Shooting reconstruction workshop and forensic presentations

Transcription

1 2010 Leica Geosystems Worldwide HDS User Conference Shooting reconstruction workshop and forensic presentations Conference Location: San Ramon, California, USA (near San Francisco) Main Conference Dates: October 25 27, 2010 Optional Workshop Dates: 24 & 28 October Registration: Shooting reconstruction workshop: A live-fire forensic shooting reconstruction workshop based upon Leica 3D laser scanning is part of a new, dedicated forensics and law enforcement-oriented program at the 2010 Leica Geosystems Worldwide HDS User Conference. This special workshop is presented in cooperation with the Contra Costa County Sheriff s Department and the Albuquerque Police Department. Workshop Title: 3D Laser Scanning of Shooting Scenes and Trajectories Workshop Sunday, October 24th, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Instructor: Mike Haag - Albuquerque Police Department - Major Crime Scene Team Location: Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office Shooting Range at the Marsh Creek Detention Facility, Marsh Creek Road, Clayton, CA, ~40 minute drive from the San Ramon Marriott; attendees must provide own transportation, but Leica Geosystems will assist in organizing car pools, etc. Description: This full-day workshop is only the second of its kind to focus specifically on the use of the Leica ScanStation at shooting incident scenes. The course will include but will not be limited to: Fundamentals of shooting incident reconstruction and trajectory measurement Live fire shooting by the instructor of multiple representative objects from known locations Tips, tricks, techniques for dealing with the crime scene environment, rapid setup, take-down Study of multiple trajectories fired from "unknown" positions (a blind study for the class) Best practices employing specific, advanced techniques in scanning crime scenes that have been learned by the Albuquerque Police Department's Major Crime Scene Team (layered scanning, registration techniques, scanner positioning) Case examples (including presentations of cases that have been presented in court) Examples of advanced software reconstruction techniques (including layering of point cloud data, modeling using Cyclone software, and blending point cloud data with models) Instructor Biography: Mike Haag is a forensic scientist for the Albuquerque Police Department where he is the Technical Leader for their Firearm and Tool Mark Unit. As a member of the Major Crime Scene Team he has used Leica ScanStation on dozens of cases for shooting reconstruction. He has testified in court several times using Leica's Cyclone software as a reference to educate the jury. He is a Distinguished Member of the Association of Firearms and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) and was voted the AFTE Key Member of the Year for

2 Overview of Forensic Presentation Content for the 2010 Leica Geosystems HDS Worldwide User Conference Based on the recent, extremely rapid uptake of High-Definition Surveying (HDS) for public safety and forensics, Leica Geosystems has for the first time added a dedicated Forensic Track to the annual HDS Worldwide User Conference. The Forensic Track is in addition to at least two forensic-specific presentations planned for the general, plenary sessions. Some other plenary sessions will also include some forensic content, as many HDS service providers address these types of applications as part of their activities. General, plenary presentations on forensics Two presentations are currently committed: Use of laser scanning by the Humberside, England, police and the National UK Highways Agency project for investigation of serious road collisions, John Rusted, Humberside Police, England Presentation on the mechanisms and aims, etc. of the project; how, even for our small force, the Leica ScanStation C10 has already become the weapon of choice for documenting fatal or serious road collisions; how easy it is to use and the time savings we have made and can demonstrate. User experience in testing the Leica Geosystems scanners that we own (ScanStation 2 and ScanStation C10) in crippling weather conditions in which we were told they were not designed to work; and, in scanning military-type assets that were about to go to international deployment. Presenter background: A police professional with survey training, John Rusted was originally trained as a highway surveyor in On the police side of his career, John spearheaded the use of EDM s in 1997 to survey incident scenes and most recently drove the adoption of laser scanning for use in forensics by his agency in conjunction with the National UK Highways Agency. **************************** Application and benefits of High-Definition Surveying for the capture of fire and explosion scenes and determination of their root causes, Dr. John DeHaan, Fire-Ex Forensics Inc., California Dr. DeHaan will provide an in-depth look at the use and compelling benefits of laser scanning for fire investigations. Two cases will be detailed: one is a scene analysis of a home fire and explosion in a residential community; the other was a staged vehicle bombing using controlled conditions, including beforeand-after scene analysis as captured by a Leica ScanStation C10 and presented with TruView. Presenter background: Dr. John DeHaan, an internationally recognized consultant in the field of forensic fire investigations, has literally written the book on the subject, Kirk s Fire Investigation, soon to be published in its 7 th edition. Among his other publishing accomplishments are portions of the California District Attorneys Association manuals Arson Investigation and Arson Prosecution, and co-authoring the chapter on Gas Chromatography in Arson and Explosives Analysis in Gas Chromatography in Forensic Science (Ian Tebbett, Ed.). He is also co-author (with David Icove) of Forensic Fire Scene Reconstruction (2004). To maintain international participation in fire investigation, John has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences since Forensic Track presentations This program is currently planned as a half-day with up to six speakers to run in parallel to general sessions on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 26. Organization of this track will be "agency-friendly"; additional, appropriate precautions will be taken to ensure privacy of sensitive case information shown during these sessions. For sensitive presentations in this track, law enforcement agency employees will gather separately. Planned presentations include:

3 Geometric Accuracy Determination at Scenes and Traceability to Standards ; R. Thompson, NIST The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) has programs relevant to Law Enforcement and First Responders. An overview of OLES will include a focus of the Forensic Science Programs. The emerging use of High-Definition Laser Scanning Systems to document crime scenes, shooting incident reconstruction, and vehicle accident investigations also require validated measurements for accuracy in the analysis, results, and potential court presentation. Geometric measurement scales and devices such as the Leica "Twin Target Rod System" and DISTO used to qualify the accuracy of the scene measurements in the point cloud will be discussed. Presenter Biography: Robert M. Thompson is Program Manager, Office for Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) Forensic Science Programs, National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), Maryland. He has Professional Certifications from the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) and is certified in Criminalistics by the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC). Prior to joining NIST, Mr. Thompson was a Senior Firearms and Tool Mark Examiner for 13 years for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Forensic Science Laboratory system. Prior to ATF, Mr. Thompson worked as a Forensic Scientist/Criminalist in crime laboratories with the Washoe County Sheriff's Department (Reno, Nevada), Oregon State Police, and the Genelex Corporation (Seattle, Washington). His court accepted expert testimony includes Firearms/Tool Mark Identification, Proximity Testing, Serology and DNA Examination, Drug Analysis, Hair and Fiber Examination, Blood Spatter Reconstruction, Shoe Print Comparison, and Crime Scene Reconstruction. Mr. Thompson has testified as an expert in Federal and State courts in California, Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Delaware, West Virginia, North Dakota, Minnesota, Virginia, and Alaska. He is published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, Journal for the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners, Proceedings of SPIE The International Society for Optical Engineering, Inside ATF, and the Crime Laboratory Digest. ********************************* Selecting and implementing 3D laser scanning within a police homicide unit ; Sgt. Mike Miller, Cincinnati Police Department, Ohio The City of Cincinnati Police Department currently employs 1057 sworn law enforcement officers and 281 non-sworn employees. It provides a full range of police services within a 79 square mile area and is the primary law enforcement agency for the City of Cincinnati. Within the Investigations Bureau the homicide Unit investigates homicides, all violent or suspicious deaths, fire deaths, police shootings, police use of force resulting in hospitalization, prisoner deaths while in custody, potentially fatal assaults, felony patient abuse and neglect cases, kidnappings and abductions. After a detailed analysis of various 3D laser scanning systems the Department took delivery of a ScanStation C10 and associated Cyclone software in June of Sgt. Mike Miller will describe the steps he took as part of his due diligence in selecting a vendor and the organizational growth that must take place for successful implementation. Presenter Biography: Mike Miller is the supervising Sergeant of the Cincinnati Police Department s Homicide Unit and Criminalistics Squad. Of his eighteen years of law enforcement experience, over fourteen years have been working with major crimes as both a Detective and a Sergeant. As the supervisor of the Criminalistics Squad he oversees a latent processing lab, latent examiners, photo processing lab, ALS / trace lab, forensic video lab and is responsible for processing major crime scenes and evidence for the Cincinnati Police Department and over 100 additional law enforcement agencies. He has training and experience in all facets of investigations and provided court testimony in hundreds of major cases from sex crimes to homicides. *********************************************

4 ScanStation validation in the post-nas report crime laboratory environment ; Mike Haag, Albuquerque Police Department, NM, USA The Metropolitan Forensic Science Center (MFSC), located in Albuquerque, New Mexico is home to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) Crime Lab. The lab is regionally recognized as an outstanding lab and certified by the American Society of Crime Lab Directors/Laboratory Accrediting Board (ASCLD/LAB). Mike Haag is a Supervising Forensic Scientist for the Albuquerque Police Department. As a member of the Major Crime Scene Team he has used the Leica ScanStation on dozens of cases for shooting reconstruction. He has testified in court several times using Leica Cyclone software as a reference to educate the jury. Mr. Haag will present on the methodologies developed by the APD to validate the accuracy of their ScanStation for use in court. Presenter biography: Mike Haag is a forensic scientist for the Albuquerque Police Department where he is the Technical Leader for their Firearm and Tool Mark Unit. As a member of the Major Crime Scene Team he has used Leica ScanStation on dozens of cases for shooting reconstruction. He has testified in court several times using Leica's Cyclone software as a reference to educate the jury. He is a Distinguished Member of the Association of Firearms and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) and was voted the AFTE Key Member of the Year for ******************************************** Laser Scanning in the Courtroom: Getting Your Output Admitted into Trial ; Craig Fries, Precision Simulations, Inc., California Craig will describe actual cases where the power of Leica 3D laser scanning was used to create accurate analyses and animations for the purpose of grabbing and keeping jurors attention at trial. Insights into advanced methodologies and demonstrations of case data will be provided. Due to its confidential content, this presentation will be in the Forensics Track and will be for employees of law enforcement agencies only. Presenter biography: Craig Fries is President of Precision Simulations, Inc. and a pioneer in the use of Leica 3D laser scanning for forensics. He has over ten yeas experience in getting Leica laser scanning data admitted into evidence in trials and was the first forensic expert to successfully have laser scanning data admitted in a U.S. court. He has maintained a 100% admissions rate in trial for his work. His articles on crime and accident reconstruction have appeared in Forensic Magazine, District Attorneys Association Quarterly Journal and Claims Magazine. ********************************* Chicago Police Department's experience using scanning for forensic investigations on over 30 officer-involved shootings ; Det. Herbert Keeler, Police Forensic Investigator, Chicago Police Dept, IL, USA Presenter background: State of Illinois Certified State Peace officer since 1999, including Patrol Responsibilities on the West Side of the City of Chicago; Tactical and Gang officer, Public Housing Section investigating criminal enterprises inside housing developments; Evidence Technician; Currently manages Crime Scene Reconstruction Team (Leica Team), the Laser/Latent section, the IT department within the Chicago Police crime lab, and curriculum development of all training within the forensic section and product evaluation. Chicago Police Forensic Investigators process around 500 murders a year and in excess of 75 police involved shootings a year. Detective Keeler is a member, International Association for Identification; NW3C National White Collar Crime; and, TLOC Terrorism Liaison Officer Committee. ************************************************* Call for backup forensic presentations For various reasons, such as last-minute travel-related problems, scheduled speakers may not be able to participate. To account for his possibility, we try to arrange for appropriate back-up speakers, so we continue to selectively seek candidate back-up speakers (20-25

5 minutes per presentation) for the forensics track. Conference registration fees are waived for speakers including back-ups. If you are interested in being considered a back-up speaker, contact Tony Grissim (tony@lgshds.com; +1 (831) ). Register Early Reserve the dates, talk to command staff or other appropriate management about budgeting for this, and start making firm plans to attend. In addition to main conference attendance, all attendees are also able to register separately for various 1/2-day, hands-on training workshops on Sunday, Oct. 24 and Thursday, Oct. 28. Our limited-capacity, hands-on workshops have separate, nominal fees. Capacity for workshops is limited and many have filled up in the past, so register early. The value of this overall event from a training perspective for your agency and organization should be tremendous. How to Register for Conference and for Workshop Registration information for the conference and for workshops is available at or contact Angelique Ortega, Leica Geosystems, HDSconference@lgshds.com; tel ; fax