A Week with the CSI Devision

This past week I did a lot of work with the kk33 department basically the Crime Scene Investigation and Forensics units. these folks handle fingerprints and shoe print analysis. DNA collection and photo analysis. Based on the fact that most of what I did this week would be considered current evidence and relevant to cases, I couldn't take pictures. but Friday I talked to the Chief that I wanted some to send to the GIZ and to post here for you all to enjoy. You guys got lucky and are getting pictures of me in action. Sadly I'm not really sure what I did on what day tho the week went by so fast and there was a lot going on behind the scenes that caused some confusions and have my mind a little cloudy while I wright this, but if mot today then I would be pressed to get it done.

The kk33 was defiantly where the best experience of my stay at the police was.This was the closest thing to my studies and where I could actually do the most. As I talked to my supervisor about the things they did, he would convey the procedure and the science therein. It was quite funny for me that he wanted to do it all in English so when he got stuck I would finish the sentence for him because I knew most of what he was telling me. He was quite impressed and put some of my knowledge to the test.

One of the first things we did was see the booking room. This is where fingerprints and mug shots are taken. We made a full profile of me so that he could teach me the system and then I repeated it on him. Even though it has been over a year since I last did fingerprinting I still managed with no problem.

what a mug shot of me would look like

The only problem we had was one very important "Red Button." now who ever thought it a good idea to put the button on the bottom of the desk, on the edge, directly at armrest height is beyond me. But they did and as I pushed my chair in the arm hit the button. The purpose of this button is to alert officers in nearby rooms that there is trouble. Well in about 3 seconds 4 officers rushed into the room. Luckily it was soon clear what had happened and no trouble arose. The funny thing was that a few days later we had the conversation in the department over lunch of how horribly placed that button is.

While I was there I also did some fingerprint analysis and collection. Along with some shoe print analysis. now you would think that since shoes are bigger they would be easier to distinguish but they happen to be harder. Even though there is more surface there tends to be few details that are distinguishable and the prints tend to be missing some of these details. Even figuring out what shoe L or R size and make can be difficult for the department. they also have 3 people that catalog all the prints in a data base to compare. Each man will have a slightly different way of looking at the shoe and making a judgement of what the pattern is to enter into the computer.

 In both Germany and the US 12 is the magic number when it comes to similarities of fingerprints. There is really no standard for shoe recognition. It is basically can you convince the judge that these prints match. Of course with shoes its a little easier and that is more or minor circumstantial. based on the fact anyone can where your shoes and commit a crime then return them.

Now if you notice that this finger print is the size of a page and has no "background noise" you would wonder how that is the same print as on the index card above.
Well that comes down to a little Photoshop. there is a guy who works 40 hours a week on this program to make evidence more visible for evaluation. This is completely legal in both Germany and the US. Probably also one of the most effective ways as well. Simply change the contrast flip blacks and whites and sometimes add a color filter and wha la you have the usable picture. All that work is done here...

In this office space. I spent a little time in this room learning to use the software and lighting.  I also mentioned that they do shoe print analysis. The print can be obtained in 2 fashion; a gel foil or a plaster casting.

Plaster castings like these are a 3D recreation of the shoe. They are usually pulled from dirt or mud sources. While the gel lifters can make negatives of the shoe print left in dust.

The rest of my time was concerned with making an investigation on an automobile. And again I'm not really allowed to exaggerate to greatly on what this consisted of..... so after a quick Google search and a breif skim of the first page I can tell you this much.

The case was to identify a car that had been reported as totaled several years ago. Now it has been registered and is in full working order. you all are aware of the VIN or Vehicle Identification Number on your car. But you might not be aware it is in several places.

Anyway when a car is stolen this is the easiest thing to change and move on. But there are other ways to identify a car. As a 1 in a million case I can give you this photo.

Quite the extreme, but ever possible.

I also did a little work in the lab and I must say that it felt amazing to be around chemicals again. The sound of the fume hood was music to me. They allowed me to assist in some DNA searches using Nadrine. this chemical is only usable on porous surfaces, and is mostly used for papers.

 Here are some other photos of me with the supervisor and the Chief of the department.

The last photo is one of my personal favorites, this is a 1970's police Ferrari. Maby the most expensive car I have ever sat in. Sadly they wouldn't let me take it for a quick trip down the autobahn, trust me I tried... as did my supervisor. 

Friday I also had a Skype call with BRCC  as a guest speaker to the International Studies Commitee

The meeting went very well maybe a little to short, but oh well. Afterwards I was informed the staff would be Thrilled to have me again and would still like me to make a presentation when I return for interested students. 

Saturday was a nice warm day, I think spring is finally here, its been sunshine and warm breezes all week. So Andreas Erika and I headed out on a little nature walk to enjoy the weather. First we made a quick stop in the netherlands to do some shopping, there are just some things cheaper there. Like peanut butter, 1 euro for a regular jar vs 5 euro for this baby food jar or it, Or the phund free beer.

 I might have mentioned before that in Germany you pay for plastic, aluminum, and glass bottles in the form of a fund. This means that you pay a "deposit"on it and get the deposit back when you return the bottle. It is a great way to encourage recycling and I wouldn't mind seeing it in the us. The way it works is in the back of every grocery store is 1 or more machines that read the label on the bottle, as long as the store carries that product it will accept it. After you are done inserting the bottles the machine prints an in store coupon with the amount. 

Our next stop was a small castle 

 A quick look around and we where off again. 

Next stop was the LRV-Archeological Park Xantn. This was a Roman City in Germany, one of the last outposts of the roman empire. History time, During its height, more than ten thousand people lived in Colonia Ulpia Traiana. It was one of the most important cities in the Germanic provinces of Rome. With many of the Remnants hidden only centimeters below ground. 

So after my time with the police I decided I was better suited for the Roman Army. 

Sunday I attended a carnival parade in a town known as OTTI- BOTTI. Know if yall remember my post from the 17th of November "Münster... Helau Karnival has begun" you remember how crazy this holiday can get. Well Otti-Botti (which by the way is the short name) is a small village about the size of Singers Glen... and 10,000 people cram into this city every year to start karnival with them. The parade was a little more of what you would see in the US; floats, music, and flying candy. The major difference is the presence of alcohol. every person in the parade except float drivers is drinking, small children (age 7-10) are only on the floats to open the beer for the walkers. Maybe throw candy, but I think more to open beer. People from floats will randomly stop and offer you a shot of something. If you say yes some will hand you a plastic shot glass and fill it, others have a more communal approach and have the shot glass on a necklace they fill it and you drink from that. A very interesting approach that is making some of you cringe I know. As you enter this village there are people from floats on every street starting the party, they are selling the medallions, and handing out shots, more or less in the communal setting. I also noticed that alot of the floats are more political oriented and offensive than in the US. I would really like to convince one of the small towns to allow this just once to happen. And I say ONCE because they would never do it again. Here are some pictures of the parade....

There where a lot of bishop references.
 Im not sure if you all herd of the bishop who spent billions on a private home .

Clean energy

NSA

What they think of the political coalition that formed.

I have a ton more but Blogger doesn't seem to want to upload them at the moment. 

Well that was the weekend for me, the past week has been a little difficult in my personal life. I would say an emotional rollercoaster that's still going. I guess the best I can do is wait and see what happens. 

Until Next week... HELAU,

Cody A. Glick