Criminalistics & Forensic Sciences

International operation: the US Secret Service, the Spanish Police, the Colombian Police and Europol

2011-04-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Spanish and Colombian Police & Europol joint operation: clandestine press dismantled in Bogota. 2.5 million counterfeited dollars seized

International operation: FBI, the US Secret Service, the Spanish Police and the British SOCA

2011-04-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

In an international operation where the FBI, the US Secret Service, the Spanish Police and the British SOCA have participated, 18 have been arrested in Spain for defrauding 11 mill EUR by "Nigerian letters" sent to the US, Australia, Mexico and Europe. Several boxes containing cards simulating to be American dollars were found among the seized items.

CSI NY AND POLICE OF CATALONIA (SPAIN)

2011-01-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

_____________________________________
- Criminalistics & Forensic Sciences
- Questioned Documents
- Forensic Handwriting Analysis
- Psychological Analysis of Handwriting
- Family Orientation and Professional

The studies are in a modernist building, UAB-Casa Convalescència, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated in the centre of Barcelona just a few minutes from the Sagrada Familia, and the practices are done in the Laboratory Examiners of the Cos de Mossos d'Esquadra, for special agreement.

Scientific Police Division, CME - Catalonia, Spain:
http://www.enfsi.eu/page.php?uid=173

SOURCE: European Network of Forensic Science Institutte

Graduation Ceremony for the Master's degree Criminalistics & Forensic Sciences

2010-11-24T15:47:00.000-08:00

Graduation Ceremony for the Master's degree 2009-2010 Criminalistics & Forensic Sciences at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain)

Drawings and letters from the concentration camps

2010-08-13T02:28:00.000-07:00

Children's drawings from the concentration camp Terezin ("Semblanza grafológica de los dibujos de los niños de Terezin"):
http://www.sandracerro.com/Articulos/artic-grafohistorica/TEREZIN.pdf

Drawings of the children of Terezin

Letters from the Holocaust ("Cartas desde el Holocausto. Estudio grafológico de cartas escritas por prisioneros judios en campos de concentración"):
http://www.sandracerro.com/Articulos/artic-grafohistorica/cartas_holocausto.pdf

If you need translator: http://translate.google.com/#
***
The lecture "Pinceladas de sueños rotos. Semblanza grafológica de los dibujos de los niños de Terezin" (Graphological biographical from the drawings of the children of Terezin) by Sandra Cerro Jiménez * opened the Cycle III of Activities of the Jewry of Segovia (Spain) -March 20, 2010-, in the day dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. This Cycle is organized by the municipal council of Historical Heritage and Tourism of Segovia (Spain) and with the support of Casa Sefarad-Israel to promote the Jewish culture.

* Sandra Cerro Jiménez is Forensic Graphologist by the Autonomous University of Barcelona

More information about Terezin:
http://europeangraphology.blogspot.com/2009/05/childrens-drawings-from-concentration.html
*

Police-on-Police Shootings and the Puzzle of Unconscious Racial Bias

2010-06-22T00:53:00.000-07:00

Police-on-Police Shootings and the Puzzle of Unconscious Racial Bias
Christopher Stone of Harvard University

Thursday, June 24, 2010
10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Office of Justice Programs, 3rd Floor Ballroom
810 Seventh St. NW
Washington D.C.

FULL TEXT: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/pdfs/centers-programs/programs/criminal-justice/Police-on-Police_Shootings_with_appendices.pdf

Since 1981, some 26 law enforcement officers across the United States have been shot and killed by fellow officers who believed they were dangerous criminals. Some of those killed were working in plainclothes or undercover units, while others were off-duty officers. As far as researchers can determine, 1982 was the last year in which an off-duty, white officer was killed in a mistaken-identity, police-on-police shootings in the United States. Since then, nine off-duty officers of color have died in such shooting. During the past 15 years, 10 of the 14 officers killed in any mistaken-identity, police-on-police shootings have been people of color.

Professor Stone recently completed a study of police-on-police shootings as part of a task force he chaired in New York State. He will report on his findings and recommendations, exploring the role of race in policing decisions, methods to improve training and tactics to defuse police-on-police confrontations before they become fatal, and methods to improve the investigations of such shootings.

Source: National Institute of Justice

The lie across the graphology

2010-06-13T03:02:00.000-07:00

International Congress of Graphology : "The lie across the Graphology"

Begoña Slocker (Autonomous University of Barcelona -Spain-) and Sara Rosenblum (University of Haifa).

Spain 28 -30 May 2010

______________________________________

Handwriting-based Tool Offers Alternate Lie Detection Method
http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/PressRelease/pressReleaseId-56758.html

Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel—August 26, 2009— For ages experts and laymen have been analyzing and trying to crack the code of handwriting characteristics, in order to detect an individual’s personality traits, or in most cases, gauge their innocence in the case of a crime. Although this science has often gone the way of pseudoscience, researchers are now discovering that with the aid of a computerized tool, handwriting characteristics can be measured more effectively.

The research, headed by Gil Luria and Sara Rosenblum at the University of Haifa, is published in an upcoming issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology. The researchers utilized a computerized tablet that measured the physical properties of the subject’s handwriting, which are difficult to consciously control (for example: the duration of time that the pen is on paper versus in the air, the length height and width of each writing stroke, the pressure implemented on the writing surface). They have found that these handwriting characteristics differ when an individual is in the process of writing deceptive sentences as opposed to truthful sentences.

The handwriting tool has the potential to replace, or work in tandem, with popular, verbal-based lie detection technology such as the polygraph to ensure greater accuracy and objectivity in law enforcement deception detection. Additionally, polygraphs are often intrusive to the subject and sometimes inconclusive. The handwriting tool therefore provides ease and increased accuracy over common, verbal-based methods.

_________________________________

RELATED LINKS
http://europeangraphology.blogspot.com/

Hermes: Intelligent surveillance

2010-01-20T12:34:00.000-08:00

HERMES, the wholeseeing eye

A consortium of European researchers, coordinated by the Computer Vision Centre (CVC) of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), has developed HERMES, a cognitive computational system consisting of video cameras and software able to recognise and predict human behaviour, as well as describe it in natural language. The applications of the Hermes project are numerous and can be used in the fields of intelligent surveillance, protection of accidents, marketing, psychology, etc.

HERMES (Human Expressive Graphic Representation of Motion and their Evaluation in Sequences) analyses human behaviour based on video sequences captured at three different focus levels: the individual as a relatively distant object; the individual's body at medium length so as to be able to analyse body postures; and the individual's face, which allows a detailed study of facial expressions. The information obtained is processed by computer vision and artificial intelligence algorithms, which permits the system to learn and recognise movement patterns.
HERMES offers two important innovations in the field of computer vision. The first is the description of in natural language movement captured by the cameras, through simple and precise phrases which appear on the computer screen in real time, together with the frame number in which the action is taking place. The system uses an avatar to talk and describe this information in different languages. The second innovation is the possibility to analyse and discover potentially unusual behaviour - based on the movements it recognises - and give off warning signals. For example, HERMES sends a signal to the control centre of an underground station after capturing the image of someone trying to cross the tracks, or alerts a medical centre if an elderly person living alone falls.

Seven different sub-projects have been developed by researchers working on the HERMES project:

1.- Cameras system: static cameras were used to supply a full scene, and high resolution active cameras - pan-tilt-zoom sensors (horizontal and vertical inclinations and zoom) - were used for the automatic tracking and close-ups of individuals. To do this, optimisation techniques were applied to the information contained in the images.

2.- Movement analysis of objects and individuals in the images. The information obtained is used to guide the active cameras towards where the action is taking place. These tasks were carried out using different tracking techniques.

3.- Movement analysis of a person's body in order to extract information from different parts of the body, analyse these actions and describe or predict behaviours. In this case, techniques based on pattern and silhouette recognition were used.

4.- Analysis of facial movements to understand emotional states of an individual, attitudes and possible reactions. In this sub-project new techniques were created and used for the tracking and aligning of 2D and 3D faces.

5.- Integration of software and natural language with the aim of describing what is happening in the scenes recorded using a conceptual representation scheme.

6.- Full integration of system, software and hardware to work in real environments and in real time. The system was designed and put to use in real life situations to test its functioning.

7.- The generation of virtual sequences based on the description of behaviours in natural language and the interaction of real and virtual worlds in the same sequence, using increased reality techniques.

The application advantages of HERMES are obvious, mainly in the fields of intelligent surveillance and the prevention of accidents or crimes. However, researchers consider that there is much to be gained with the use of this tool in sectors such as marketing or psychology.
The HERMES project was coordinated by Juan José Villanueva, emeritus professor of the Department of Computer Science at UAB and former director of the CVC, a position he held for 14 years.

HERMES, which has received several scientific awards in many of the top specialised conferences, was carried out as part of the 6th European Research Framework Programme. The project, lasting three and a half years and with 2,100,000 euros in funding, included the participation of five of the field's most prominent research groups in Europe and of a firm specialising in information and communication technologies: the Computer Vision Centre at UAB, Spain, which worked as project coordinator; the Institut für Algorithmen und Kognitive Systeme (IAKS) at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany; the Computer Vision and Media Technology Laboratory (CVMT) at the University of Aalborg, Denmark; the Computer Vision Laboratory (BIWI) at the ETH -Eidgenoesssiche Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland; the Active Vision Laboratory (AVL) at Oxford University, United Kingdom; and Answare Technologies, Spain.

HERMES video

Juan José Villanueva
Computer Vision Centre (CVC

Suspicious Letters

2010-01-06T03:21:00.001-08:00

FBI Birmingham
January 5, 2009

Nine Suspicious White Powder Letters Received at Offices of U.S. Senators and Representatives Throughout Alabama
Timothy J. Fuhrman, Special Agent in Charge, Mobile FBI; and Patrick Maley, Special Agent in Charge, Birmingham FBI, announce the FBI is investigating nine suspicious white powder letters received at the offices of four U.S. Senators and Representatives throughout the state of Alabama.

Nine handwritten letters, which also contained a white powder, were sent to the offices of U.S. Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, and U.S. Representatives Jo Bonner and Mike Rogers, in Montgomery, Birmingham, Mobile, Foley, and Anniston, Alabama. The white powder substance has been field screened and the tests have met with negative results. The white powder substance will receive further testing at the laboratories at the Alabama Department of Public Health. To date, all letters have been postmarked in Alabama and do not appear to have gone outside the state.

The FBI field offices in Mobile and Birmingham are working the matter jointly along with the U.S. Postal Service and the Alabama Department of Public Health. The FBI is requesting anyone with information concerning these letters should contact the local FBI office in Mobile at 251-438-3674, or the Birmingham office at 205-326-6166.

Source: http://birmingham.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/bh010410.htm

FBI: HISTORY AND PRESENT DAY

2009-12-26T03:15:00.000-08:00

The FBI: A Centennial History, 1908-2008
US. Departament of Justice / Federal Bureau of Investigation (2008)
URL: http://www.fbi.gov/headlines/fbi100book.pdf

Today's FBI: Facts and Figures, 2008-2009.
US. Departament of Justice / Federal Bureau of Investigation (2008)
URL: http://www.fbi.gov/facts_and_figures/facts_figures.pdf

___________________________________________

Graduation Ceremony for the Master's degree 2008-2009 Criminalistics & Forensic Sciences at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=photos&gid=172873021442

Police training on "violence against women"

2009-11-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, 26 November 2009, the Department of Interior of the Generalitat of Catalonia (Spain/Europe) organized a workshop to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25nov) and within of the police training on male violence, the Commissioner of Police, Juan Miguel Capell, our partner at the direction of the Master's Degree in Criminalistics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain/Europe), participated among others.

Graduation Ceremony for the Master's degree 2008-2009 Criminalistics & Forensic Sciences at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) (Saturday, 7 November). From left to right: JL Torres, M. Ballbé, F. Viñals, ML.Puente, and J.M. Capell

___________________________________________

* Estela Ramírez Delgado, Graphologist in Family Orientation and Professional by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain/Europe) has obtained el DEA* (Diploma of Advanced Studies) and the Proficiency of the Researcher (Suficiencia Investigadora), with a work about the "Violence in Couples" inside the Doctorate’s studies in Psychology.

More information: http://europeangraphology.blogspot.com/

Forensic Science: Practices of Forensic Anthropology

2009-11-15T01:24:00.000-08:00

Practices of Forensic Anthropology at the Institut of Legal Medicine of Catalonia

Here see more pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=photos&gid=172873021442

Master in Criminology: Forensic Science Advice
Graduate Certificate in Criminalistics. Analysis of Information and Advanced Techniques in Forensic Sciences

Autonomous University of Barcelona

Criminalistics & Forensic Sciences: Graduation 2008/2009

2009-11-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Graduation Ceremony for the Master's degree 2008-2009 Criminalistics & Forensic Sciences at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain)

Serial Murders

2009-10-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

FBI (2005?): Serial Murders. Multi-disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators, Behavioral Analysis Unit. Nacional Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, US Departament of Justice / Federal Bureau of Investigation

URL: http://www.fbi.gov/filelink.html?file=/publications/serial_murder.pdf

*

Homicides: Finding a Pattern.

2009-06-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

Murder: New York City, is an interesting interactive tool of the New York Times to see where the homicides took place in New York in the last years, and to filter it by dates, race , sex, age or weapon type, etc.

The newspaper invites the readers to find a pattern in the data
http://projects.nytimes.com/crime/homicides/map

CRIMINOLOGISTS: DEATH PENALTY

2009-06-20T01:41:00.000-07:00

RADELET, M., LACOCK, T. (2009): "RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.
DO EXECUTIONS LOWER HOMICIDE RATES?: THE VIEWS OF LEADING CRIMINOLOGISTS" in THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY Vol. 99, No. 2, Northwestern University, School of Law

(free full-text article):
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/files/DeterrenceStudy2009.pdf

Master in Criminology. Forensic Science Advice by the Autonomous University of Barcelona

2009-04-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

Programmes of the Graduate School of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain/ Europe):

Graduate Certificate in Criminalistics. Analysis of Information and Advanced Techniques in Forensic Sciences (Criminalista. Infoanálisis y Técnicas Avanzadas en Ciencias Forenses .)

Master in Criminology. Forensic Science Advice (Master en Criminalística. Consejero en Ciencias Forenses.)

After two years (1500 hours) you can obtain your Master's degree in Criminology. Forensic Science Advice (60 ECTS) * by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain/Europe)

* (ECTS) European Credit Transfer System: These credits have transnational validity in 27 countries that are part of the European Union.

Welcome to the UAB - Click to view: http://www.uab.cat/uabtube/english/

Forensic Handwriting Analysis/QDE by the Autonomous University of Barcelona

Bionic body armor

2009-02-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

United States Patent
Inventors: Morf; Thomas E. (Gross, CH), Weiss; Jonas R. (Zurich, CH)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)
Appl. No.: 12/059,507
Filed: March 31, 2008

Bionic body armor

"A method of protecting a target from a projectile propelled from a firearm comprises detecting an approaching projectile, continuously monitoring the projectile and transmitting an actual position of the projectile to a controller, computing an estimated projectile trajectory based upon the actual position of the projectile, determining an actual position of a target with a plurality of position sensors and a plurality of attitude sensors, determining whether the estimated projectile trajectory coincides with the actual position of the target, and triggering a plurality of muscle stimulators operably coupled to the controller and to the target when the estimated projectile trajectory coincides with the actual position of the target, wherein the muscle stimulators stimulate the target to move in a predefined manner, and wherein the target moves by an amount sufficient to avoid any contact with the approaching projectile. The projectile may be detected in the detecting step by emitting an electromagnetic wave from a projectile detector and receiving the electromagnetic wave after the electromagnetic wave has been reflected back toward the projectile detector by the projectile. " (United States Patent)

***

Source: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/

Stalking

2009-01-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

Katrina Baum, Ph.D.; Shannan Catalano, Ph.D.; Michael Rand; Kristina Rose (2009): Stalking Victimization in the United States, Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Institute of Justice
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/svus.pdf

"Presents findings on nonfatal stalking victimization in the U.S., based on the largest data collection of such behavior to date. Data were collected in a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and sponsored by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). Topics covered in the report are stalking and harassment prevalence rates by demographic characteristics, offender characteristics, victim-offender relationship, duration of stalking, cyberstalking, protection measures, and emotional impact. The report also includes data on whether victim sought help from others, involvement of a weapon, injuries, other crimes perpetrated by the stalker, and response by the criminal justice system" Bureau of Justice Statistics

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

Homicide and Serial Sex Crimes Conference

2008-11-22T12:33:00.000-08:00

Homicide and Serial Sex Crimes

Conference on 25 – 26 November 2008 at the ICPO-INTERPOL General Secretariat, 200 Quai Charles de Gaulle, 69006 Lyon, France.

"This two-day conference aims at bringing together law enforcement officers from around the world and providing an open, international forum for those interested and concerned with homicide cases and/or investigations on sexual offences. The aim of the meeting is to support law enforcement agencies in the member countries by enabling them to compare new investigative techniques on homicide, rapes and sexual offences, particularly when they are committed in series. The meeting will focus on case studies of international interest or which show an outstanding modus operandi that might be of interest for further investigations. Best practice in international data-sharing will also be a key topic. The second part of the conference will look closer on new forensic techniques that support investigations in this field." INTERPOL

History of the Criminalistics

2008-11-22T12:08:00.003-08:00

"Modern Mechanix. Yesterday's, Tomorrow, Today"
More articles from this issue (Crime and Police):
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/category/crime-and-police/

CYBERCRIME

2008-11-22T12:07:00.005-08:00

Bureau of Justice Statistics Publication Cybercrime against Businesses, 2005: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cb05.pdf

"This report presents the nature and prevalence of computer security incidents among 7,818 businesses in 2005" Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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Human Rights - Civil Rights

2008-11-22T12:07:00.003-08:00

Bureau of International Information Programs US Departament of State
Human Rights in Brief
http://www.america.gov/media/pdf/books/0308_humanrights.pdf

Bureau of Justice Statistics
Civil Rights Complaints in U.S. District Courts, 1990-2006
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/crcusdc06.pdf

"This report examines civil rights claims based on race, age, sex, or national origin involving employment, welfare, housing, voting, or other civil rights discrimination issues." Bureau of Justice Statistics
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Criminal Victimization in the United States

2008-11-22T12:07:00.001-08:00

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2006 -
Statistical Tables Available online at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cvusst.htm

"These 110 statistical tables present detailed data on major variables measured by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)" Bureau of Justice Statistics.
***

INTERPOL's Operation Vico

2008-11-22T12:06:00.005-08:00

Watch the video about INTERPOL's Operation Vico
http://www.interpol.int/Public/THB/vico/video/default.asp