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| Example of snow cast process - Top: Fresh snow print. Middle: Coating of gray primer on snow print. Bottom: Plaster cast of snow print. |
Title: Collecting Footwear and Tire Impressions in the Snow
Date: Wednesday, January 29,
Time: 9:00 a.m. Alaska Standard Time
Cost: Free
To register: Click here to register for this free webinar.
From footwear to tire to snowmobile impressions, snow impressions can provide extremely valuable evidence in helping to resolve criminal investigations. Unfortunately, photographing and obtaining a cast of a snow impression is often a challenge for the crime scene examiner. This presentation will review techniques for photographing and casting snow impressions found at the crime scene. Methods for utilizing dental stone, fast setting plaster, and sulfur cement casting of snow impressions will be examined, showing how the type of snow and weather conditions may determine which casting technique to use.
Presenters:
Jim Wolfe became interested in snow impression evidence in the early 1980’s while working with the Alaska Fish and Wildlife Protection Crime Lab. He transferred to the Alaska State Crime Lab in 1985 and began researching innovative ways to document and collect snow impressions, teaching these techniques to law enforcement officers across Alaska. After retiring from the crime lab in 2004, Jim continues to work as a traveling trainer providing local and regional instruction in impression evidence, forensic photography, and general physical evidence collection.He is an adjunct faculty member at the UAA Justice Center.
Lesley Hammer is a Forensic Examiner with experience in latent print, footwear and tire track, and crime scene disciplines. She holds professional certifications in Forensic Footwear Examination (IAI, CIS), Criminalistics (ABC) and Crime Scene Analysis (IAI) and an MSc in Forensics from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
