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Volume 14, Issue 2 – October 2013

Message from the Director

I recently attended a Leadership Conference in Queensland which was convened by Superintendent Brian Huxley, Operations Commander, Forensic

Services Group, Queensland Police Service. As part of the conference I was invited to moderate a panel session consisting of six senior and experienced investigators. The panel were asked to speak about their expectations of forensic science related to four scenarios which included a series of break and enter offences culminating in a homicide, a series of offences involving stolen vehicles and ram raids, a death in custody and a terrorist incident.

Working through the scenarios, it became quite apparent that there are not only expectations from investigators but also expectations from the general public about the role forensic science plays in real case situations. This includes the timeliness of the response.

Historically, backlogs have prevented forensic science playing a real role in crime prevention, crime reduction and reduced fear of crime. However, as the backlogs reduce through the introduction of practices such as at-scene triage, concepts such a ‘RapidLab’ and the ‘digital transfer’ of fingerprints we should start playing an increasing role in these areas.

This came out clearly in the panel discussion along with a need for a greater focus on forensic intelligence. Forensic science needs to move on from the single case, court focus so that we become more relevant from an investigative and intelligence perspective.

The panel was a great initiative and proved again from my perspective that you are never too old to learn!

Alastair Ross AMDirector, ANZPAA NIFS

International Society of Forensic Genetics Congress 2013

Recently, we were proud to part of the International Society of Forensic Genetics Congress held here in Melbourne. Over 550 people attended from over 49 countries. Invited speakers included Professor. Sir Alec Jeffreys (University of Leicester), Professor. Dir. Eske Willerslev (Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen), Dr. Christopher Tyler-Smith (Wellcome Trust, Cambridgeshire), Dr. John Buckleton and Dr. SallyAnn Harbison (from Environmental Science & Research), A/Prof Jeremy Austin (University of Adelaide) and Dr. Rebecca Johnson (Australian Museum, Sydney).

Speakers at the congress also provided presentations on a hugely comprehensive range of topics on forensic genetic issues such as new technologies, DNA analysis and interpretation, next generation sequencing and population genetics. Running alongside the conference were ten workshops including forensic DNA evidence interpretation, DVI for biologists, Genomics, mRNA body fluid testing, forensic DNA phenotyping, ancestry analysis, wildlife forensics and DNA lineage marker interpretation.

Thanks to Professor Adrian Linacre (Congress President) for helping to secure this well renowned international congress here in Australia – especially for the auspicious occasion of their 25th anniversary. Thanks also to John Scheffer for being part of the organisation team with Adrian and I. I would also like to personally thank all those nationally and internationally who helped contribute to making the conference such a success and all those who participated and attended. If you missed the conference and want to view the presentations you can do so here: http://isfg2013.org/cms/program

Dr Linzi Wilson-Wilde OAM General Manager ANZPAA NIFS

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New course offering from the National Forensic Science Technology Center®

NFSTC’s Introduction to Crime Scene Investigation online course was developed for new crime scene investigators and law enforcement first responders and offers a step-by-step introduction to scene processing and evidence collection. An introduction to crime scene photography is also included. Introduction to Crime Scene Investigation presents the knowledge, skills and techniques required to recognise, document, collect, preserve and transmit physical evidence according to guidelines recommended by the US Technical Working Group on Crime Scene Investigation (TWGCSI).

The course takes approximately 16 hours to complete. Users will have access to the course for 60 days after purchase. A certificate of completion will be issued to students successfully completing the course. Cost: $129.

For more information or to access the course please go to:

http://www.nfstc.org/service/forensics-training/online-course-intro-to-csi

Image source: © NFSTC

Madeleine Deveson

ANZPAA NIFS has been pleased to again host a legal policy research intern. Madeleine Deveson is a final year postgraduate law student based at Monash University’s city campus.

She is undertaking a legal internship with ANZPAA

NIFS as part of her qualification.

Madeleine graduated with a bachelor’s degree in optometry from the University of Melbourne in 2004 and subsequently practised optometry for eight years. Madeleine also lived in South America with her husband for a year, volunteering and studying Spanish.

In 2012, Madeleine completed an internship in North Carolina, USA, with a not-for-profit group set up to assist refugees and asylum-seekers with immigration law matters.

Madeleine’s project at ANZPAA NIFS involved researching the law surrounding ‘New Psychoactive Substances’ or NPSs. NPSs are drugs that have effects like heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine.

However, unlike heroin and other well-known drugs, NPSs may be legal if their chemical or other characteristics are different enough to the original drug.

This presents novel challenges to police and others involved in reducing the harms associated with illicit drug use. Through this project, Madeleine hopes to highlight the need for a consistent approach among the jurisdictions of Australia and New Zealand.

Madeleine lives in Melbourne with her husband, her two miniature schnauzers and her cat.

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The identification of insects associated with a corpse and their specific insect biology in the context of a crime scene is used to provide the best estimation of a

minimum post-mortem interval. In many cases when insect material is observed at homicides, suspicious deaths and suicides then the medical examiner, coroner, pathologist or trained forensic field officer will call an entomologist. In some cases, although not ideal, any one of these attending persons may do the collections on behalf of the entomologist.

Crime scene protocols suggest that all care must be taken in the collection of entomological evidence and this should be gathered only by individuals that have knowledge and experience and/or accreditation as a practitioner in this activity.

In many countries only a small number of personnel, both pathologist and law enforcement are well trained in the collection and preservation of insect material at a crime scene. Furthermore, only a small number of forensic teams have forensic entomology information sheets and tools in their crime scene kits.

The University of Western Australia, Centre for Forensic Science have designed in partnership with the Italian Law Enforcement a Forensic Entomology App for both android and iphone use. The name of the App is SMARTINSECTS Forensic Entomology. It has four versions at present English, Italian, Chinese (Mandarin) and Brasilian-Portugese.

• SMARTINSECTS is purely designed to guide the crime scene technician or proxy for collecting and preserving entomological samples collected directly or from the immediate surrounds of a corpse.

• SMARTINSECTS is divided in sections such as: crime scenes (corpse exposed, buried, in water, in mortuary), general concepts, insect pictures, guidelines for sampling, preservation and storage of insect material and collection of environmental data.

• SMARTINSECTS is a tool for law enforcement, pathologists and veterinarians who require immediate information when processing insects at a crime scene or in a mortuary on a decomposed corpse/carcass.

• SMARTINSECTS can be used by educators and instructors teaching biology, forensic entomology, forensic science and crime scene investigation.

All information in SMARTINSECTS is for instructional and training purposes only. It contains no information about interpretation or analyses of entomological evidence.

Entomological evidence that is likely to eventuate in court proceedings should be analysed by individuals who have demonstrable experience and credentials in the analyses and interpretation of insects collected as part of a medico-legal investigation.

For any further information please contact Winthrop Professor Ian Dadour Director/Forensic Entomologist Centre for Forensic Science, University of Western Australia. Phone: +618 64887286,

Email: ian.dadour@uwa.edu.au

image source: ©SmartInsects

Best papers now on ANZPIRe ANZPIRe is a password protected database for cross-jurisdictional research.

All abstracts of papers that are submitted as part of the ANZPAA NIFS Best Paper Awards are also listed on the database.

If you wish to access ANZPIRe please go to:

http://www.anzpaa.org.au/anzpire

New Forensic Entomology Apps

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End-to-end ProcessesThe report related to the outcomes of the jurisdictional workshops was presented to the ANZPAA NIFS Forum meeting on Friday 15 March. The report will now be prepared for presentation to the ANZPAA Board.

Interfaces ProjectThe Interfaces Project is exploring how forensic medical practitioners, forensic scientists and law enforcement interact during investigations of homicide and/or sexual assault. The final report for this project was presented to the ANZPAA NIFS Forum meeting on Friday 15 March. The report will now be prepared for presentation to the ANZPAA Board.

Centres of SpecialisationSimilar to the End-to-end and Interfaces projects, the final report for this project was presented to the ANZPAA NIFS Forum meeting on Friday 15 March. The report was presentated to the ANZPAA Board and the project is now complete.

New DNA TechnologyThis project is an initiative from the Australia New Zealand Police Commissioners’ Forum (ANZPCF) to investigate new DNA methods (such as familial testing and predictive DNA testing). The project investigates the technological and legal implications. ANZPAA NIFS has developed draft policy options for familial searching and predictive DNA testing. The legislative issue around this have been referred to the Justice sector. ANZPAA NIFS now has a watching brief on technology advances.

Standardisation of DNA InterpretationThis project involves developing national standards for the interpretation and reporting of DNA profiles. The Statistics Scientific Working Group (Stats SWG) and the BSAG are working on nationally agreed policy for the interpretation of DNA profiles, which will then be coupled to a software solution.

The software has been developed largely by Forensic Science South Australia and ESR Forensic, New Zealand.

The software has been finalised and has been implemented into government laboratories. The project is nearing finalisation.

After the Fact (AtF)The Crime Scene Proficiency Advisory Committee (CSPAC) and the NFSTC have developed the scenarios for the 2013 tests, which has been distributed to laboratories.

A pilot using AtF as part of a suite of competency assessments is being conducted with several police forces in England and Wales through the College of Policing and feedback has been received from practitioners who trialled AtF in Hong Kong.

CSPAC continues to play a critical role in ensuring crime scene proficiency tests are available and completed on an annual basis.

Forensic StandardsThis project involves developing a framework for Forensic Standards. All core Standards and two discipline standards have been published as follows:

• AS 5388.1 Forensic Analysis Part 1: Recognition, recording, recovery, transport and storage of material; and

• AS 5388.2 Forensic Analysis Part 2: Analysis and examination of material.

• AS 5388.3 Forensic Analysis Part 3: Interpretation.

• AS 5388.4 Forensic Analysis Part 4: Reporting.

• AS 5481 Minimizing the risk of contamination in products used to collect and analyse biological material for forensic DNA purposes.

The development of an international ISO standard based on AS 5481 commenced 29 April 2013. The ISO standard is now at committee draft phase and the next meeting of the ISO committee PC-272 is in February 2014.

More information on these projects can be found at: www.anzpaa.org.au/current-init iatives/forensic-standards-development

ANZPAA NIFS Update - Forensic Projects

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Forensic IntelligenceThe AFP sponsored a paper to the Australian and New Zealand Police Commissioners Forum on the 15 March proposing that ANZPAA NIFS and the AFP work with the jurisdictions to develop forensic intelligence capabilities based on a national approach.

ANZPAA NIFS and the AFP are now running a Forensic Intelligence Workshop in Canberra for Wednesday 6 November 2013 to facilitate the capability development.

National Validation Process The validation studies for shoe impressions are preparing for the second round of collaborative trials. With respect to document examination validation studies, work is underway in each of the forensic laboratories building on the validation plans developed.

ReportsMedical Sciences SAG Report 2012–2013 The Medical Sciences SAG has had another busy year, and recently held one of the most successful meetings since its inception. The 2013 conference took place in Sydney in July.

It was organised with the kind assistance of Denise Donlon and the support of the University of Sydney. Many interesting topics were discussed, and the four SWGs had the usual opportunity to review the progress made towards their business items, as well as to plan future work.

Summaries of the recent activities of each of the four SWGs were presented at the meeting and are also given below:

Anthropology SWG (Dr Denise Donlon, Uni of Sydney and DOFM)The forensic anthropology SWG had an active year in 2012/13. Anthropology now has Affiliate Membership of ANZPAA ADVIC and we have been able to contribute to the Interpol DVI Guide. We continued to contribute to the Standards document co-ordinated by ANZPAA NIFS.

The outcomes of the Quality Assurance Program, set up using CT images, were presented as a poster at the ANZFSS 2012 Symposium in Hobart.

This year we ran a Quality Assurance Program Workshop at the Shellshear Museum at the University of Sydney. This workshop brought together practising Australian forensic anthropologists for the first time to participate in a QAP utilising skeletal remains of known provenance, ancestry, sex and age as well as an examination of representative non-human forensic cases.

The SWG has applied for another workshop for next year. The objectives of this next workshop are to provide forensic anthropology practitioners with the opportunity to become familiar with the principals of CT scans, to understand the production process and structure of a CT scan and to recognise and interpret the significant forensic features of a CT scan.

Entomology SWG (Dr Melanie Archer, VIFM)The Entomology SWG met at Sydney University in July, along with their colleagues from the Medical Sciences SAG. Dr Melanie Archer presented to the group on the relevance of Context Effects to the Medical Sciences disciplines of entomology, anthropology, odontology and mortuary management.

Using entomology as an example, and drawing on the thinking of current workers in this field, such as Itiel Dror and Bryan Found, she proposed some solutions to the problems that Context Effects can cause Medical Sciences disciplines.

The past year consolidated Assoc. Prof. James Wallman’s welcome election in early 2012 to the Faculty of Science of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (along with fellow SAG members). One of his key tasks will be to coordinate with the SAG to promote forensic entomology to the pathology community, as well as facilitate training and educational resources for registrars and consultants.

The SWG has also finished implementing and testing a new form to standardise our peer review process, and we will be integrating this with casework over the coming year.

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Odontology SWG (Dr Russell Lain, Uni of Sydney and DOFM)Odontology SWG members and ANZPAA NIFS acknowledge that there is a significant overlap between SWG/SAG business and AusFO business. The AusFO Executive and SWG members (who are also AusFO members) see no conflict in this and feel that this is a natural connection. SWG members consider that they have something to contribute and appreciate the support of ANZPAA NIFS.

• Validation studies

• AM/PM radiographic matching – program developed; for release as a Collaborative Trial internationally by end of August 2013. Expect sufficient data for report to SWG/SAG in 2014

• Dental Anatomy skills – four workshops held; data gathered; presentation to IOFOS meeting; teaching/assessment resource available

• Age estimation – will follow AM/PM radiographic matching using same program platform

• Identification standards and criteria – nil progress; reactivated with proposal to utilise legal intern through ANZPAA NIFS

• Retrospective case audit – nil progress; reactivated; plan for framework development by SAG in 2014

• Specialist recognition and training pathway – formal acceptance by RCPA of group of Odontology applicants; work underway with RCPA on training for future applicants

Mortuary Management SWG (Damien Cass, Queensland Health)The following summarises the activities that SWG members have been involved with over the past 12 months:

The 3rd edition of National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council (NPAAC) Requirements for the Facilities and Operation of Mortuaries was circulated to SWG members for comment. This is one of the documents that mortuaries are assessed against when undergoing assessment by NATA.

The mortuary document for national training standards has not been furthered and assistance from PPSM wasn’t possible this year.

SWG members have agreed to utilise ANZPAA NIFS secure server to assist with this process.

The Mortuary SWG Chair now has an affiliate membership of ADVIC. This means that the SWG is still informed of ADVIC meetings/activities but members carry no voting rights on the committee.

New DVI forms have been approved by the Interpol steering group and will be gradually introduced later this year. The SAG was advised of some of the changes to the new forms.

ANZPAA NIFS is thanked for its support to the SWG in conducting a continuing education workshop for mortuary technicians, held immediately following the SAG meeting with approx. 50 attending.

Assoc. Prof. James WALLMANChair, Medical Sciences SAG

Update on NATA activities and initiativesA number of changes have occurred recently within NATA in an effort to improve consistency in accreditation and to accommodate cross-field activities. The following issues of relevance to forensics are as follows:

Restructuring of NATA accreditation criteriaA review of all Field Application Documents was undertaken during 2012. The aim of this review was to ensure consistent expression of relevant NATA criteria applicable to all fields/programs and to ensure consistent guidance for equipment check and calibration intervals. As a result the previous documents were separated into the following components:

• NATA Accreditation Procedures Document - relevant to all NATA applicant and accredited facilities and provides information on the application and accreditation process. This document does not include any assessment criteria.

• Standard Application Document (SAD) - applicable to each Standard assessed against e.g. ISO 17025, ISO 15189 etc. and includes criteria which are applicable to all facilities using that particular Standard.

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• Forensic Science Application Document (AD) for criteria applicable only to forensic facilities.

This allows for a more streamlined review process, allowing changes to be made to individual components without the potential knock on effect of the same information being replicated across many documents. In the near future the Application Document specific for forensic facilities will undergo a full technical review. This process will involve extensive stakeholder consultation prior to reissue.

Assessment against AS 5388 Forensic Analysis Parts 1 to 4With the production and publication of Australian Standards AS 5388 Forensic Analysis Parts 1 to 4, it was determined that NATA would offer accreditation against these Standards from 1 September 2013, with the scopes of accreditation updated to reflect the additional assessment activities.

The assessment against AS 5388 would not be mandated and as such the Forensic Application Document would not be removed or reduced. A Gap Analysis was produced and published in July 2013 to assist facilities and highlight additional criteria in the AS Standards.

It was also noted that as NATA does not perform Health and Safety audits, the relevant section of AS 5388 Part 1 would not be assessed against. This would be reflected on the scope of accreditation.

Scopes of accreditationA NATA wide initiative is currently underway to reformat the scopes of accreditation to provide a uniformed approach across all of NATA’s fields and programs. The aim of this process is to form a tabular scope which can more easily accommodate cross-field activities and provide a layout which is easier to follow and provides useful information.

Within forensics, a review of the classes and subclasses of test has commenced to provide clear information relating to the competencies of the facility.

This process has involved the Specialist Advisory Groups (SAGs) to assist in determining the competencies involved and to ensure that the scopes of accreditation are clear in highlighting facilities capabilities.

As with the review of the Application Document, these proposed changes will involve wider stakeholder consultation to ensure we have captured all viewpoints and identified any areas where confusion or misinterpretation can occur.

NATA

Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society UpdateNew rules of Association have been drafted and are being sent out to the members. These rules will be submitted to a vote at a General Meeting on Friday 22 November in Sydney (in conjunction with the NSW Branch Annual Dinner). The changes are necessary because of the new Victorian Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (as a reminder, the ANZFSS is incorporated in Victoria). This should be seen as a mechanistic process to comply with the new legislation. More significant changes will be proposed in the lead up to the Annual General Meeting in Adelaide in 2014, to keep in line with our mandate to professionalise the Society.

On the latter subject, I am pleased to inform that the Society made some progress with respect to the future establishment of a Code of Professional Practice. A draft document is being considered by the Executive and Council. This document broadens the concept of professional practice beyond the existing Code of Ethics and also suggests a professional membership pathway through continuing professional development, amongst other improvements.

The Society also continued to progress with the membership and communication IT arrangements. A new centralised membership database is being set up via a secured area of the website. As of the 30th September, the Society’s homepage is retagged ‘anzfss.org’, rather than ‘anzfss.org.au’. This is consistent with our need to recognise the ANZ regional nature of our Society.

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The organisation of the 2014 Symposium is progressing very well and the plenary program looks fantastic. It seems a long way to go, but we all know time flies. Please visit www.anzfss2014.com.au regularly to keep abreast of any development. In particular, note that the call for abstract is now open until the 28 February 2014. And of course, pencil the dates of 30 August to 4 September 2014 into your diaries!

The operating surplus at the end of the financial year was $140,545.69 which was mainly due to the surplus made by the Hobart Symposium. A large portion of this amount will be redistributed to members in the form of scholarships to attend the ANZFSS 2014 Symposium. Better financial certainty also prompted us to organise national insurance cover and therefore reduce significant costs previously incurred by the branches.

Prof. Claude RouxANZFSS President

Workshop ReportsThe Plastic Packaging Manufacturing Marks workshopThe Plastic Packaging Manufacturing Marks workshop was held in Melbourne 23-25 July 2013. The three day course provided an introduction to the area of plastic packaging comparisons, with particular focus on the comparison of manufacturing marks.

A total of nine participants representing five jurisdictions attended the workshop, which was held jointly at Victoria Police Forensic Services Department (VPFSD) building in Macleod and at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE’s (NMIT) Fairfield campus.

The workshop was arranged by Peter Woodman of the VPFSD Chemical Evidence Branch, and was delivered by Matthew Hickson (Team Leader – Northern Territory Police Forensic Science Branch) and John Doherty (Assistant Director – VPFSD), both of whom conducted examinations of this type during their time working at forensic science laboratories in the UK.

This type of examination is not widely conducted in Australia currently, and a survey of the different jurisdictions found that most requests for this type of examination were on an ad hoc basis, and were dealt with in different ways and by different forensic disciplines in each jurisdiction.

The workshop introduced a range of techniques that can be applied in the examination of plastic packaging materials, both at a theoretical and at a practical level. T

he workshop also included presentations from an industry representative (Qenos – the only Australian producer of polyethylene pellets in Australia), a presentation by Dr Bryan Found on evidential interpretation (as it exists for the pattern evidences), and a site visit to a working plastic packaging manufacturing factory (Jemseal Packaging), where the participants were able to get a first-hand look at the processes involved in manufacturing plastic tubing, and observed for themselves where the different manufacturing marks were introduced into the plastic bags.

The examination of plastic packaging is an evidence-type that is widely used in the UK. It is commonly used in drugs cases to try to determine whether or not there are any links between different packages of drugs or packaged drugs and a source of unused packaging, based on similarities in the manufacturing marks. This type of evidence has yielded some very good results to investigators, and has enabled allegations of supply to be substantiated (or corroborated).

However, this type of evidence has also yielded excellent results in a number of serious offences including homicide investigations, including the comparison of refuse sacks which had been used to dispose of dismembered body parts.

It is hoped that, with increased awareness and further work on interpretation, this is an evidence type that could become more prevalent in Australia.

Matthew Hickson

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Images above: Participants at the Plastic Packaging Manufacturing Marks workshop held in Melbourne 23-25 July 2013.

Awards

Image above: Claude Roux and Marie Morelato.

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Peter Gunn and Alastair Ross

Meetings and WorkshopsForensic Entomology Accreditation Course The next course will be conducted in 2014. Each person completing the course and assessment receives a Certified Practicing Forensic Investigator (Entomology) from University of Western Australia.

If you are interested in completing this course please contact Prof Ian Dadour ian.dadour@uwa.edu.au or (08) 6488 7288.

ANZPAA NIFS ForumDate: 18 October 2013

Location: ANZPAA, Melbourne

Meeting of the ANZPAA NIFS Forum.

Field and ID SAGDate: 21-23 October 2013

Location: Canberra

Cost: $150

Meeting of the Field and ID SAG.

CSPAC MeetingDate: 29 October – 1 November

2013

Location: Melbourne, ANZPAA

Meeting of the CSPAC

ADVICDate: 13-15 November 2013

Location: Melbourne, ANZPAA

Meeting of ADVIC

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22nd International Symposium on the Forensic SciencesThe next Australian New Zealand Forensic Science Society biennial conference will be held between 31 August and 4 September 2014 in Adelaide, South Australia.

IAFS 2014 KoreaMeeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS), Monday 13 to Friday 17 October 2014, COEX Convention and Exhibition Center, Seoul, Korea. http://www.iafs-2014.org.

Events Calender

If you would like any further information on ANZPAA NIFS meetings and workshops or would like to add any dates into the next newsletter please forward to Dr Linzi Wilson-Wilde: linzi.wilson-wilde.nifs@anzpaa.org.au.

Please forward all newsletter contributions to Dr Linzi Wilson-Wilde:

linzi.wilson-wilde.nifs@anzpaa.org.au.

Newsletter Contributions

This newsletter is for general information purposes only. The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of ANZPAA NIFS. ANZPAA NIFS has taken all reasonable measures to ensure that the material contained in this newsletter is correct. However, ANZPAA NIFS gives no warranty and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or the completeness of the material.

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