Practical Crime Scene Processing and Investigation, Third Edition

1 Introduction

2 Understanding the Nature of Physical Evidence

3 Actions of the Initial Responding Officer

4 Processing Methodology

5 Assessing the Scene

6 Crime Scene Photography

7 Crime Scene Sketching and Mapping

8 Narrative Descriptions: Crime Scene Notes and Reports

9 Basic Skills for Scene Processing: Light Technology

10 Basic Skills for Scene Processing: Fingerprint Evidence

11 Basic Skills for Scene Processing: Impression Evidence

12 Shooting Scene Documentation and Reconstruction

13 Applying Bloodstain Pattern Analysis in the Crime Scene

14 Special Scene Considerations

15 The Body as a Crime Scene

16 The Role of Crime Scene Analysis and Reconstruction

Appendix A Crime Scene Equipment

Appendix B Risk Management

Appendix C Miscellaneous Forms

Biography

Ross Martin Gardner worked in law enforcement for nearly 29 years. The vast majority of that period was spent with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, performing duties as a special agent and command sergeant major. In 1999, Ross retired from the military to take a position as a chief of police in a small suburban Atlanta police department. He served in that position until 2003, when he quit public service to become a full-time consultant and instructor. Ross is currently the vice president of Bevel, Gardner, and Associates, a forensic education and consulting group.

Ross holds a master’s degree in computer and information systems management from Webster University, a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Wayland Baptist College, and an associate’s degree in police science from Central Texas College. In 1985 he attended and graduated first in his class from the Scenes of Crime Officers Course, New Scotland Yard. Between 1988 and 1996 he served as an adjunct professor for Central Texas College. He is a member of a number of professional associations and has served in a variety of positions, including president of the Rocky Mountain Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (RMABPA), president of the Association of Crime Scene Reconstruction (ACSR), chairman of the Education committee for both the RMABPA and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (IABPA), and chairman of the Taxonomy and Terminology Committee Scientific Workgroup on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (SWGSTAIN).

Ross is certified as a senior crime scene analyst by the International Association for Identification and is an active instructor in crime scene processing, crime scene analysis, and bloodstain pattern analysis. Throughout his career he has taught for police agencies (national and international), police academies, law enforcement professional associations, and trial counsel professional associations, and has written a number of articles. He has qualified as an expert in bloodstain pattern analysis and crime scene analysis in both state and federal court. Ross co-wrote Bloodstain Pattern Analysis: With an Introduction to Crime Scene Reconstruction, 3rd edition, and Practical Crime Scene Analysis and Reconstruction with Captain Tom Bevel (Ret.), OKC PD. In 2007, Ross contributed a chapter to the Wiley Forensic Encyclopedia.

Donna Krouskup has been with the Denton County Police Department in Texas since 2004 and a Crime Scene Investigator since 2008. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Chemistry from the University of North Texas and has extensive training and experience in various aspects of crime scenes investigation including: latent print development, sexual assault investigations, 3D laser scanners, digital imaging and video recovery, forensic photography, death investigation, shooting incident reconstruction, and bloodstain pattern analysis.. She is a member of both the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (IABPA) and the Texas Division of the International Association for Identification (TXIAI).