ABSTRACT
Twenty years ago crime scene investigation centered on photography and fingerprints, although these are still quite important today much has changed. Crime scene investigators through the 1980s were photographers and experts at latent print recovery. Most had a favorite fingerprint brush that was treasured for its unique qualities and was only used for special circumstances. I can still recall being given my first latent print kit in the late 1980s from a retiring NYPD Police Officer by the name of Bill Guido. It was a worn out old box with an array of brushes and powders inside and Bill was quite proud of its years of service. He made it quite clear that one of the brushes within, a red colored ostrich feather brush was special and should be handled with care. It was only to be used on the highest priority cases. I appreciated Bill’s experience and advice and I took good care of his kit and his favorite brush for several years but eventually it was forced into retirement. In today’s world of forensics we can see a contrast between an old treasured fingerprint brush and new disposable brushes that are designed for a single use before they are discarded or else risk cross contaminating DNA evidence. Bill was a great cop and mentor and a fine fingerprint technician but his generation had barely heard of DNA evidence and never benefited from its ability to solve crimes.Much has changed since those years before forensic DNA analysis and much more change is still likely to come. Today a crime scene investigator uses a small arsenal of equipment to process a scene and complete
casework. Upon arrival at the scene the CSI uses an array of tools to document the crime scene and then moves to a second set of tools to search for and recognize probative evidence. Once evidence is located a third set of tools may be required to process or enhance the evidence and then of course additional tools and supplies will be required to collect and package the evidence so it can be safely transported away from the scene for laboratory testing or secure storage.While all of this activity takes place additional tools and supplies are required to protect the scene from contamination as well as protect the investigative team from hazards. It must also be pointed out that accredited crime scene units will be required to validate, calibrate and regularly inspect this equipment which can be a fulltime endeavor in itself.
