Processing Improvised Explosive Devices for Fingerprints

Instructor: Erin West, MS, CLPE, CCSA
& Shane Gaghan
Course length: 24 hours

IEDs or Improvised Explosive Devices are makeshift bombs commonly constructed by terrorists and other extremists to inflict casualties on enemy forces and civilians. Examples of IEDs used in terrorist attacks in the United States include both the Boston Marathon Bombing* and the Oklahoma City Bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. Unsuccessful bomb builders have been identified or captured and their explosive devices were impounded. In such cases, it is beneficial to have evidence linking the bomb with its maker. Latent fingerprint evidence is one such method for making this link.

This 24-hour Processing Improvised Explosive Devices for Fingerprints course will instruct the student in the proper methodologies to be used in processing explosive devices for latent fingerprint evidence. As part of the instruction, the students will learn about IEDs, how they are constructed, and the safest ways to handle them.

Due to the sensitive nature of the course content, this course is only open to bona fide members of a law enforcement agency, the military, and credentialed government contractors.

Upon completion of this training the student will:

Describe the design and construction of IEDs
Demonstrate safe handling of IED evidence
Demonstrate the ability to process IEDs for fingerprints using various non-destructive, chemical and mechanical methods
Describe the intelligence value of fingerprints on IEDs and how to interpret this evidence

Workshop Outline

Day 1:
o Domestic terrorism
      – Common Types of Evidence
      – Scenarios
o Iraq/Afghanistan
      – Types of Evidence
      – Expeditionary Forensics
      – Reach-back Operations
o Introduction to IED Design and Construction
      – Inert Examples of Devices
o Safe Handling of IED Related Materials
o Exercise – IED Construction

Day 2:
o Forensic Evidence from IEDs
      – DNA
      – Toolmarks
      – Electronics
      – Fingerprints
o Fingerprint Processing
      – Surfaces for Fingerprints
      – Intelligence Gathering
            • Exterior vs. Interior
                  o Sticky Side of Tape
                  o Interior of Plastic Wrappings
o Exercise – Complete Round 1 Processing of IEDs
      – Visual Examination
      – RUVIS
      – Superglue Fuming
      – Visual Examination

Day 3:
o Device Disassembly
      – Exercise – Disassemble IED for Processing
o Exercise – Complete Round 2 Processing of IEDs
      – Visual Examination
      – RUVIS
      – Superglue Fuming
      – Visual Examination
      – RUVIS
      – Adhesive Side of Tape
      – [Indanedione/DFO/Ninhydrin]
   – Dye Staining
      – ALS

Photo of pressure cooker fragment taken by the FBI from the bombing of the Boston Marathon.

Erin West, MS, CLPE, CCSA

Holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Florida in 2006 and a Master of Science degree in Forensic DNA and Serology with a graduate certificate in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida in 2012, Erin West became a Battlefield Forensics Instructor for the United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, where she was responsible for training military personnel how to use a variety of forensic disciplines to investigate crimes overseas.

Shane Gaghan

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