Barry Fisher Awarded Gradwohl Laureate

American Academy of Forensic Sciences Recognizes Barry Fisher as Gradwohl Laureate

(In the Image- Barry Fisher receives the Medallion from Dr. Bruce Goldberger, AAFS president. Photo courtesy of Mike Carpenter for AAFS).

Los Angeles County Crime Laboratory Director recognized for exceptional contribution to the field of Forensic Sciences

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) today honored Los Angeles County Crime Laboratory Director Barry Fisher with its highest honor, the Gradwohl Medallion. Gradwohl Laureates are recognized for attaining exceptional distinction in advancing the forensic sciences and offering outstanding service to the profession and the professional society. Fisher was given the award at the 60th annual meeting of AAFS in Washington, D.C.

Barry Fisher has worked in the field of criminalistics with the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s crime lab since 1969, serving as the Crime Laboratory Director since 1987. He is an accomplished author, frequent speaker and past-president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the International Association of Forensic Sciences.

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this honor than Barry Fisher, whose dedication and countless contributions have furthered the cause of forensic sciences,” said Dr. Bruce Goldberger, president, American Academy of Forensic Sciences. “Barry represents exactly what this organization was developed to promote — furthering the application of and appreciation for the forensic sciences.”

The Gradwohl Medallion is named for one of the founding members of AAFS, R.B.H. Gradwohl, who gave the welcoming address at the first annual meeting of the society in 1948. Sixty years later, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences continues to serve Dr. Gradwohl’s vision of generating confidence and the respect of forensic sciences in the U.S. and abroad. Gradwohl Laureates are not named regularly, but rather, only when recognizing an individual of exceptional caliber. Since the award was established in 1974, only 10 other professionals have been given the honor.

-Barry Fisher is the author of "Techniques of Crime Scene Investigation", which should be on every CSI's bookshelf.

First Fully Accredited Independent Crime Lab in US

(Euless, Tex., Jan. 28, 2008) – Integrated Forensic Laboratories (IFL), a full-service criminal forensic testing laboratory, announced today that it has been accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors-Lab Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) – the first full-service, independent crime lab in the U.S. to gain this accreditation.

IFL offers complete crime scene processing services and performs firearms and toolmarks, serology, drug chemistry and arson analyses; DNA processing is done via partnerships with other forensic DNA laboratories. IFL also performs peer review and laboratory document review, and provides training for peace officers, lawyers and crime scene personnel.

IFL’s ASCLD/LAB accreditation, along with its accreditation by the Texas Department of Public Safety, means that IFL professionals are fully qualified to render expert testimony in court.

IFL currently services 15 law enforcement agencies in Tarrant, Johnson and Dallas Counties, including the police departments of Cleburne, Euless, Bedford, Hurst, and Southlake. To date, IFL has handled over 500 cases, delivering results in 90% of cases in three days or less – compared to wait times of six to nine months for testing done by other labs across the state.

“Our department is very pleased with the timeliness, quality and service IFL delivers,” said Terry Powell, Cleburne chief of police. “We were very concerned about the case backlogs we were seeing, and IFL has completely solved the problem for us. IFL is now our number-one lab resource.”

To keep costs low, IFL created the innovative “1STOP” program, which gives police departments access to all IFL services for a set monthly fee. IFL also offers its services to defense attorneys and private companies, who until now had extremely limited access to this type of forensic testing and analysis.

In 2005, the Texas Legislature passed a law requiring that all forensic laboratories be accredited by ASCLD/LAB, ABFT (American Board of Forensic Toxicologists), FQS (Forensic Quality Services), CAP (College of American Pathologists), or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS/SAMHA). Numerous smaller cities simply did not have the resources to build their labs up to these standards, and some private labs closed who did not have the resources to bring their facilities up to the accreditation standards. As a result, a serious backlog of cases developed at publicly owned laboratories across the state.

Six- to nine-month wait times now are causing financial hardships for these cities, which must feed and house suspects, spend time having officers track down suspects once the lab results come back, or some combination of both. Using the services of IFL, there is virtually no wait time.

“Independent accredited labs like IFL are the new frontier in forensics,” said Ron Fazio, IFL’s president and CEO. “Small and medium-sized cities around the country simply can’t maintain lab facilities at the level it takes to meet current standards. Big-city and state-run labs don’t have the capacity to pick up the slack. We created IFL to offer these cities a genuine cost-effective alternative, and we’re already seeing rapid acceptance.”

About Integrated Forensic Laboratories

Integrated Forensic Laboratories (IFL) is the first independent full-service forensic testing laboratory to be certified both by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Lab Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) and the Texas Department of Public Safety. IFL serves law enforcement agencies throughout Texas. IFL offers complete crime scene processing services and firearms and toolmark, serology, drug chemistry, and arson analyses. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.iflabs.com.

New UV-IR Lens Released

Thursday, January 17, 2008 (Jupiter, FL) - Coastal Optical Systems, a division of Jenoptik, has introduced the CoastalOpt® 60mm UV-VIS-IR 1:4 Apo Macro lens.

The lens is color corrected from 315nm - 1100nm and delivers exceptional images through the entire range from UV - IR.

The full press release is available for download at: http://www.coastalopt.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=31

Additional technical information and and links to more images are available at www.coastalopt.com and http://www.coastalopt.com/uv-vis-ir-60-mm-images.html