Forensic Investigations: An Introduction

The terms forensic investigator and forensic investigation are part of our cultural identity. They can be found in the news, on television, and in film. They are invoked, generally, to imply that highly trained personnel will be collecting some form of physical evidence with eventual scientific results that cannot be questioned or bargained with. In other words, they are invoked to imply the reliability, certainty, and authority of a scientific inquiry.

Using cases from the authors’ extensive files, Forensic Investigations: An Introduction provides an overview of major subjects related to forensic inquiry and evidence examination. It will prepare Criminal Justice and Criminology students in forensic programs for more specialized courses and provide a valuable resource to newly employed forensic practitioners. Written by practicing and testifying forensic professionals from law enforcement, academia, mental health and the forensic sciences, this work offers a balanced scientific approach, based on the established literature, for broad appeal.

The purpose of this book is to help students and professionals rid themselves of the myths and misconceptions they have accumulated regarding forensic investigators and the subsequent forensic investigations they help to conduct. It will help the reader understand the role of the forensic investigator; the nature and variety of forensic investigations that take place in the justice system; and the mechanisms by which such investigations become worthy as evidence in court. Its goals are no loftier than that. However, they could not be more necessary to our understanding of what justice is, how it is most reliably achieved, and how it can be corrupted by those who are burdened with apathy and alternative motives.

Brent E. Turvey spent his first years in college on a pre-med track only to change his course of study once his true interests took hold. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Portland State University in Psychology, with an emphasis on Forensic Psychology, and an additional Bachelor of Science degree in History. He went on to receive his Masters of Science in Forensic Science after studying at the University of New Haven, in West Haven, Connecticut.

Since graduating in 1996, Brent has consulted with many agencies, attorneys, and police departments in the United States, Australia, China, Canada, Barbados and Korea on a range of rapes, homicides, and serial/ multiple rape/ death cases, as a forensic scientist and criminal profiler. He has also been court qualified as an expert in the areas of criminal profiling, forensic science, victimology, and crime reconstruction. In August of 2002, he was invited by the Chinese People's Police Security University (CPPSU) in Beijing to lecture before groups of detectives at the Beijing, Wuhan, Hanzou, and Shanghai police bureaus. In 2005, he was invited back to China again, to lecture at the CPPSU, and to the police in Beijing and Xian - after the translation of the 2nd edition of his text into Chinese for the University. In 2007, he was invited to lecture at the 1st Behavioral Sciences Conference at the Home Team (Police) Academy in Singapore, where he also provided training to their Behavioral Science Unit. In 2012 Brent completed his PhD in Criminology from Bond University in Gold Coast, Australia.

He is the author of Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Editions (1999, 2002, 2008, 2011); co- author of the Rape Investigation Handbook, 1st and 2nd Editions (2004, 2011), Crime Reconstruction 1st and 2nd Editions (2006, 2011), Forensic Victimology (2008) and Forensic Fraud (2013) - all with Elsevier Science. He is currently a full partner, Forensic Scientist, Criminal Profiler, and Instructor with Forensic Solutions, LLC, and an Adjunct Professor of Justice Studies at Oklahoma City University. He can be contacted via email at: bturvey@forensic-science.com.

Stan Crowder is a retired U.S. Army Military Police Colonel. During his military career, Stan served in numerous positions including: MP Commander, Chief of Investigations for the Inspector General of Georgia, Counterdrug Commander, Battalion Commander, and Chief of Personnel. He served seven years as a civilian police officer; 5 years with Cobb County (GA) PD and 2-years with Marietta (GA) PD. He teaches at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA, where he has been teaching since 1999 and was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Betty Siegel teaching award. His teaching areas include: Criminal Investigations, Serial Offenders, Forensic Victimology, Criminal Profiling, and Ethics in Criminal Justice. Stan has a Ph.D., MBA, and BS. He is the President of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists and the past president of the Cobb County Law Enforcement Association. He has written three textbooks with Dr. Brent Turvey: Ethical Justice: Applied Issues for Criminal Justice Students and Professionals, Anabolic Steroid Abuse in Public Safety Personnel, and Forensic Investigations: An Introduction published by Elsevier. He has contributed chapters to other textbooks. He has published articles on teaching and criminal profiling. In June 2017, Dr. Crowder was appointed to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council as an advisory member. He can be contacted at: scrowder@kennesaw.edu.