Forensic Science & Research New Zealand

Underwater CSI: I feel a spin-off coming..

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:52:36 +0000

The Cayman Islands. Just the name is enough to make me want to pop on a wetsuit and hop on a plane, which is handy because the Cayman Islands is running an underwater CSI training course, for all those underwater crime scene investigations. I have to ask the question at this point, who knows an underwater crime scene examiner? If anyone does, it would make a great article for a Sunday supplement or a BBC documentary.
Although it sounds decadent to attend a training course in the Cayman Islands, underwater crime scene investigation is something that exists and, as with all other crime scene examinations, should adhere to certain protocols and procedures. Think of all the crimes in which evidence is dumped at sea or in other water bodies; the first case that springs to mind is the murder of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe in 1970, whose bodies were found in the Waikato River, Harvey’s body in particular having been weighted down by a vehicle axle. Or the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour in 1985. Or the case of Jason Dark, whose body was also found in the Waikato River and was recently the subject of a Sensing Murder episode…

The application of CSI techniques to underwater areas is being recognised by a range of specialised personnel such as marine enforcement officers, environment assessment agencies, coral reef researchers, natural resource managers as well as Police and Coastguards. As more than 40% of coral cover on the world’s reefs has already been lost (according to the article) and two thirds of the Caribbean’s reefs remain at risk, it makes sense to prosecute the people who threaten the existence of reefs and marine ecosystems. The specialist knowledge required for underwater crime scene investigation is as wide-ranging as it is for those on terra firma but also should include not only SCUBA knowledge but scientific understanding of the issues affecting different environments. Without a basic scientific knowledge of the issues being investigated the correct samples of the correct size might not be collected. As with any other crime scene examination, the scientist who reports the findings relies on the skills of the crime scene examiner to collect good samples. Rubbish in, rubbish out. The way to avoid this problem of course is for the reporting scientist to attend the scene and collect their own samples. Which brings me back to the Cayman Islands. The underwater CSI skills taught in the Cayman Islands will be directly applicable to all sorts of underwater activity, although for my money I’d rather work in the Caribbean Sea than the North Sea.

To be honest, I’m not really going off to the Cayman Islands for a training course but if CBS gets a whiff of underwater crime scene examination, there’ll be another spin-off series, CSI Cayman, faster than you can say SCUBA. I will watch and learn, as always.

Pilots on the pop

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:21:43 +0000

Air New Zealand pilots having drinking problems, eh? Doesn’t really instill a sense of safety in us air travellers. It was interesting to hear the CEO say that if pilots have a drink (or drug) problem then they should go to Air New Zealand and ask for help rather than keep it covered up. Personally, I think it unlikely that an employee is going to approach its employer and ask for help with a problem that could cause them to be fired.
All of that aside, I am interested to know whether or not the government would consider establishing a drink-fly limit for pilots and crew, as is in place in other countries. The breath testing equipment is available that can detect breath alcohol levels lower than the mandatory UK limit for flying a plane of 90 micrograms of alcohol per litre breath (such as lionlaboratories.com) – compare that with the NZ/UK drink driving limit for adults of 400 micrograms of alcohol/litre breath [the blood equivalent being 20 milligrams alcohol/100 ml blood for flying compared with 80 in blood for driving a motor vehicle]. Catching pilots over the limit for flying but below the legal limit for driving has occurred and in one of the most recent cases the pilot was given a suspended sentence for having a breath alcohol level of 310 micrograms of alcohol per litre breath. When the blood test was done, the pilot’s blood alcohol level was 50 mg alcohol/100 ml blood. This is a level capable of causing impairment. Blood alcohol levels in the range of 30 to 120 can cause effects including mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness, increased confidence, decreased inhibitions, reduced attention and judgment, some sensory-motor impairment, reduced rate of information processing. Although these effects cover a range of blood alcohol levels, the most appropriate approach might be to avoid the chances of any pilot experiencing any of these effects by introduction of an appropriate breath/blood alcohol limit for flying.

Presumably Air New Zealand may look at the sponsorship of the Wine Awards?

Charity payments for drug cases

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:49:15 +0000

The Police and court system in Ireland have decided that rather than clog up the court system with minor drug offenders, they’re going to get them pay money into the court box, which, in turn, gets distributed to charities: Festival drug cases will boost charities’ coffers. I’ve seen court boxes in English courts before but they’re usually decorative affairs rather than ever receiving any serious cash; the idea for filling the Irish court boxes came as the result of last year’s Oxegen festival.
Anyone who has ever been to a music festival will know that drugs are easy to acquire and the Police have long been aware of this. Glastonbury festival for example has an on-site drug testing laboratory – there used to be a bit of an argument amongst the scientists about whose turn it was to “work” at Glastonbury for the weekend (incidentally, this year’s festival at the end of June has already sold out of tickets). The Irish Garda (Police) now also agrees that on-site drug testing is a good way to go.
A presumptive testing device is used at Oxegen that detects the possible presence of cannabis, Ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines and BZP. Presumptive drug testing kits have been used in the field for many years. They’re also used at forensic science laboratories to establish what drug or drugs may be present in a sample in order to determine the most appropriate analytical scheme. Although a presumptive test would not be sufficient for prosecution of a serious crime, the modern tests are sufficiently good that they are accepted by the courts for lesser offences such as possession of enough cannabis for one joint or, as at the Oxegen festival, up to 80 Euro (about NZ$155) of cocaine.
The arrested persons were still required to attend court but instead of all those drug samples being sent off to a forensic science laboratory for confirmatory tests to be conducted, the defendants were dealt with on the day and most of them were required to make a charity contribution of 1,000 Euro (approx. NZ$1,950). With 100,000 Euro being pledged, that’s a lot of charity money for a couple of days’ work. Plus, as Garda Inspector Patsy Glennon explained, this system “cuts down on the amount of painstaking examination and certification normally required and so saves time, money and effort”. Which sounds jolly good all round.

Diamond fake foils smuggler

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:40:58 +0000

I like these kinds of stories – they’re nice and neat and demonstrate “why crime doesn’t pay” – An Angolan businessman spent a fortune on buying what he thought was a ‘blood’ diamond worth 2.2 million pounds. He tried to smuggle his new purchase into Germany where, presumably, he was going to sell it and makes his millions. Unfortunately, after having been stopped by Customs and probably being frisked in personal areas, it turns out that his “gem” wasn’t a gem. Because he hadn’t done anything wrong Customs let him go, a very disappointed man indeed. There was no mention of how he smuggled his “gem” into Germany though….

Fake diamond shocks ’smuggler’

Quality assurance for legal work

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:30:32 +0000

In the wake of the NZ review of the provision of legal aid and Dame Margaret Bazley’s comments on the standards of legal practitioners (see post UK Legal Aid report – lessons for NZ?) the English Legal Services Commission has announced it wants to bring in a system for checking the standards of advocacy: Legal Services Commission seeks to raise the bar for advocacy standards. It will be interesting to see if any of the suggestions are adopted here in NZ as part of this country’s review of the way lawyers work and what experience they will have to have before they can undertake Legal Aid work.