Methodological and Technological Advances in Death Investigations

Methodological and Technological Advances in Death Investigations: Application and Case Studies focuses on advancements in both methods and technology in death investigations. Specifically, in the areas of latent fingerprints, facial recognition, wildlife forensics, using aerial vehicles and 3D-ID. The combination of national and international authors and a discussion of the state of forensic science over a decade after the National Academies 2009 Report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, further highlights the boundaries, limitations and context in which these newer technologies and applications act synergistically to enhance forensic science. Synthesizes new and emerging technologies to put them in perspective for researchers and practitioners, such as facial recognition, using aerial vehicles and 3D-ID Includes case studies throughout that explain how certain advanced technologies impact investigations Fills a gap in literature with more cross-disciplinary topics that pertain to death investigations

Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.

An Introduction to Crime Scene Investigation, Fourth Edition is a comprehensive and accurate overview of the practical application of forensic science in crime scene investigation.

Forensic medicine explores the legal aspects of medicine, and medicolegal investigation of death is the most significant and crucial function of it. The nature of post mortem examinations are changing and the understanding of causes of death are evolving with the increase of knowledge, availability, and use of various analyses including genetic testing. Postmortem examination practice is turning into a more multidisciplinary approach for investigations, which are becoming more evidence based. Although there are numerous publications about forensic medicine and post mortem examination, this book aims to provide some basic information on post mortem examination and current developments in some important and special areas. It is considered that this book will be useful for forensic pathologists, clinicians, attorneys, law enforcement officers, and medical students.

Encyclopedia of Forensic and Legal Medicine, Volumes 1-4, Second Edition is a pioneering four volume encyclopedia compiled by an international team of forensic specialists who explore the relationship between law, medicine, and science in the study of forensics. This important work includes over three hundred state-of-the-art chapters, with articles covering crime-solving techniques such as autopsies, ballistics, fingerprinting, hair and fiber analysis, and the sophisticated procedures associated with terrorism investigations, forensic chemistry, DNA, and immunoassays. Available online, and in four printed volumes, the encyclopedia is an essential reference for any practitioner in a forensic, medical, healthcare, legal, judicial, or investigative field looking for easily accessible and authoritative overviews on a wide range of topics. Chapters have been arranged in alphabetical order, and are written in a clear-and-concise manner, with definitions provided in the case of obscure terms and information supplemented with pictures, tables, and diagrams. Each topic includes cross-referencing to related articles and case studies where further explanation is required, along with references to external sources for further reading. Brings together all appropriate aspects of forensic medicine and legal medicine Contains color figures, sample forms, and other materials that the reader can adapt for their own practice Also available in an on-line version which provides numerous additional reference and research tools, additional multimedia, and powerful search functions Each topic includes cross-referencing to related articles and case studies where further explanation is required, along with references to external sources for further reading

Matching DNA samples from crime scenes and suspects is rapidly becoming a key source of evidence for use in our justice system. DNA Technology in Forensic Science offers recommendations for resolving crucial questions that are emerging as DNA typing becomes more widespread. The volume addreses key issues: Quality and reliability in DNA typing, including the introduction of new technologies, problems of standardization, and approaches to certification. DNA typing in the courtroom, including issues of population genetics, levels of understanding among judges and juries, and admissibility. Societal issues, such as privacy of DNA data, storage of samples and data, and the rights of defendants to quality testing technology. Combining this original volume with the new update--The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence--provides the complete, up-to-date picture of this highly important and visible topic. This volume offers important guidance to anyone working with this emerging law enforcement tool: policymakers, specialists in criminal law, forensic scientists, geneticists, researchers, faculty, and students.

"[This book] is an excellent resource for the diverse practitioners and educators who are involved in this nascent area."--Cruse Bereavement Care "[This] book is innovative and timely, challengingthe reader to think 'out of the box.' Sofka,Cupit, and Gilbert provide a framework to explore thanatologyin an online universe while encouraging continuousresearch to adapt to this ever-changing digital world."--Death Studies "Historically we have always employed our foremost technology in the service of the dead. We have used whatever we had at our disposal to mourn, to support, to share memories and to tell stories. Carla J. Sofka, Illene Noppe Cupit, and Kathleen R. GilbertÖ reaffirm that principle reminding us that this new digital world both offers dramatic technologies and creates considerable opportunities to deal with dying, death, and grief. The editors are extraordinarily sensitive to the multiple ways that this new technology has impacted upon the death system or the ways that a society organizes behavior around dying and death. Dying, Death, and Grief in an Online Universe is bound to be a classic." Kenneth J Doka, PhD Professor, The College of New Rochelle Senior Consultant, The Hospice Foundation of America Modern communication technology has profoundly influenced societal practices and views about dying, death, and loss. This text, written for death educators, clinicians, researchers, and students of thanatology, provides current information about "thanatechnology," the communication technology used in providing death education, grief counseling, and thantology research. The book offers a broad overview of how the communication technology revolution affects individuals coping with end-of-life issues, death-related and non-death loss and grief, and implications of the "digital divide" between those who are knowledgeable about and have access to modern technology, and those who are not. It describes the proliferation of online support groups and social network sites to cope with loss, and mechanisms for the memorialization and commemoration of loss. It also highlights blogging as a mechanism for storytelling and SKYPE as a communication tool during times of loss and grief. The unique issue of disenfranchised grief experienced by online community members is also explored along with ethical issues. Appendices provide guidance regarding the online availability of different types of informational support, tools to evaluate the integrity of online resources, and ethical standards. Key Features: Examines the ways in which modern communication technology has revolutionized societal practices and views about dying, death, and loss Offers time-tested strategies for providing death education online Addresses ethical issues related to availability and use of technology Explores the implications of the "digital divide" between technology and non-technology users in relation to issues of death and loss Analyzes how technology has shaped and changed thanatology research

CSA Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,800+ serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.

Written and edited by the most respected authorities in forensic nursing and forensic sciences, this new edition provides the tools and concepts you need to collect evidence that is admissible in court, determine the significance of that evidence, and provide accurate, reliable testimony while administering high-quality patient care. Now in full color throughout, it remains the most comprehensive, highly illustrated text of its kind. Provides a comprehensive, updated guide to forensic nursing science, paying special attention to the International Association of Forensic Nurses’s (IAFN) goals for forensic nursing. Retains a focus on assessment skills and the collection and preservation of evidence, following the established guidelines of the forensic sciences. Prepares you to provide testimony as a fact witness or a forensic nursing expert. Includes an illustrated case study in almost every chapter, helping you relate the information to clinical practice. Highlights important recommendations for interventions in Best Practice boxes, including the evidence base for each. Summarizes important points in Key Point boxes, so you can quickly review the most important concepts in each chapter. Explores the evolving role of forensic nurses in today’s health care facilities and the community. Edited by Virginia Lynch, founding member and first President of the International Association of Forensic Nurses and Janet Barber Duval, both well-respected pioneers and educators in the field. Contains 300 full-color illustrations integrated throughout the text, so you can view evidence quickly and easily, as it is likely to appear in practice. Presents information on courtroom testimony and depositions in one reorganized, streamlined chapter, giving you a full, organized treatment of this extremely important topic. Includes twelve new chapters: Digital Evidence, Medical Evidence Recovery at the Death Scene, Asphyxia, Electrical and Thermal Injury, Intrafamilial Homicide and Unexplained Childhood Death, Human Trafficking, Credential Development for Forensic Nurses, Gangs and Hate Crimes, Ethics Issues in Forensic Nursing, Forensic Physics and Fracture Analysis, Sexual Deviant Behaviors and Crime and Forensic Epidemiology. Contains heavily revised information on Prehospital Evidence, Forensic Investigation in the Hospital, and Human Abuse and Deaths in Custody. Features critical thinking questions with every case study, so you can thoroughly consider the implications of each clinical scenario. Evolve site will include appendices and additional documentation materials.

Computer and Information Technology (CIT) are now involved in governmental, industrial, and business domains more than ever. Thus, it is important for CIT personnel to continue academic research to improve technology and its adoption to modern applications. The up-to-date research and technologies must be distributed to researchers and CIT community continuously to aid future development. The 10th International Conference on Computing and Information Technology (IC 2 IT2014) organized by King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) and partners provides an exchange of the state of the art and future developments in the two key areas of this process: Computer Networking and Data Mining. Behind the background of the foundation of ASEAN, it becomes clear that efficient languages, business principles and communication methods need to be adapted, unified and especially optimized to gain a maximum benefit to the users and customers of future IT systems.

It is my pleasure to place before you the book ''Forensic Analysis - From Death to Justice'' which presents one of the major portions of the broad specialty of Forensic Science comprising mainly of Thanatology and Criminalistics. This book has been designed to incorporate a wide range of new ideas and unique works from all authors from topics like Forensic Engineering, Forensic Entomology and Crime Scene Investigation. I hope that it will be useful to practitioners of forensic medicine, experts, pathologists, law makers, investigating authorities, undergraduate and postgraduate medical school graduates of medicine.

DNA evidence collected from death scenes is an essential tool for law enforcement, death investigators, and forensic pathologists—providing insights into cause and manner of death as well as the identification of the responsible person or persons. Ineffective collection procedures raise the risk of evidence being altered or lost during transportation of the body. Using real death scene photos and actual cases as examples, Forensic DNA Collection at Death Scenes: A Pictorial Guide provides a practical approach to evidence collection with emphasis on proper identification, collection, documentation, and preservation. The first atlas of its kind, it demonstrates best practices for collecting DNA from decedents depending on the circumstances of the death scene and other materials present on the decedent such as clothing, bindings, and other objects. The authors discuss the success of the techniques employed in each scenario and analyze the DNA results obtained. The techniques employed at death scenes can also be applied to sexual assault cases, where DNA is collected from the body after an assault takes place. The increasing applications of evidence-based medicine and forensic science to criminal justice and civil litigation demand that crime scene investigations be more scientific, better organized, and multidisciplinary. This atlas provides a step-by-step guide to effective, uncompromising evidence collection.