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Multimedia Listing

Video of an attorney proffering an analyst as an expert witness

August 2020

0:01 Where are you employed? Illinois State Police. 

0:05 And what is your title? Forensic scientist. 

0:08 What are your primary duties my primary duties  include receiving evidence and screening them  

0:14 or looking for biological stains such as  blood semen or saliva I then perform DNA  

0:19 analyses on these stains and if I'm if it is  requested I testify in court to my findings. 

0:27 How long have you been employed  as a forensic scientist with ISP? 

NIJ Training Course for Forensic DNA Officers of the Court: Excluded or Non-Matched DNA Samples in a Laboratory Report

August 2020
An interactive tool used to supplement the NIJ online training course entitled 'Principles of Forensic DNA for Officers of the Court', as outlined in the sixth learning module, 'Understanding a Forensic DNA Lab Report'. This brief animation shows an excluded DNA sample typically found in a forensic lab report and is used as common terminology. 

NIJ Training Course for Forensic DNA Officers of the Court: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Analysis of Maternal Inheritance Patterns

August 2020
An interactive tool used to supplement the NIJ online training course entitled 'Principles of Forensic DNA for Officers of the Court', as outlined in the eighth learning module, 'Mitochondrial DNA & Y-STR Analysis'. This brief animation shows how mtDNA is passed from a mother to her children and the implications of this inheritance pattern in forensic testing. 

NIJ Training Course for Forensic DNA Officers of the Court: Uninterpretable DNA Samples in a Laboratory Report

August 2020
An interactive tool used to supplement the NIJ online training course entitled 'Principles of Forensic DNA for Officers of the Court', as outlined in the sixth learning module, 'Understanding a Forensic DNA Lab Report'. This brief animation shows how inconclusive or uninterpretable results found in an electropherogram lab report can be excluded as the source of DNA evidence. 

NIJ Training Course for Forensic DNA Officers of the Court: Child Inheritance Pattern in Nuclear DNA

August 2020
An interactive tool used to supplement the NIJ online training course entitled 'Principles of Forensic DNA for Officers of the Court', as outlined in the second learning module, 'Biological Terminology'. This brief animation shows how a child inherits genes from its parents in a nuclear cell and is used as biological DNA terminology. 

Drug Exposures in the Forensic Laboratory: What We Know, What We Can Learn

June 2020

Highly toxic, synthetic drugs introduce significant health hazards to the forensic laboratory.  Understanding current knowledge and best practices will help laboratories manage their liability. This presenter covered topics such as known risks of handling hazardous drugs, creating a practical framework for the assessment, development, and improvement of safety systems, and additional research needed regarding exposure risks.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on June 25, 2020.

How Prepared Are Schools?

June 2020

How prepared are schools for emergencies? Dr. Silva discusses her NIJ-funded research that looked at whether or not federal guidelines were reaching schools; the levels of emergency preparedness at the state, district, and school level; what we can learn from well-prepared schools, both best practices and challenges.

Tackling Employee Wellness: The Phoenix Police Department’s Crime Lab Approach

June 2020

This presentation provided an overview of the activities and programs the Phoenix Police Department’s Crime Lab has implemented and the corresponding impact to the organizational culture and employee morale.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on June 18, 2020.

Stress, Vicarious Trauma, and Resiliency for Forensic Science Professionals

June 2020

This webinar presented the findings of the ASCLD/NIJ collaborative Gap Assessment of Stress, Vicarious Trauma and Resiliency for Forensic Science Professionals. The assessment gathered survey responses from forensic and medical examiner laboratories to evaluate vicarious trauma, burnout, job satisfaction, and participants perceptions of their organization’s resiliency efforts.  Our findings inform future directions in research, policy, and practice to better manage stress and increase resiliency among forensic professionals.

Interviews with NIJ’s American Indian and Alaska Native Travel Scholars

April 2020

NIJ’s American Indian and Alaska Native Travel Scholarship Program Scholars discuss:

  • Why they applied to the program.
  • Which conference they chose to attend and why.
  • Why representation of American Indian and Alaska Native is important in the field of criminal justice.
  • What conference sessions they chose to attend and which they found most interesting.
  • How they want to contribute to the fields of tribal and criminal justice.

Cold Case Investigation Units and Advances in Investigative Techniques

March 2020

Sergeant Jason Moran of the Cook County (IL) Sheriff’s Office discusses the current situation of cold cases in the United States, why it’s important to establish cold case units, how current tools and technology can help solve cold cases, and what National Institute of Justice resources are available to assist in solving cold cases.

Sergeant Moran was a participant on an NIJ Saturday Session panel at IACP 2019.