Crime Scene Evidence: A Guide to the Recovery and Collection of Physical Evidence

"Crime Scene Evidence: A Guide to the Recovery and Collection of Physical Evidence" was written by veteran crime scene investigator Mike Byrd. The book is designed to be carried in the field and used as a reference in the recovery, collection, and packaging of crime scene evidence. Categories of evidence covered in this book include impression evidence, forensic biology evidence, trace evidence, firearms evidence and questioned documents. Topics cover most evidence located at crime scenes from fingerprints, including fingerprints on human skin, to recovering bullets from inside walls. The book includes an appendix listing likely evidence found at scenes by type of investigation.

Mike Byrd has been in law enforcement for eighteen years with the Metro Dade Police Department, including five years in uniformed patrol and thirteen years in the department's Major Cases Unit of the Crime Scene Investigation Bureau. He has handled many high profile crime scenes including the Valujet crash, Jimmy Ryce abduction and murder, and the Tamiami Strangler serial killer case.

Mike is a certified police standards instructor for the states of Florida and Arkansas and has developed and instructed many classes in crime scene identification. This includes the "Crime Scene Evaluation and Latent Fingerprint Recovery" class he developed and instructs that has been referred to as the "Field Training Officer's crime scene class." Mike received national recognition for this class when it was awarded the NACO outstanding achievement award.

Mike is a member of the South Florida Forensics Association, Florida Division of the International Association for Identification (having served on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Crime Scene Committee), and the Miami-Dade County Public School Board Criminal Justice Advisory Committee.

Mike has received many awards including the Metro Dade Police Department's Silver Medal of Valor for devotion to duty during the investigation of the Valujet 592 crash.