September 2009

This issue discusses advances in criminal forensics. Today law enforcement can use data from cell phones, computers, credit cards, pagers, GPS devices, digital evidence, fingerprints, bite marks, blood, DNA, and other chemical and biological evidence to identify perpetrators of crimes. Daily, new challenges are being faced such as the popularity of P2P networks for pornography and the development of hazardous chemical warfare agents in the hands of terrorists and criminals. Cover photograph courtesy of Target Forensic Laboratory.

Articles

• The Need for Mandatory Accreditation and Certification

  By Frank Fitzpatrick, Principal, Forensic Management Consulting, Placentia, California; and Detective Lieutenant Kenneth Martin, Crime Scene Services Section, Massachusetts State Police, Sudbury, Massachusetts
  The recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, contains several controversial recommendations for U.S. law enforcem...

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• Targeting Organized Retail Crime

  By Rick Lautenbach, Manager, Target Forensic Services
  Target operates more than 1,700 stores in 49 states nationwide, employing more than 350,000 team members in stores, distribution centers, and headquarters locations in the United States and overseas. ...

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• The “Miami Barrel”

  By Thomas Fadul, Laboratory Manager, Forensic Identification Section, Miami-Dade Police Crime Laboratory, Miami, Florida
  In the early 1990s several shootings involving Miami, Florida, Police Department officers using Glock firearms received widespread media attention. It also revealed the Glock weapons’ identification...

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• Portable Field Investigative Tools for Law Enforcement

  By Eamonn McGee, Senior Forensic Technologist, Centre of Forensic Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Technical Advisor, Ontario Provincial Police Provincial Emergency Response Team
  Just over seven years ago, letters laced with anthrax spores killed five people in the United States, closed Congress and the Supreme Court, and crippled mail service for months. No other anthrax atta...

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• Helping Local Police Departments Solve Cold Cases

  By Chuck Heurich, Program Manager, Investigative and Forensic Sciences Division, National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
  Every day across the United States, investigations slow or stop, causing cases to go unsolved. Many police agencies lack the manpower, equipment, and funding to support units dedicated to investigatin...

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• Speed-Measuring Devices

  By Sarah Horn, Program Manager, Division of State and Provincial Police, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Alexandria, Virginia
  In the late 1940s, law enforcement began using speed-measuring devices to enforce speed laws and regulations. Since then, technological advances have made speed-measuring devices more compact and soph...

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• Fighting Internet Child Pornography —The Brazilian Experience

  By Paulo Fagundes, Director, Federal Police of Brazil, Brasilia, Distrito Federal
  Millions of children are developing virtual friendships around the world by connecting through the Internet. It is in this innocent environment that pedophiles are also aggressively targeting the rela...

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• Forensic Science: A Critical Concern for Police Chiefs

  By Joseph Polski, Chief Operating Officer, International Association for Identification, Mendota Heights, Minnesota, and member of the IACP Forensic Science Committee
  On February 18, 2009, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a long-awaited report from its committee charged with identifying the needs of the forensic science community. The final 254-page re...

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