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

Fujifilm Announces Seminar on Digital Forensic Photography

Fuji continues it's support for law enforcement/forensic photography with a Seminar on Wed. Nov. 28th. Fuji currently offers three camera models with Infrared and/or Ultraviolet imaging capabilities. While you can convert cameras from other manufacturers, I'm unaware of anyone else who offers "out of the box" support for this type of imaging.

Full press release below:

Free Seminar on Photography with Ultra Violet and Infrared Capture, Featuring Fujifilm IS PRO and IS-1 Cameras, to be held at B&H Photo in NYC

Valhalla, N.Y., November 9, 2007 – FUJIFILM U.S.A., Inc. today announced a full-day educational seminar for law enforcement and forensic photographers, as part of the grand opening of the new B&H state-of-the-art Event Space in the B&H Super Store in New York City.

The Fujifilm-sponsored seminar on Digital Forensic Photography will take place at the B&H Event Space (420 9th Avenue) on Wednesday, November 28, from 10AM – 5PM. Taught by C. Jason Guffey, a professional photographer with ten years experience as a Crime Scene Investigator, the seminar is designed to enhance the skills of Forensic/Crime Scene photographers by demonstrating the applications of the Fujifilm IS Pro and IS-1 Ultra Violet Infrared (UVIR) cameras.

By attending this special event, attendees will learn a variety of digital forensic techniques utilizing infrared and ultraviolet light exposure that can be used in the lab, or in an onsite investigative scene for forensic and law enforcement professionals. The class will provide attendees with hands-on experience using the Fujifilm UVIR cameras that will help them better understand the camera settings, filters, and lighting. Attendees are encouraged to bring equipment assigned by their departments, or use the cameras provided during the seminar.

Admission is free of charge, but anyone interested in attending must register in advance. For more information, or to reserve a seat at Fujifilm’s ‘Digital Forensic Photography’ seminar, contact Jennifer Diamond at jdiamond@bhphoto.com.

About FUJIFILM U.S.A., Inc.

FUJIFILM U.S.A. Inc. is a marketing subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, providing digital and analog photographic Imaging Systems, Recording/Storage Media and Motion Picture Film products and services to consumers, professionals and businesses. For more information on Fujifilm U.S.A. products, customers can call 800-800-FUJI or visit www.fujifilmusa.com . To receive news and information direct from Fujifilm U.S.A. via RSS, subscribe free at www.fujifilmusa.com/rss .

About FUJIFILM

Fujifilm Corporation brings continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of imaging industries including medical, life sciences, consumer electronic, chemical, graphic arts, information systems, photography and office products based on its vast portfolio of digital, optical, fine chemical and thin film coating technologies. It was ranked number 15 for U.S. patents granted in 2006, employs more than 75,000 people worldwide and in the year ended March 31, 2007, had global revenues of $23.6 billion. Fujifilm ADRs (American Depository Receipts) are traded in the U.S. on the NASDAQ exchange (NASDAQ:FUJI). For more information, please visit www.fujifilmholdings.com.

Parade Magazine Names Police Officer of the Year

Officer Roy Gilbert Receives Highest Honor in Law Enforcement for Heroic
Action; Thirteen Additional Officers Honored for Outstanding Service

New York, October 16‹ Officer Roy Gilbert of the Detroit Police Department
has been named the 2007 Police Officer of the Year by PARADE magazine and
the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Officer Gilbert is
honored for his heroic actions by risking his life to save his partner.

To Protect and Serve | PARADE Magazine

NEC Announces Integra-ID

THE NEXT-GENERATION AFIS WITH GREATER SPEED, ACCURACY AND FLEXIBILITY DEMANDED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

Law Enforcement Technology Visionaries at State of Mississippi Department of Public Safety and

City of Atlanta Police Department First to Leverage Benefits of Integra-ID

Rancho Cordova, Calif., October 11, 2007 – NEC Corporation of America, a premier provider of IT, network and identity management solutions, today introduced Integra-ID, the next-generation AFIS built on an open, standards-based architecture and designed with law enforcement feedback. NEC conducted extensive customer focus group interviews to understand law enforcement agency needs. Top demands included an open architecture, open standards, no expensive proprietary hardware and software requirements, flexibility in workflow management, demographic search engines, the latest matching technology, quick deployments, and sophisticated workstation functionality.

“NEC is known for the way we work with our clients,” explains Barry Fisher, vice president, Identification Solutions Division, NEC Corporation of America. “We recognize how important it is to listen to customers’ concerns and needs. Integra-ID is NEC’s response to this growing market and the need for a comprehensive, integrated, intelligent identification solution that provides access to accurate information quickly in order to solve crimes.”

The State of Mississippi Department of Public Safety is the first to sign with NEC to deploy Integra-ID.

“As one of the first agencies worldwide to implement an NEC AFIS a decade ago – and through our ongoing relationship with NEC – we’ve been able to leverage the latest technology solutions available for efficiency and accuracy in fingerprint matching,” said Major Larry Waggoner, director, Criminal Information Center, Department of Public Safety, State of Mississippi. “With the open architecture and open standards of Integra-ID, we’re anticipating a system that gives us palmprint matching and greater flexibility and scalability.”

Additionally, the City of Atlanta Police Department is upgrading to Integra-ID, which includes the latest Fingerprint/Palmprint Matching, FastID, and LiveScan technology from NEC.

“With NEC’s industry-leading biometrics algorithms, the City of Atlanta Police Department is eager to take full advantage of Integra-ID’s improved matching speed and matching accuracy,” said Captain Shirley Britton, City of Atlanta Police Department. “Integra-ID’s integrated system should also be easier to use and manage, thus increasing our department’s productivity. This new system will increase our ability to solve more crimes by matching latents, not only against the tenprint database, but also against the palmprint database.”

Additional key benefits of Integra-ID include:

· dynamic workflow management functionality of Integra-ID allows for workflow changes without system interruption, to reduce change orders and save money;

· a unified database and integrated archive to bridge the gap between identification and investigation, and improve department efficiency;

· an integrated workstation that provides access to all AFIS functions via a unified user interface for greater usability and easier system management; and

· quicker system deployments to save time and money

Integra-ID can be integrated quickly and seamlessly with NEC’s LiveScan Complete Capture-to-Booking system, FastID Booking and Release Identification solution, and MobileID In-Field Identification solution, making it a comprehensive one-stop AFIS solution. In addition, Integra-ID enables easy integration with most other third-party biometrics matchers and external interface applications such as criminal history systems, records management systems, the FBI system, and other agency database systems and third-party applications.

NEC will be demonstrating Integra-ID in their booth (# 2243) at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) 2007 Annual Conference at the New Orleans Convention Center on October 13-17, 2007. Integra-ID is available today throughout North America. For more information, call (800) 777-2347, email IDSolutions@necam.com or visit www.necam.com/ids.

The Identification Solutions Division of NEC Corporation of America, a recognized leader in biometrics technologies, has developed some of the first and finest automated methods of identification. NEC is a biometrics pioneer and has retained a leadership position in biometrics matching technology since the 1970’s. IDS delivers the best and most advanced biometrics solutions for law enforcement, government, civil and commercial applications. Today, with more than 350 deployments in over 20 countries, NEC is the leading provider and one of the largest market share holders of the Automated Fingerprint and Palm Identification worldwide. With its commitment to research and development (R&D), NEC continues to provide the most innovative and accurate algorithms validated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

NEC’s matching algorithms meet and exceed the highest current government standards in identification technology and provide unparalleled accuracy, open system platforms, high capacity and integrated solutions.

EPIC School 2008

EPIC School 2008: "EPIC School of Evidence Photography and Imaging at Imaging USA EPIC and the EPIC School will be joining Professional Photographers of America (PPA), the Society of Sport and Event Photographers (SEP) and Commercial Photographers International (CPI) at Imaging USA, January 6-8, 2008 in Tampa, Florida."

These guys have always put on a decent show, and the new joint conference format will offer attendees even more opportunities. Florida in January isn't bad either.

University of Texas - Webcast entitled "DNA in Hollywood"

University of Texas - Webcast entitled "DNA in Hollywood": "On September 14, 2007 at 7 pm (central) Dr. David Hillis is a MacArthur Award-winning scientist will talk about his contribution to real world CSI and his ideas for a new hand held machine that could identify any living thing using a sample of tissue."