MOIA ANNOUNCES REGIONAL COMITTEE MEMBERS

MOIA Secretary-Treasurer Greg Bailey and IAI Regional Representative Allan Ruprecht announce that these persons have been named to the following Regional Certification Committees:

Crime Scene Certification Committee
Marty Johnson, CSCSA (Chairperson) - Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department
David Babcock - Detroit Police
Todd Masula, CCSI - Wyoming, Mich. Police
Allan Ruprecht, CLPE, CSCSA- Bloomfield Township Police


Latent Fingerprint Certification Committee
Allan Ruprecht, CLPE (Chairperson) - Bloomfield Township Police
Stephen Howard, CLPE - Ontario Provincial Police
Matthew Lewandowski, CLPE - Ontario Provincial Police
Terra Wesseldyk, CLPE - Battle Creek Police

According to the IAI regional certification committees receive applications for certification after they are logged in at the IAI corporate office. Each committee then reviews the application and determines if the applicant meets the requirements to take the certification exam. If vetting is successful, the regional certification committee then makes arrangements to administer the examination to the applicant.

BERRIEN FORENSIC LAB REPOPENS AFTER THEFT

BERRIEN SPRINGS — Officials say security changes have been made at the Berrien County Forensic Laboratory, which was closed for more than four months after marijuana was stolen from inside the lab.

The lab at Andrews University, which tests and stores drug evidence in criminal cases, reopened earlier this week. In September, Amanda Sheppler, the granddaughter of a former lab employee, was accused of theft of the marijuana.

Read the South Bend Tribune story here.

IRIS DATABASE COMES TO WESTERN KENTUCKY

The Daviess County Sheriff's Office has been awarded a grant from the National Sheriff's Association, becoming the first in Kentucky to become part of the Iris Biometric System, a national database of iris scans.

The iris, scientists say, is the most distinct part of the human body with more points of reference than a fingerprint. Iris scans are also easy and noninvasive, making them useful for tracking inmates in a prison or convicted sex offenders.

The iris database has existed for about five years and is used by 46 states.

Source: WTVW

MICHIGAN STATE POLICE TO TEST DETROIT RAPE KITS

From the Toledo Blade and AP:

"A women's support group has awarded Michigan State Police a federal grant
to begin analyzing hundreds of rape kits sitting untested at the Detroit
Police crime lab.

"The $650,000 grant through the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention &
Treatment Board will help police process samples of evidence taken from
sexual assault victims and compare those results with the DNA of known
offenders....

"The funding, obtained last month, comes from Services, Training, Officers
and Prosecutors, a criminal justice grant designated to combat violence
against women. But the one-time grant will barely put a dent in the backlog.

"State Police have estimated that if one technician had nothing else to do,
it would take him or her 58 years to complete the testing of all the kits."

Persons with news of interest should submit them by e-mail to webmaster (at) moia.org or via fax at (267) 347-8923.

1999-2009

Our web site, moia.org, celebrated ten years of continuous operations.

This Newsletter is an official publication of the Michigan-Ontario Identification Association (Division of the IAI).

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