From Scott: After a much-needed hiatus, I have returned to revisit the topic of fingerprints. If you recall from my earlier entries on the subject, we discussed what makes up a fingerprint, how they form, biologically speaking, on your skin,
Read MoreFrom Scott: In the previous six installments of my police investigation series, I focused primarily on the investigation at death scenes for five of them. I covered a number of aspects of these cases, including how we determine if a
Read MoreFrom Scott: The television show CSI has moved fingerprint investigation into the forefront of many stories of crime fiction. It seems like on every episode of the popular TV series, the investigators magically uncover a fingerprint, and thirty minutes later
Read MoreFrom Scott: Last time, our discussion on death scenes included suicides, accidental deaths, and natural deaths. In this week’s blog, we’ll take a look at questionable deaths and homicide scenes. The questionable death scene is a difficult one. Often, there
Read MoreFrom Scott: At the end of the previous installment, I discussed various methods for determining how long a person has been dead. This time, we’re going to take a look at the manner of death: suicide, accidental, and natural. In
Read MoreFrom Scott: A commonly asked question, both at real crime scenes and at those from the world of fiction, is this: how long has the victim been dead? A variety of tools is available to investigators who are looking to
Read MoreFrom Scott: Last time, I talked about the functions and duties of the Coroner’s office, including the work done by the Forensic Pathologist. In this installment, I’ll move forward into police procedures when investigating the death scene. First, I would
Read MoreFrom Scott: As a police officer and a crime scene investigator, I often find errors in the depiction of crime scenes in thriller novels. In prior blogs, I’ve discussed the mistakes I’ve seen writers make with weapons, such as Tasers
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