Crime Scene Investigation Procedural Guide

Those tasked with investigating crime scenes come from a variety of backgrounds and varying levels of experience. Crime Scene Investigation Procedural Guide gives the novice investigator the procedures for almost any crime scene imaginable while providing the seasoned pro a ready reference for crimes occurring even under the most unusual of circumstances. Designed as a stand-alone text or as a companion to Ross Gardner’s Practical Crime Scene Investigation, the book details the precise steps that need to be taken when processing and analyzing a crime scene.

Using a bulleted format for quick, easy access, the authors provide hands-on, concise instruction in a style friendly to a range of professionals. Topics discussed in this practical manual include:

• Preparation for response, initial response, scene management, and scene evaluation/analysis
• Scene photography, videography, sketching, and search and processing procedures
• Steps to be taken prior to releasing the scene
• Response, documentation, processing, and collection of evidence for specific crimes against persons and property
• Evaluation, processing, collection, and preservation of all items of evidence encountered at the scene, including friction ridge evidence, two- and three-dimensional impression evidence, and trace and biological evidence
• Bloodstain pattern documentation and shooting incident documentation

Appendices include direction on working with potential blood-borne pathogens and worksheets for documenting and evaluating the scene and processing various types of evidence. A supplemental CD is included with downloadable forms for crime scene investigations. Adherence to the instructions provided in this guide will help ensure investigators that vital evidence is properly documented and preserved.

Michael Maloney is a private consultant and trainer after retiring from a career in Federal Law Enforcement. He holds a Master of Forensic Science Degree from GWU with a Fellowship in Forensic Medicine. He has 20 years experience as a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Senior Instructor-Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for Death Investigations and Sex Crimes. He is the author of Death Scene Investigation: Procedural Guide and Crime Scene Investigation: Procedural Guide from CRC Press.

Don Housman is a private consultant, educator, and trainer. He retired from a career with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) where he was Chief of the Forensic Consultant Division. He holds a Master of Forensic Sciences degree from GWU with a Fellowship in Forensic Medicine. He has 23 years’ experience as a Special Agent with NCIS, and the FBI. He has co-authored four Forensic related books for the Department of Defense and is the co-author of Crime Scene Investigation: Procedural Guide from CRC Press.

Ross M. Gardner worked for the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC) as a felony criminal investigator for nearly twenty years. He subsequently served four years as the Chief of Police for the City of Lake City, Georgia, a small suburban Atlanta police department. He is now retired and active in independent consulting. Mr. Gardner holds a Master degree in Computer and Information Systems Management from Webster University, a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from Wayland Baptist University and Associates degree in Police Science from Central Texas College. He graduated first in his class at the Scenes of Crime Officers Course, New Scotland Yard, Hendon England. He is a former President of the Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction (ACSR) and has served as the Chairmen of the Education Committee for the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (IABPA). He was a charter member of the FBI’s Scientific Workgroup on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (SWGSTAIN) and chaired the Taxonomy and Terminology sub-committee for over ten years. Mr. Gardner was certified by the International Association for Identification as Senior Crime Scene Analyst from 1990-2012. He remains an active instructor and consultant throughout the United States and the world in crime scene analysis, bloodstain pattern analysis and crime scene investigation; teaching to a variety of groups ranging from investigative organizations to trial counsel professional development groups. He is co-author of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, With an Introduction to Crime Scene Reconstruction, 3rd Edition and Practical Crime Scene Analysis and Reconstruction. Mr. Gardner also authored the text Practical Crime Scene Processing and Investigation 2nd Edition in 2004.