FAQ
- What kind of services are included as "forensic services"?
- What services are actually provided?
- What are the professional standards followed?
- What determines the nature of the review and reporting?
- How are services billed?
Q: What kind of services are included as "forensic services"?
A: Services include:
Latent fingerprint
reveiw
Other fingerprint review
Fingerprint processing,
examination,
comparison and
identification
Review of firearms
identification
Other firearms related
review
Firearms examination,
testing, comparison,
and identification
Review of crime scene
investigations
Review of bomb and
explosives related
investigations
Technical review and
assistance regarding
hazardous materials,
weapons of mass
destruction, and
bomb/explosives
Forensic photographic
services
Q:What services are actually provided?
A: Service include the examination and evaluation of work previously conducted in a case. This may include reviewing materials maintained at a law enforcement agency or crime lab, arranging delivery of evidence for supervised examination at the forensic examiner's facilities, and review of reports, photos, or other documents prepared by other examiners in the investigation. It may also entail conducting research into aspects of the technical information, especially to help clarify the nature of the evidence and its meaning. Finally, it may include evidence being provided to the examiner/consultant to process for other evidence, process for latent fingerprints and comparison against standard fingerprints, or if a firearm examine for proper functioning or test firing for comparison against other evidence.
Q: What are the professional standards followed?
A: When I began my career with the Belle Glade Police Department, my mentors impressed onto me the concept that the role of any member of the criminalistic family, whether employed by a law enforcement agency, a crime lab, or an independent private examiner, was to locate, collect, protect, interpret, or provide to another examiner capable of interpreting it, the evidence. Thus it is the examiner's responsibility to provide impartial examination and analysis of the evidence. It is not my role to build a case; rather, it is my job to let the evidence speak, through me, to provide facts that allow the truth to be established. It is not my role to build a legal defense, or to develop tactics to denigrate another examiner's results. It is my most important role to provide quality control and assurance, to review the work of others, and to determine that their work meets the professional standards of the criminalist, and whether their results are beyond question. Finally, it is my role and duyt to educate, to help clients understand the results of prior examinations, and to understand the technical aspects and properties involved in the case.
Q: What determines the nature of the review and reporting?
A: Every case is different. Many may just require the review of reports, photographs, sketches, and other documentary evidence. Others may require travel to an agency holding evidence, where the evidence may be examined and documented by the examiner. In yet other cases, an authorized person may be required to deliver evidence to the examiner, who may then examine the evidence, conduct test fires if necessary, compare evidence under the microscope, all under the supervision of the authorized individual who maintains control of the evidence at all times. In most cases a confidential, written report will be prepared for the client, documenting the evidnece reviewed, the actions of the examiner, any conclusions, plus any technical information relevant to the client's understanding of the evidence. If, at the request of the client, no written report is wanted, the examiner will verbally provide the results to the client.
Q: How are services billed?
A. Services are billed based upon total hours portal to portal for all field work, plus time in office in review of materials and preparation of reports. Further, any court time will be billed on a portal to portal basis.