Introduction

The world of underwater forensic investigation is as new today as was marine archaeology in 1974. Many of the obstacles that marine archaeologists had to contend with then, underwater investigators are revisiting today. Criminals often seek a watery repository for weapons and other evidence of wrongdoing. Many nondivers and most police administrators believe that the police diver’s job is fun, much like the film footage seen on television during Discovery Channel underwater specials and in the movies. Touch is the sense on which the low-visibility underwater investigator must depend, although most teams use underwater metal detectors or search methods to reduce reliance on “hand searches.” The hand search is the foundation on which all underwater searches are based. The Criminal Justice Department at Southwest Texas State University embarked on its journey into the world of public safety diver training in July 1994 with the birth of the Underwater Institute.