• 
  
  
  Home
• 
  
  Backlog
  Reduction
• Laboratory
  Assessment &
  Enhancement
  Services
• 
  
  Customized
  Training
• 
  
  Biometric
  Identification
  • What is it?
  • Why Is It Important? »
    • Corporate Responsibility
  • What Is It Used For? »
    • Kidnap/Ransom
    • Disaster Situations/
                     Incident Investigation
  • Modes of Identification »
    • DNA
    • Friction Ridge Skin
    • Facial Recognition
    • Iris Capture
    • Dental X-Ray
    • Other Modes
  • Risk Assessment & Custom BI
  • FAQs
• 
  
  Other
  Services
  • Law Enforcement
  • Corporate/Insurance
• 
  
  
  Resources
• 
  
  
  About Us
  • Matt Schwarz
• 
  
  
  Contact

In The News

2015-09-24 | Forensic Failures at IL State Crime Labs May Jeopardize Cases
The ABC7 I-Team uncovered a pattern of forensic failures that could put criminal cases in jeopardy and risk thousands of charges and convictions being thrown out. Unreliability in science is like a bull in a china shop: it can wreck everything. The Illinois state crime lab is under fire by a criminal defendant who may have been wrongly charged- using evidence with inaccurate or unreliable test results - and under fire by defense attorneys and experts alarmed by what they see as shoddy science.

2015-09-23 | Austin Police revisiting 123 crimes following technician lapse
How did this go unnoticed by lab managers? Unlike police officers’ reports which are part of a computer-aided call dispatch system, crime scene techs self-generate their own reports in a separate system. Until Thornton’s alleged lapses, there was no regular auditing system. That is about to change.

2015-09-22 | Oregon Lab Analyst Allegedly Stole Prescription Pills from Evidence Locker
Further details about Larsen and the investigation have not yet been released by authorities. However, the Oregon State Police did confirm that a second analyst is under investigation for possible misconduct dating back over a decade.

2015-09-22 | DNA Sequencing Improved by Slowing Down
DNA sequencing is a technique that can determine exact sequence of a DNA molecule. One of the most critical biological and medical tools available today, it lies at the core of genome analysis. Reading the exact make-up of genes, scientists can detect mutations, or even identify different organisms. A powerful DNA sequencing method uses tiny, nano-sized pores that read DNA as it passes through. However, "nanopore sequencing" is prone to high inaccuracy because DNA usually passes through very fast. EPFL scientists have now discovered a viscous liquid that slows down the process up to a thousand times, vastly improving the method's resolution and accuracy. The breakthrough is published in Nature Nanotechnology.

2015-09-21 | Fingerprint ID issues hit Oklahoma
Background fingerprint checks conducted by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation were unreliable 117 times last year, a report has uncovered. "This current system is not designed to handle the volume of cards that are being submitted,” the OSBI said in its Open Records response. “Due to its age, the system requires regular attention from information technology personnel to keep it functioning. Technology in regards to searching algorithms and matchers has increased tremendously in the past decade.”

2015-09-21 | Contextual bias and cross-contamination in the forensic sciences: the corrosive implications for investigations, plea bargains, trials and appeals
Most forensic science evidence is produced in conditions that do not protect the analyst from contextual information about the case that could sway their decision-making. This article explores how these largely unrecognized threats raise real problems for the criminal justice system; from the collection and interpretation of traces to the presentation and evaluation of evidence at trial and on appeal. It explains how forensic analysts are routinely exposed to information (e.g. about the investigation or the main suspect) that is not related to their analysis, and not documented in their reports, but has been demonstrated to affect the interpretation of forensic science evidence.

2015-09-21 | Lawyers, Scientists Try to Unravel Thorny New DNA Standard
"One of the problems was DNA was called the gold standard," Bruce Budowle, director of the University of Texas Health Science Center's Institute of Applied Genetics, said. "Big mistake." DNA analysis provides answers, but there has to be rigorous interpretation of DNA results, the experts said.

2015-09-17 | Digital evidence on VHS tapes
In this day and age, you’d probably be as surprised as we were to learn that many law enforcement agencies around the country are still using VHS tapes to store digital evidence. Most police departments have already stopped using VHS tapes, but still maintain a lot of old digital evidence, some of which is crucial, on VHS tapes. A few months ago, we published a blog post about the Problems with using CDs/DVDs to store digital evidence and today we thought it's important to mention few of the problems you will face in the near future if you continue to use VHS tapes.

2015-09-16 | Studying Gunshot Backspatter by Shooting Live Pigs?
The researchers shot five live pigs and several severed heads from about a meter distance, and from point-blank range. They shot the animals in the center of the forehead, and captured the results using high-speed video imaging, and paper mats to show the splash patterns, as shown in the latest International Journal of Legal Medicine.

2015-09-16 | Forensic review of sexual assault cases ordered after poor practice concerns
Tully’s review comes as forensic scientists warn that Britain’s over-reliance on cheap DNA techniques and the country’s loss of expertise following privatisation of the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in 2012 may have already led to miscarriages of justice. Spending on forensic examinations has shrunk by £20m over the past two years, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) study. In January, the NAO expressed concern that criminal trials could collapse because of problems in the forensic market after the government’s closure of the publicly-owned FSS.