic scientists and Certified Latent Print Examiner (CLPE) program in 1977. It continued to expand as the premier method for identifying persons, with hundreds of thousands of persons daily added to fingerprint repositories worldwide. It has remained the most commonly used forensic evidence worldwide. Fingerprints harvested from crime scenes which led to more suspects and generated more evidence than all other forensic laboratory techniques combined. Fingerprints and DNA are harvested from serious crimes such as murder, but often fingerprints are the primary evidence harvested from burglaries or vehicle break-ins. There are three types of finger print patterns. In a Loop pattern, the ridges will flow in one side, recurve, loop around, and touch or pass through an imaginary line drawn from the delta to the core, and exit the pattern on the same side as it entered. Next, whorl pattern consists of a series of almost concentric circles. A whorl pattern has two deltas; there are four types of whorl patterns:
1. Plain whorl,
2. Central Pocket Loop whorl,
3. Double Loop whorl,
4. Accidental whorl
And finally, an arch pattern, ridges flow in one side and flow out the opposite side. There are no deltas in an arch pattern. There are two types of arch patterns:
1. Plain arch,
2. Tented arch
Each fingerprint contains minutiae, or ridge characteristics. Fingerprints are identified to individuals by examining and comparing the ridge characteristics of two different fingerprint impressions to determine if these characteristics occupy the same relative area and position, and if their unit relationship to each other is in agreement.
Sources
[http://www.crimescene-forensics.com/Fingerprints.html]
[http://http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/07/12/the-mark-of-a-masterpiece]
Allen Goff
I am going to be talking about state trooper awareness an how that if you are not paying attention that you can either kill someone or injure them in 3 seconds. There have been tones of cases in causes of another accident by someone just not moving over to the left lane when a State Trooper has someone pulled over. I have a video to show you what can happen when you do not pull over right away cause like I said 3 seconds and that the fate of the State Trooper.
https://youtu.be/QBDd-hptWdE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_0DvE5_QhY
Andrew Voss
DNA Advancements
DNA was first used to aid a criminal investigation by Professor Jeffreys in 1986. This investigation used DNA finger printing techniques to link semen stain samples, collected from two rapes/murders that had occurred three years apart in 1983 and 1986, in a small village in Leicestershire, UK. This result not only linked the two crimes and secured the conviction of the perpetrator Colin Pitchfork, but also exonerated an innocent man implicated in the murders and led to the first mass screening project undertaken for DNA profiling in the world. This is the very first step into using DNA to solve a crime. DNA testing only became more advanced from this point on.
This original method of analysis required the use of a large amount of high quality DNA, which is not always recovered during forensic investigations. Two big breakthroughs occurred during the late 1980s and early 1990s that would form the basis of DNA profiling techniques as they are recognized today. DNA is generally used to solve crimes in one of two ways. In cases where a suspect is identified, a sample of that person’s DNA can be compared to evidence from the crime scene. The results of this comparison may help establish whether the suspect committed the crime. DNA evidence is generally linked to DNA offender profiles through DNA databases. In the late 1980s, the federal government laid the groundwork for a system of national, state, and local DNA databases for the storage and exchange of DNA profiles. This system, called the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), maintains DNA profiles obtained under the federal, state, and local systems in a set of databases that are available to law enforcement agencies across the country for law enforcement purposes. This means that if you have not committed a crime or been in a situation where your DNA was needed, you won’t come up in the CODIS.
DNA does more than just solve a crime. DNA can determine parentage, for purposes of paternity, immigration, and other cases, and identify human remains, when visual or dental determinations are not possible or conclusive. DNA can be affecting in ways that will break it up and make it unclear to whose DNA it is. All in all, DNA is one of the most accurate ways to identify a person. Identifying someone by their DNA is not that old but we have made huge advancements in this process. It will only continue to improve as time goes on.
Websites
https://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/investigations/crime-scene/guides/death-investigation/pages/welcome.aspxhttp://
https://www.justice.gov/archives/ag/advancing-justice-through-dna-technology-using-dna-solve-crimeshttp://
Identify roles and responsibilities in the investigation of various criminal events.
Students' research and reports
here
Students' research and reports
here
Chris Bertram
History of Fingerprinting
Fingerprinting has and always will be a reliable source of identifying someone. No two fingerprints are exactly alike, meaning that each individual has a unique fingerprint. Fingerprinting is used all around the world for a variety of things, but one of its biggest uses is in the world of forensic science.
The first time fingerprinting was discovered was in Nova Scotia that was from prehistoric times. They were found on clay tablets and were believed to be used for business transactions. It was in the 14th century that doctors and officials first observed that no two fingerprints were alike (later technologies would come to prove this.) In 1686, Marcello Malpighi, a professor, noticed different fingerprint patters, like ridges, spirals, and loops. It wasn’t until 1823 that it was discovered that there were actually nine different fingerprint patterns, not just the three that Malpighi noted about.
It was in 1888 that Sir Francis Galton started observing fingerprints as a way of identification. He found that fingerprints do not change over the course of someone’s life and confirmed that no two fingerprints are exactly the same. He did the math and found that the odds of two being the exact same are 1 in 64 billion. Galton’s characteristics that he found are still being used to this day.
In 1891, police started to keep files on fingerprints, based on pattern types. 1892 was the first recorded time police used fingerprints to catch a criminal, a murderer. It was in the year 1924 that the FBI started processing fingerprints and by 1946 they had over 100 million cards. Find more history facts at usmarshalls.gov
Fingerprinting is widely used today by police to catch criminals. A fingerprint left at a scene is called a latent print. Which means it is there, but may not be noticeable to the eye. These prints are left when the finger is pressed against something and the oil from the finger transfers to the surface, leaving an impression of the pattern. Police normally will scan for prints in an obvious area first to try and find prints, then look for clues as to where other prints may be.
The next step an officer will take is pulling the print. He will use powder, a brush to spread the powder, and a lifter to lift the print off the surface for further examination. He will then put this print on an evidence card and write the necessary matters down, and that is his evidence.
The way that an officer does fingerprints of a suspect if they are book them or if they need to take them directly from the suspect is by first bringing in such suspect to their station or wherever they are doing them. The officer will then inspect the suspects hands for any deformities, cuts and such. They then clean the suspects hands with an alcohol wipe. The officer will grab the suspects finger at the top of the nail and the bottom of the finger and roll it in the ink, then roll it onto the pad to make the print. Find more about taking prints at https://thelawdictionary.org/article/how-to-take-fingerprints/
A basic fingerprint kit for a scene may include: black powder, lighter powder, possibly different colored powders, magnetic powder, a brush for each of these powders, some latex gloves, another source of light (possibly a UV light), dust masks, lifting tape, and different colored backing cards. (For more in depth information visit https://www.forensicmag.com/article/2013/09/assembling-fingerprint-kit)
This is a basic fingerprint kit I put together from our classroom. In it I have rubber gloves, a dust mask, evidence markers, fingerprint dust, brushes, backing cards, safety glasses, and lifting tape.I tried fingerprinting objects around my room with these materials. Some things I learned while doing this were that not every print is going to be a whole print. A lot of the ones I found were only half or less even. Another thing I learned is that the one type of powder I had did not work well on every surface. I noticed when I used this black powder on black surfaces, I could not see the fingerprint well at all. Also, it did not stick well to other surfaces. I know if I had the proper type of powder for many of these surfaces, it would have worked just fine, though. Another thing that I truly came to learn was it is extremely hard to get any spilled dust off of some surfaces. It seems as though I would need some sort of cleaning solution because water itself did not work well at all.
The picture above is my PlayStation controller. With this one, it took me a few tries with both of my controllers before I finally was able to pull a print off. The print I pulled was a thumb print. I assume it is a left thumb print because it is on the left hand side of the controller. The trouble I seemed to be having at first was that the powder did not stick well and on top of that, my other controller is all black so it is very difficult to see any sort of print when the powder goes on. After trying the black controller, I moved to the camo designed one and tried a print on the whiter portion of the remote and that’s where I pulled the print. It is a little over half the thumb, I didn’t end up finding a full one on the controller.
One of the other prints that I found was one on my desk. This one was fairly easy to find because I am at my desk so much, so I am constantly touching it, and the powder worked very well on this surface. It didn’t take me long, just a few brushes with the powder and I found this one.
Doing this research has helped me gain a lot of knowledge about fingerprinting. Things like how it was discovered, how it has evolved over the years, how much it is used today, as well as how to do it myself and how to put together a kit if I ever had to do that someday. Also, doing this myself around my room has helped me gain more experience with it, in case I decide to do something along the line in life. One thing I could have improved, though, is maybe having different types of powders instead of the one, so I could test them out on different surfaces. For more in depth explanations on some of these topics, visit the links I have put throughout the essay.
Sources
https://thelawdictionary.org/article/how-to-take-fingerprints/
https://www.forensicmag.com/article/2013/09/assembling-fingerprint-kit
https://www.usmarshals.gov/usmsforkids/fingerprint_history.htm
Students' research and reports.
Content of student mock scenarios, critical incident management, and practice drills. Case Studies, links post here.
Bruce Johnson
Spring 2018
Prepared by Bruce Johnson
Forensic Photography began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In 1840 photographs of criminals were being made by police departments in Belgium. In 1850 Denmark photos were taken by the police or prison officers. In the 1870's the police departments began using professional photographers to take pictures of criminals.
Alphonse Bertillon a French photographer wrote a book in 1890 outlining the rules of identification photography. He developed the mug shot form of photography which is a photo of the front profile of the face and the right profile of the face. The concept of using measuring tape to document length and width of where a person was in a room. The use of vertical photography to take full length pictures of the victims. Mr. Bertillon was a Parisian-records-clerk-turned-pioneering-criminologist who is now largely regarded as the father of forensic photography.
Mr. Bertillon also used his photography skills to document crime scenes in France. However, these photos were not used in courts of law as the courts could not agree on how they were to be used. In 1890, Bertillon published La Photographie Judiciaire, which outlined rules for a scientifically exact form of identification photography. Some of these rules Mr. Bertillon outlined in his book are still used today in crime scene photography. . However photography was used until around 1907 when police departments stopped using photographs for identification, believing that the science of fingerprinting (recently refined by Francis Galton, a British contemporary of Bertillon) was a more reliable form of identification.
It wasn't until a Chicago photographer by the name of Arthur Fellig or Weegee as he was called became famous for his crime scene photographs. His book Naked City (1945) is a collection of his crime scene photographs.
Crime scene photography became more specialized as police departments began using photos to document crime scenes not only of the position of victims but to document scars, wounds and other identifying marks.
Supreme court rulings began allowing photo graphs to be used in court cases to reconstruct a crime scene for the jury to see.
In 1957 Video tape recorders were first used to document crime scenes. In the 1990 digital cameras became available to take pictures of crime scenes. Up until the digital cameras film was used a crime scene photographers would use 30 to 50 rolls of film to document a crime scene. Now with digital, if the photo isn't right, it is deleted and another photo is taken. Now with the use of drone photography, overhead pictures are easier to get and provide a better over view of the crime scene.
Today's crime scene photographer will have a digital camera with a minimum of 16 mega pixels. However, camera's now days have 24 to 50 mega pixels which can provide the photographer the ability to increase the size of the photo up to 8 feet by 10 feet without making the picture lose is sharpness.
I have a Pentax K 70 with the following features. A Compact and lightweight weather-resistant DSLR
• 24 Megapixel APS-C AA Filter-less CMOS Sensor
• AA Filter Simulator PRIME MII processor w/ accelerator
• Pixel Shift Resolution with motion correction
• PENTAX SR In-body shake reduction
• Dustproof and weather-resistant
• Night vision red light LCD display
• 6 Frames per second continuous shooting
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• 14-bit RAW
I have a 10 to 20mm fish eye lens sometimes called a wide angle lens
I have a 100mm macro lens for close up work.
I have a 18 to 300mm telephoto lens that lets me take photos of things about 1/8 mile away when one can not get closer to take a close up picture. The quality of glass in the telephoto lens is such that long distance photos are as good as a photo taken one foot away.
I also have a 150 to 600mm telephoto lens that also lets me take pictures from half mile away with out spooking a subject.
The camera has a built in flash but I have a ring flash that I can fit on the end of lenses to highlight a small area without overpowering the item being photographed
Digital camera's development is such that one can now buy cameras with 30 to 50 mega pixels that allows a photographer to blow up photos to wall size.
The photos are just a small part of the operation, digital printers are being developed that photos being printed will look just as one would see with one's eyes.
I am planing to upgrade my camera from a 3/4 frame to a full frame design so I can get better photos with more detail and clarity. I will also go from 24 mega pixels to 34 mega pixels a third more mega pixels that my present camera with will provide a better sharper photograph when photos are printed.
With the digital age and drone photography, crime scene photography with go to the next level, providing investigators with better detail and clarity of photos with in the end will give the investagators more information to make determinations of how the crime was committed.
Post student name(s).
Use files to upload and insert photos.
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Student Reflection Activity for Service Learning Projects
Chase Eggert
Linda stephens-davis
Criminalistics
May 1 2018
Differences in bullet entries
I did my final project on the differences of ballistics and how that can be factor when looking at bullet wounds on victims.
To start with i have 4x4x16 Ballistic gel target that will serve as the subject next i choose 22 mag both are 40 grains and one is a hollow point and the other is a full metal jacket(fmj) to keep it the same fps i used the same gun which was a savage 93r22 chambered in 22 mag.
We also fired it from the same distance so there wouldn’t be any change.
The first round we fired is the hollow point and as soon as it entered the gel it started to expand and only went half way through. It also did not retain its shape. So if a investigator or coroner where to look at the would and retrieve the bullet they would be able to look at the tissue tearing inside and how big the exit hole was to determine if it was a hollow point.
The next Round we used was the full metal jacket it had a completely different bullet path because instead of splintering off and staying in the gel it kept its path and went clean through the ballistic gel and into the bullet trap behind it. So this takes effect if you where to look at a victim and if they had a clean entry and a clean exit it would show the investigator that he could find the bullet probably in a wall or any other structure. It also could give you a clear ballistic to what gun was used.
I used the website lucky gunner which is conducting tests right now on different types of ammo and what it is capable of doing. They have tested over 146 ammo types and in different calibers.
The reason for the testing like this is important to police departments not only for looking at victims but if they have to discharge their weapon they know how far it will go in and the likelihood of it causing civilian injury decreased. This is recorded by brass feltcher.comwhich shows the history of why the fbi does these testing and the events that led to these events. Also the reason they use ballistic gel because one they can see the impact and spread of the round and it closely resembles human flesh.
http://www.brassfetcher.com/FBI%20Ammunition%20Protocol/FBI%20Ammunition%20Protocol.html
https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/
I would like to thank colby country trader for providing the ammo and firearm to conduct this test.
