Tag Archives: crime scene

An Expert’s View on DNA Evidence

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Finding DNA

 

NPR recently posted an interesting story entitled “Analysing The Evidence On DNA.” Ira Flatow interviewed Greg Hampikian, Director of the Idaho Innocence Project, about the uses and abuses of DNA evidence. The topics that they discussed include:

  • problems with DNA evidence collection,
  • advantages and disadvantages of the high sensitivity of modern DNA analysis,
  • use of DNA evidence in investigations, and
  • myths about evidence analysis perpetuated by TV shows.

The interview is definitely worth a look (or a listen).

Processing Human Remains: Step by Step

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Morgue

 

CBC News’ Fabiola Carletti reports her interview with Jim Van Allen about evidence collection and processing in her August 21, 2012, posting, “How body parts evidence gets from crime scene to courtroom.” Van Allen, president of the Behavioural Science Solutions Group, describes steps in a real-life dismemberment investigation. The objective of the article is to present the complexity of the investigation process, as opposed to the simplified, rushed approach depicted in some TV shows.

This article is definitely worth a read if you want to infuse your fictional investigation with realism.

Preserving a Crime Scene in 360 Degrees

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Crime Scene

 

Crime scene investigators use a variety of tools to record a crime scene from notebooks and sketchpads to still cameras and video cameras. VPiX® CSI:360 is something different. This crime scene reconstruction software enables investigators to create images of a crime scene in 360°.

Using a digital camera, a technician snaps photos of a crime scene every 90 degrees. The software blends the images into a spherical panoramic projection. But this is more than a virtual tour of the crime scene. The images can be enhanced with evidence markers that display information about evidence or close-ups of evidence. Interactive crime scenes can be exported to computers or viewed on a mobile device. The FBI and many police departments use the software.

If you want to equip your fictional investigators with this latest technology, then check the CSI:360° website for more information.