Tricks of the Trade

 

Short Cuts and Helpful Hints for the Crime Scene Investigator

 

By H. W. “Rus” Ruslander , MS , S.C.S.A.

 

I have gotten these tricks from various sources including my own ideas. They come from individuals and classes I have taken as well as forensic sites I have found on the Internet. I do not claim to be the originator of all of these. I have contributed a lot of them from my own ideas and discoveries in the field. If you have any ideas that you would like to contribute, please send them to me and they will be included. This list is always a “work in progress” and continues to grow.

 

1.   The eraser trick. When dusting for latent prints, once you develop the print and apply the tape, try using a “clic” eraser on the tape. Rub it back and forth in at least 2 different directions on the tape. This presses the tape down into the nooks and crannies of the surface and results in a much better lift.

 

  1. The field super glue chamber. Use a gallon size zip-lock bag, the type with the plastic slide on it. Put your aluminum “boat” inside, the accelerant pad on the “boat” and the item to be glued in the bag. Drop several droplets of glue on the pad, begin closing the bag. When you get to the last inch or so, insert a soda straw and slide the tab up against it. Since glue works best in temperatures above 70 degrees and when the humidity is above 70%, you now inflate the bag by blowing through the straw into the bag. WARNING!!!! Make sure you do not Inhale through the straw while it is in the bag. You DO NOT want to inhale the fumes produced by the chemical reaction between the super glue and the accelerator pad.

 

  1. The pizza box stand trick. Ever get a home delivery of pizza? Do they put this little white plastic 3 legged thing that keeps the top from pushing into the cheese in it? If so, don’t throw it away!
    When you use the field super glue chamber detailed above, invert this plastic thingy, put the foil inside the legs and when you put this in the bag, it keeps the bag from falling onto the glue pad and getting melted.

 

  1. The popsicle pusher upper shell casing holder. When you buy the treat usually called a “pop-up”, save the plastic pusher upper. With this you can invert it and put it inside your super glue fuming chamber, slide the cartridge casing down over it and start gluing. This will keep the casing off the bottom of the tank and allow the glue fumes to circulate all around.

 

  1. Blood spatter or trajectory string dispenser. Instead of buying an expensive kit from a forensics vender, go to your local sporting goods store or Bass Pro Shops and buy a leader box. They come in 4 or 5 spool size dispensers. Take the plastic spools from several old video tape cassettes and wind your colored strings up on them and there you have it, a $10.00 kit instead of a $50.00 + one.

 

  1. On that same subject, got to your local sewing center or fabric store, buy elastic thread in a usable diameter, use this elastic thread to string your lines, especially in trajectory cases, the elasticity helps prevent the string from sagging, thereby giving you a straighter line to follow and photograph.

 

  1. Magnetic photo scales. Go to the local office supply store, buy a pack of magnets made to stick business cards to. Cut them in strips and stick them to the back of the photo scales you already have, now they will stick to metal, like cars, etc. when you  need them to.

 

  1. Need to dust an overhead horizontal surface for latents? Try camphor. Go to your local pharmacy and buy some camphor sticks. Put one in on a metal surface like a paint can lid, light it and watch the black sooty smoke pour off it onto the surface. Keep moving it back and forth over the area you want to process. When finished, take a brush and gently brush away the excess soot. What you have left is a print ready for lifting with tape.

 

  1. Use a fuming wand? What do you do with the old glue cartridges? I stand them up, narrow side down, on waxed paper and pour more super glue into them. When it dries, I have a fresh supply of cartridges all ready for the next case.

 

  1. Need a camera boom but can’t afford over $100.00 for one? Go to your local home repair warehouse and buy an extension handle for painters. They come in either plastic or metal. Get a few PVC caps and a threaded goose-neck and screw it onto the end of the handle, drill a 5/16” hole in the cap, insert a ¼-20 bolt and epoxy it into the cap, screw the cap onto the end of the goose-neck. There you are, an extension handle that you can mount your camera on and extend up or over the scene for perfect look-down photos.

 

  1.  Chopsticks anyone? Even though I can’t seem to master the ancient art of eating with chopsticks, every time I eat Oriental, I ask for a set. I keep them and add them to my crime scene kit. When necessary, I can pull a set out and use them to probe bullet holes, clotted blood or any other area where I wouldn’t put my hands or can’t reach. The wood is soft enough to prevent them from damaging projectiles, shell casings or any other object I may be probing for.

 

 

  1.  Embroidery hoops have many uses. When processing pieces of plastic like drug baggies, trash bags, etc. one of the best tricks I came up with is using embroidery hoops of various sizes. I lay the inner hoop down, lay the material over it and gently place the outer hoop down on it. Be careful not to stretch the plastic, tighten up the set screw and you now have a surface that you can dust and use tape to make the lift. Static electricity is no problem since the weight of the hoops prevent the plastic from flying up to greet the tape.

 

  1.  The chalk line grid method. When doing blood spatter interpretations, instead of laying out scales across and up the wall, a new method is to grid out the area directly on the affected wall. To do this, grid it out in one (1) foot squares. By using a chalk line, you can just snap the line and if you buy any of the different colored chalks now available, contrast with the wall color should be no problem.

 

  1.  Accurate measurements are important when documenting any crime scene. When measuring to a point from a baseline or a wall, it is necessary to ensure that the measuring device is 90 degrees from the baseline. An easy way to keep this 90 degree angle is the 3-4-5 method used in construction framing. If you measure out three (3) inches from the point where the device intersects with the baseline and up the measuring device four (4) inches from the baseline, the distance between those two (2) points has to be five (5) inches if the angle is 90 degrees. Visualize a right triangle with the 30 degree, 60 degree and 90 degree corners.

 

  1. Is a handgun loaded or not? Using caution, you can take one of the previously mentioned chopsticks, gently slide it down the barrel of the weapon and slide your fingers down it until they come in contact with the end of the barrel. Keeping a grip on the chopstick without moving your fingers, remove it from the barrel and lay it along the top of the barrel or action and compare where the end of the stick comes in relation to the end of the chamber. If it comes to the bolt face, the weapon is unloaded.

 

  1. Need to transport bullet casings? Use the always available 35mm film canister and a paper clip. Straighten out one end of the paper clip, push it through the center of the film canister lid from the inside. Put the paper clip into the mouth of the shell casing, place it in the container, snap the lid on and bend the straightened end of the clip over.

 

  1. Which way does it turn? An easy way to determine direction of cylinder rotation on a revolver, without pulling the trigger, is to look at the notch on the cylinder stop. This is located on the side of the cylinder toward the rear. The sloping notch is like the arrow indicating direction. The direction it faces is the direction of rotation for example, if it faces toward the left the rotation is clockwise, toward the right the rotation would be counterclockwise.

 

  1. What direction was the bullet fired from? When a bullet strikes a piece of glass like a windshield at an angle, it usually ricochets off. If you look at the ricochet, it looks similar to a teardrop. The sharp edge or rounded end is where the bullet first struck the surface. The pointed end points in the direction that the bullet was traveling. Bullets that ricochet off glass or other non-yielding, smooth surfaces at low angles will leave a tail indicating the direction of rotation. In cases where there were multiple guns fired, the direction of rotation could give clues to which gun the ricochet was fired from.

 

  1. Please pass the Elmer’s. There are several useful products out there    that can be used to lift latent prints off irregular surfaces. Lacking the purchase price for them or just not having them on hand does not prevent you from successfully performing the same task. I have found that if you develop a latent print with powder then spread a fairly thick coat of regular Elmer’s Glue over it, let the glue dry (it dries clear), then use tape to lift the glued latent, you to can successfully recover those tough latents. Sometimes it helps when lifting it to start peeling up one edge then the tape does the rest. Once off the surface, just stick it on a lift card as you would an ordinary taped lift.

 

  1. It’s all done with mirrors. Go get one of those small, extendable inspection mirrors at the auto parts or hardware store. They work wonders when searching under or behind things.

 

  1. Magnet therapy?  No but, if you get an extendable pick-up magnet tool at the same time you buy that mirror I told you about, it will assist you in getting things that are just out of reach.

 

  1. Not enough hands? Go to Radio shack or a similar store and buy a thing called “Helping Hands”. This device has 2 alligator clips on articulated arms attached to a base, you can clip the object in them and it will hold them for you.

 

  1. Casting impressions. A useful tool when casting shoe or tire impressions is hair spray. Prior to pouring the casting material, gently spray hair spray over the surface area. This will help bind the dirt or sand together and result in a truer and more accurate impression. Make sure you hold the can far enough away from the ground to prevent the air pressure from blowing away any of the impression.

 

  1. Speaking of casting. When using those commercially available forms, spray the inside of them with “PAM” or some other non-stick spray prior to use. This will keep the casting material from sticking to them.

 

  1. And, speaking of forms, don’t have any of those commercially available ones? Hardware stores sell galvanized metal straps that are about 2 inches wide and come in various lengths. These work as well as the others and are a whole lot cheaper.

 

  1. Working that outdoor scene and need to keep all the spectators from    trampling your evidence. Get a supply of those little plastic flags on thin metal rods like the utility companies use to show where underground wires are. Create a safe lane for those that have the need to enter the crime scene to follow.

 

  1. When ever you are laying out those numbered or lettered markers to show evidence, always orient them so that they all face the same direction. This way, when being photographed, all the numbers or letters will be visible in the photograph.

 

  1. This also applies when drawing diagrams. Always have the numbers aligned so that the view does not have to keep rotating the page to see them, rather, they can all be read from one position.

 

  1. Back to bloodstain work. Go to a sewing center and buy those sewing measuring tapes that are soft and roll up. They come in various color combinations for good contrast. Use these with double stick tape on the walls. When finished, wipe of with alcohol swabs to sterilize.

 

  1. Dust lifts? Try using a contrasting color of “Mikrosil” to make the lift, It works real well. Speaking of “Mikrosil”, use it in the color black to lift fluorescent powdered lifts. The black absorbs the UV or ALS light and reduces background noise.

 

  1. Need to know if super glue accelerant pads have different concentrations of catalyst? There is a food coloring called Bijol. It is used to color rice yellow as if it had saffron added to it. If you use accelerant pads with no or different concentrations of chemicals on them, then by dyeing the pads with this yellow dye you will know at a glance which ones are different. This dye is readily available in the Hispanic foods section of most grocery stores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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