All of the books on crime scene investigations and forensic
science listed on this page were written by a state or local police officer or other law enforcement
official.
Chief Deputy (Retired) Rod Englert, a 43-year veteran of law enforcement, retired
as Commander of the Operations Division, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in Portland, Oregon, in 1995. He started his career
with the Downey, California Police Department after graduating from the Los Angeles Police Academy. In 1969 Chief Deputy Englert
moved to Portland, Oregon and joined the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. A large portion of Chief Deputy Englert's career
has been associated with working major crimes, narcotics and homicide. His expertise is in the area of homicide crime scene
reconstruction and blood spatter interpretation.
Rod Englert received a Bachelor's degree in Police Administration from California
State University at Los Angeles and has done post-graduate work in psychology. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy,
where he was President of the 159th Session. Rod Englert is the author of Blood Secrets: Chronicles of a Crime
Scene Reconstructionist.
Larry Ragle is the retired Director
of Forensic Sciences in Orange County, California. During his career he has investigated countless high-profile homicides,
including lending his expertise to the defense team in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Larry Ragle was a criminalistics major
at UC Berkeley where he received a Bachelors of Science degree in 1959. This program focused on laboratory examination of
all types of physical evidence and on crime scene investigation techniques. Larry Ragle began his law enforcement career with
the Berkeley Police Department in 1956. He was a police officer for the Berkeley
Police Department until 1960. Larry Ragle is the author of Crime Scene.
According to the book description
of Crime Scene, “Each week, millions
of Americans tune in to watch CSI and CSI-Miami. Featuring the latest forensic fads and tools, these shows take a seemingly
unsolvable mystery and unravel it in a primetime hour based on minute pieces of evidence
to solve the crime. Just how do Forensic Teams and Labs accomplish these amazing feats? How do they turn a stray piece of
hair into the key clue that leads police to the criminal? In Crime Scene, Larry Ragle offers the benefit of his 43+ years of experience and walks us through real-life
crime cases to explain how different forensic methods are used and applied.”
Alan Caddell is a Commander
with the Santa Ana Police Department. He holds a Master of Arts in Education from Pepperdine University and is a graduate
of the POST Master Instructor Development Program. A trainer for over 15 years, Alan has extensive experience and expertise
in the area of instruction design and technology. Alan has taught advanced PowerPoint and on-line training for POST and other
law enforcement presenters and is currently teaching a variety of programs.
Alan Caddell is the
Co-author of Crime Scene Investigation. According to the book description, “Focusing on the basics of crime scene investigation as it should
be done by professionals, this book shows how to do a perfect job; its emphasis is on proven evidence, collection, and analysis.
It provides a high level of relevant and realistic information needed to process crime scenes in today's environment. Generously
illustrated with photographs, the book clearly demonstrates techniques used by field and lab personnel to preserve, process,
and analyze a wide variety of evidence. Career profiles of working professionals in the field and actual case histories document
how crime scene investigation is successfully used to solve crimes. For professionals in a variety of forensic science fields,
including firearms examiners, fingerprint examiners, serologists, toxicologists, photographers, journalists, crime scene investigators,
and others in the field of law and law enforcement.”
According to one reader/reviewer,
“As a former police reserve officer, I spent years requesting CSI with little understanding of just what they do. This
book goes well beyond lifting fingerprints and other routine tasks that police officers are typically limited to. I now have
a better awareness of the capabilities of CSI and considerations about how to protect a scene and how CSI can be used to investigate
certain crimes. I also have a greater appreciation for CSI personnel and the difficult job they have. I liked the book and
believe it would be helpful to anyone in law enforcement.”
A former lieutenant
with the Santa Ana Police Department (California) and professor emeritus from Santa Ana College, Thomas F. Adams is the author
of five books: Introduction to the Administration
of Criminal Justice; Training Officers' Handbook; Harden the Target : A Guide to Defense of Life, Limb, and Loved Ones; Law
Enforcement - An Introduction To The Police Role In The Community; and Police Field Operations. He is the co-author
of a sixth: Crime Scene Investigation.
According to the book
description of Crime Scene Investigation,
it “serves as a useful handbook to guide the law enforcement professional through the important process of crime scene
investigation. Attempts to help the crime scene investigator accomplish the goal of doing a better job and raise accepted
standards”
Inspector
Mark Hawthorne is a 28 year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department. He has been assigned patrol, field operations
and investigations. His current assignment is Crime Scene Investigations. As a POST instructor he specializes in Instructor Development, Preliminary Investigations
and Crime Scenes. As a an adjunct faculty member of the City College of San Francisco
Administration of Justice and Fire Science Department he acts as an advisor to the Forensic Science Club. Inspector Mark Hawthorne
is the author of First Unit Responder: A Guide
for Physical Evidence Collection for Patrol Officers and Fingerprints: Analysis and Understanding.
According
to the book description of First Unit Responder:
A Guide for Physical Evidence Collection for Patrol Officers, “Physical evidence cannot be wrong; it cannot
perjure itself; it cannot be wholly absent. Only its interpretation can err. Only human failure to find it, study and understand
it, can diminish its value." -Presiding Judge, Harris v U.S., 331 U.S. 145 (1947) HOW TO MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF THE CRIME
SCENE WHILE CONDUCTING AN INVESTIGATION. First Unit Responder: A Guide to Physical Evidence Collection for Patrol Officers
is a training guide and reference for patrol officers and criminal investigators, who conduct preliminary investigations of
crime scenes, to aid in identification, collection, and booking of physical evidence. Written by a veteran of 24 years of
law enforcement, the book stresses the importance of understanding the critical nature of physical evidence and preservation
of the crime scene as part of the case against a criminal defendant. This book is an important tool for police academies that
train recruits and veteran patrol officers, as well as for students of criminal justice who seek guidelines for proper collection
and handling of physical evidence”
According
to Corporal Andreas K. Mendel, NCO in Charge, Forensic Identification Section, West Vancouver Police, in Canadian Society
of Forensic Science Journal, “Mark Hawthorne's easy writing style and use of personal anecdotes make this book a relaxed
read. First Unit Responder is a good resource for recruit training or criminal justice/criminology students, or as review
material for seasoned investigators.”
Lou Savelli, who has
spent all of his 23 years in law enforcement in the streets, is one of the most decorated officers in NYPD history and has
received over 100 medals for bravery, outstanding police work, life saving rescues, and record setting investigations. He
retired in 2004 as the Detective Squad Commander of the NYPD's Terrorism Interdiction Unit, which he co-founded after 9-11-01
as a proactive counter-terrorism investigative unit responsible to aggressively seek out and investigate terrorist cells in
New York.
Lou Savelli was chosen
as one of the top 10 of NYPD's most effective leaders of all ranks (out of nearly 20,000 qualified supervisors) and the first
supervisor featured in NYPD's Leadership Training School newsletter because of his innovation and success in the field of
leadership. He created NYPD's first citywide gang unit called CAGE (Citywide Anti Gang Enforcement) which was awarded the
National Gang Crime Research Center's award for The Most Effective Gang Unit in the US.
Lou Savelli is the author of eight books in the “Pocket Guide Series:” Guide to Basic Crime Scene Investigation; Gangs Across American and the Symbols;
Graffiti Pocket Guide; Street Drugs Pocket Guide; Practical Spanish for Law Enforcement; Identity Theft; Cop Jokes; and A
Proactive Law Enforcement Guide for the War on Terror.
According to the description
of a Guide to Basic Crime Scene Investigation,
“An outstanding resource to have with you at every scene! Covers the time tested investigation strategies that ensure
ironclad cases and successful prosecutions. Includes step-by-step instructions on appropriate approach tactics: scene search
strategies; evidence collection; interviewing witnesses; closing a scene; initial documentation techniques; controlling the
media; and, establishing and securing a scene.
It also includes helpful photographs, diagrams and illustrations to facilitate understanding.”
Steven
C. Drielak is a retired Lieutenant from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
His last assignment was as the commanding officer of the Environmental Crimes Unit. After leaving the Suffolk County
District Attorney’s Office, Steven Drielak became the Director, Homeland Security Program, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. Steven Drielak is the author of Hot Zone Forensics: Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Evidence Collection and Environmental
Crime: Evidence Gathering and Investigative Techniques. He is also the
co-author of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Response
and Investigation with Thomas Brandon.
According
to the book description of Environmental Crime:
Evidence Gathering and Investigative Techniques, “The purpose of this book is to guide the new criminal investigator
who is about to enter the highly-regulated and complex field of criminal environmental investigation. This type of criminal
investigation has a "steep learning curve." Every hazardous waste evidence-gathering operation is strictly regulated by numerous
laws and mandated procedures. This book has been written in a format that will take the new investigator successfully through
this learning process. In addition, the text provides the comprehensive procedures and techniques necessary to successfully
complete a criminal environmental investigation. Some of the major issues addressed include training, equipment, available
resources, gathering probable cause, search warrant team structure, search warrant execution, gathering evidence in a hot
zone, drum tracing techniques, and sampling and analysis for criminal evidence. Each of the investigative techniques and procedures
described in the book have been successfully used in criminal environmental prosecutions, and each chapter has been designed
as a comprehensive reference to assist the environmental investigator with the individual tasks he or she may face.”
According
to the book description of Hot Zone Forensics:
Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Evidence Collection, “Hot Zone Forensics is a detailed description of
the evidence collection protocols that will be required in criminal cases involving the release of a chemical agent, biological
agent, or radiological material. This book sets the standards for the methods that may be used by local, state and federal
investigative law enforcement officers when locating and collecting hazardous evidence in airborne, liquid, solid, surface
and dermal form. Sampling protocols from OSHA, NIOSH, EPA, DOE, CDC, Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Biological Weapons
Convention have each been examined in an effort to provide law enforcement with a clear understanding of the many underlying
evidence collection and prosecution issues associated with this type of criminal evidence collection. Detailed evidence collection
protocols and equipment requirements for chemical, biological and radiological evidence are provided along with complete explanations
as to why each protocol is recommended. The recommended collection protocols provided in this book have been designed to meet
the many rigorous challenges that may be faced during the criminal trial process. Criminal investigators and prosecutors will
find this book a useful guide when establishing their own evidence collection standards for chemical, biological, and radiological
evidence.”
Michael
W. Byrd joined the Miami-Dade County Police Department in 1985. He began working
in their Crime Scene Investigation Bureau in 1987. Michael Byrd passed away in
2004. Michael Byrd published over 30 articles on crime scene investigations and
evidence handling. He is the author of Crime Scene Evidence: A Guide to the Recovery and Collection of Physical Evidence.
According
to the book description of Crime Scene Evidence:
A Guide to the Recovery and Collection of Physical Evidence, “The purpose of this book is to give the investigator
a quick and easy reference guide to the collection, handling, and packaging of crime scene evidence. It is meant to assist
everyone working in the field of evidence collection--from the first responding officer, to the newly assigned investigator,
to the savvy veteran with many crime scene responses under his/her belt. The first responding officer may find himself/herself
involved in a situation where he/she will need to collect a particular piece of evidence for whatever reason. In the beginning
the crime scene trainee, regardless of their previous experience, can often times find that the job appears to be overwhelming.
This is usually due to the abundant task and knowledge required to fulfill the duties of a crime scene investigator or evidence
recovery technician. On the same pretext, the crafty veteran may find himself/herself assigned to do a task that he/she hasn't
performed in a long time. As in any occupation if something is not done on a continuous basis, the basic knowledge need for
completing that task may be temporarily forgotten. Hopefully this text will assist everyone in carrying out the task of crime
scene evidence recovery and collection with ease.”
Randal Davis has been an Investigator or Police Officer with departments in the Los Angeles and Orange County
areas for 26 years. As a Police Officer and District Attorney Bureau of Investigation Investigator, he has conducted or participated
in thousands of criminal investigations and arrests. His expertise and experience is in criminal investigations, patrol procedures,
and crime scene investigation. Investigation assignments have included Homicide, Gangs, the Tri-Agency Resource Gang Enforcement
Team, Narcotics Enforcement Team, Major Narcotics, Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs, Crime Scene Investigation, Felony Investigations,
Drug Endangered Children, and Officer Involved Shootings. He has received considerable training and experience in
Crime Scene Investigation, Homicide Investigation, the California Street Terrorism Act, Patrol Procedures, General Criminal
Investigation, Narcotics, Sexual Assault, and Crimes Against Children.
Randal holds a Masters degree in Criminal
Justice (with honors) and a Bachelors degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from California State University
Long Beach. Davis is a Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society member. He has been an Adjunct Professor teaching Criminal Justice courses
at Santa Ana and Santiago Canyon Colleges since 1997. He has also been a guest instructor at Western State Law School. Since
1992 Randal has been a P.O.S.T. (California Peace Officer's Standards and Training) instructor for the Orange County Sheriff’s
Dept., instructing courses in Homicide Investigation, Criminal Law, Ethics, Professionalism, Weapons Laws, Search and Seizure,
Crimes Against Persons, Constitutional Law, and Civil Rights. Randal also previously taught P.O.S.T. law enforcement investigator
courses at the Golden West College Criminal Justice Center. Prior to the 26 years of Los Angeles and
Orange Counties experience, his background includes three years of law enforcement duties with the U.S. Army Military Police,
including assignments in Supervision, Patrol, Investigation, Undercover Narcotics, and Traffic Accident Investigation. According
to the book description of Evidence Collection & Presentation, “This book is designed
to introduce the concepts involved in collecting and presenting audio and visual evidence. The students will also be introduced
to the documentation methods for preserving visual evidence. The text gives the student and understanding of the courtroom
technology available for presentation methods utilizing audio and visual means. The disciplines include digital photography,
film photography, video, voice and audio recordings.”
|