Archive for the ‘Crime Scenes’ Category

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The best Valentine’s Day Invite

Friday, February 18th, 2011

A strange topic you may think? Especially, if like me, you are not a fan of Valentine’s Day and all that it encompasses. However, having just landed in Cape Town from a trip to JHB last week, I received a call from General Phahlane, the Divisional Commissioner of the Forensic Lab, requesting that I please come and present at a Strategic Planning and Management Session in Mpumalanga on Monday, 14 Feb 2011. Now you can understand why it was the best Valentine’s Day invitation I have ever received!

Gen Phahlane & Col. Lindie Traut from the FSL with Willie Scholtz from the CJS

The purpose of the work session was to review the progress made with revamping the CJS and to plan the way forward with regard to the CJS within the FSL for the 2011/2012 fiscal Year. The work session formed part of the ongoing strategic planning processes currently underway in the Forensic Science Division, which is being spearheaded by its new head, Gen. Phahlane. My brief was to present to the Planning Team, The DNA Project’s overview of where we believe funds allocated to the FSL by the CJSR (Criminal Justice System Review – which you will recall was given R3bn over 3yrs) would be best spent in the forthcoming fiscal year, with a view to expanding the National DNA Database.  What a brief! The Planning Team consisted not only of the Divisional Head of the FSL, but the head of the FSL and the LCRC and all of its top management staff. It was an honour to be invited to be part of this Session and an opportunity finally to be able to present all of our hard work and research over the last few years to such a focused group of people. In addition, the new management team of the FSL are one of the most hard working and dynamic group of people I have come across and they view the work of The DNA Project as an integral part of the review process, as opposed to an opposition group with a hidden agenda. For the first time in many years, Carolyn (who accompanied me to the session) and I felt that the tides had changed insofar as the FSL recognising the critical role it plays in the resolution of crime in South Africa.

The hour long presentation I gave was received with enthusiasm and most importantly, support. In a nutshell, The DNA Project believe the 3 key areas which need to be addressed are (1) Legislation (2) Capacity and (3) Awareness. The below slide, which come out of my presentation, captures the “How” we believe this can be achieved in SA:

Re: Legislation – despite the PC dragging their heels and insisting on embarking upon their overseas trip, the FSL are two steps ahead and have already implemented extensive strategies to increase their capacity by commencing on the building of two more National Labs in KZN and the Eastern cape – by de-centralising the Pretroia Lab, it will mean that provincial cases do not clog up the Pretoria process lines and obviously will result in an increase in samples loaded. Hand in hand with this development, they believe fully in training and awareness at the crime scene. As such, we have their support in promoting the Forensic Hons degree they have helped us develop and they will be participating in lectures at the tertiary institutions offering this course. As the FSL capacity increases, they envisage employing at least another 750 analysts and as such, the more skilled analysts they can employ the better. These strategies will ensure that the FSL’s implementation plan which they will need to prepare for Parliament, will have substance and vision, two elements key to the successful execution of the DNA Bill, when passed.

But mot importantly, where The DNAP and the FSL can work together in the most critical way, is through awareness at the crime scene – I spoke of a chain being as strong as its weakest link – and this means that with all of the above strategies in place, all will fail if we cannot collect the DNA evidence left at the crime scene by the perpetrator/s. We only have one chance to do this, and this is where the public/private partnership comes into play. If we can continue to create DNA Awareness and the importance of crime scene preservation amongst the general public and sectors of the community such as within private security companies, paramedics, trauma centres, justice and schools, then they can implement training and awareness amongst Crime Scene Examiners and first responding police officers.

This leads me to my final point which is that the expansion of the National DNA Database in South Africa, and its use as a crime intelligence tool (i.e. investigations driven by DNA, rather than DNA being considered simply a piece of evidence) requires the interplay between Justice, SAPS and the FSL and….the public – which is us, The DNA Project and YOU!

All of the above points made sense to the Planning Team and even more encouraging is that they were excited about some of the ideas I presented. We left the following day with renewed hope and energy and trust in our hearts, that the new management team are going to get it right and not just right, but they are willing and able to take DNA and its potential as an evidentiary tool, to a new level in SA. The Planning Session continued over the next couple of days, and we look forward to hearing how the 2011/2012 fiscal year is going to unfold. I have no doubt that it will be a space worth watching out for….

It was indeed a “Happy Valentine’s Day” – let’s hope in this case, all our dreams come true!

Vanessa

Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Project, Forensic Career, Latest News, Legislation, Newsletter, Press | 1 Comment »

Envisioning the future of DNA in SA – someone has to do it!

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

We all know that DNA technologies have radically reshaped the role of forensics in police work throughout the world – well, that is everywhere perhaps but here in SA, where we unarguably need it the most. Even small amounts of blood, saliva, or other biological materials left at a crime scene can now lead to the identification or elimination of a suspect. Genetic evidence is being used both to convict perpetrators and to exonerate people who were wrongfully convicted on less reliable evidence, including scores of people on death row in the USA. We all know this. It is a fact. It is the future of successful police work, and that is why I am not ready nor willing to take off my gloves in our fight to make our Government recognise this all important fact.

Every now and again, I wake up and think – what is the point? All those nay-sayers who previously told me and still tell me – you will never get anywhere with our Government would love to prove me wrong and say, ‘I told you so’…  But the point is, this is inevitable – just as the cell phone has become an indispensable instrument in every SA’s life, so too will the power of DNA and its use in resolving crime, become an indispensable tool in SA’s fight against crime. So when I heard this week that the Portfolio Committee have yet again postponed their overseas tour of the UK and Canada to , and I quote, “our winter”, ie July 2011, my initial reaction was despondency – but then I realised that they are simply delaying the inevitable – whilst they manipulate dates to ensure that their overseas trip at least falls within the European and Canadian summer (a much more pleasant time to journey, you will agree), we need to ensure that all the groundwork must continue to ensure that once that legislation is in place, we are ready for it:

1. DNA AWARENESS – this is critical, because unless we are aware that DNA is all prevalent on a crime scene, that crucial evidence will be lost, and of no further use. This applies to every officer, (be it police or security guard) paramedic or member of the public and as such, we will continue to embark upon our National DNA Awareness Campaign which offers free workshops to all these sectors as well as schools, community centres and trauma centres. The more people who know about the power of DNA, how to preserve it and how it can be used to link serial offenders to their crimes and ultimately prosecute them, the better.

2. DNA CAPACITY – we need to support our Forensic Labs, as the new legislation, when passed, will require a large amount of samples to be processed if our DNA Database is to be used as an intelligent database. To this end, more Universities need to take up our offer of hosting a Forensic DNA course at their institution (we have developed a Forensic Hons course which we provide to Universities free of charge), so that we have more qualified Forensic Analysts entering the labs. We also need to support the idea of allowing private DNA labs to assist the state forensic labs, certainly in the beginning, to process more samples to enter onto the DNA Database. This is an accepted practice all over the world, and in a country which is plagued by backlogs, there is no reason not to implement this system in SA.

3. GENETIC JUSTICE & THE LAW! – without proper legislation in place, convicted offenders remain free to leave prison without having had their DNA profile entered onto the DNA Database; the current DNA Database remains unregulated due to inadequate and outdated legislation attempting to define this area of the law; serial rapists and murderers remain at large and undetected because our Database cannot be utilised as an intelligent Database without proper legislation allowing it to be used as such. We need to put pressure on the Portfolio Committee to get a move on and review the DNA Bill, because one more delay will render their stated intentions to pass the Bill untruthful, without substance and against the will of the SA people.

Our plan for 2011 therefore is to rigourously promote DNA Awareness in the first part of the year. To this end we have a media plan and funding to help us spread this crucial awareness (remember DNA CSI!?) on a national basis. When the PC return from their overseas trip, ready, we trust to finally concentrate on actually reviewing the legislation, we hope that there will be a groundswell of South African’s fully aware of why DNA and its use in Forensics needs to form part of this country’s crime fighting strategy.

Let us know if you want us to host a free DNA Awareness workshop or lecture at your organisation, school, community centre, trauma centre or security company – simply email Maya at maya@dnaproject.co.za or call (021) 418-0647.

with thanks

Vanessa

Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Detective, DNA Project, Forensic Career, Latest News, Legislation, Newsletter | 1 Comment »

Meeting the new General of the FSL

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

I was in Johannesburg and Pretoria today where I met with two very interesting and influential people – one government, one private.

The first, General Phahlane, is the newly appointed head of the Forensic Science Lab [which, remember, consists of 6 different forensic divisions, only one of which is Biology (DNA)]. The General has taken over from the former Div. Commissioner, Piet du Toit and has a very different managerial style to his predecessor. For one, he promotes opens lines of communications, and whilst I sense that he is definitely not a man to be crossed, he encourages support and input so long as it is constructive. The General acknowledges that the current system is far from perfect, however, he is tackling the issues head on and apparently, transparently, and from all accounts runs a very tight ship too. His random appearance within the lab at any given time, certainly ensures that the people working there are on the ball at all times, and I believe this approach has enabled him to boast substantial inroads into the DNA backlog,  that is constantly being raised as an issue. The General believes that NGO’s have a critical role to play in making fundamental changes in SA – more importantly, he supports our objectives and has a particular interest in the DNA Awareness campaign we have embarked upon throughout South Africa as he too understands how vital a part the preservation of crime scene evidence plays. His passion to eradicate crime  in SA is palpable, and I truly look forward to watching the changes I believe he is going to make in developing a strategy to expand the DNA Database in SA. It is abundantly clear that he comprehends and embraces the significant role a criminal intelligence database plays in SA as opposed to simply a DNA Database, and that more profiles = a more powerful database for crime detection and resolution, but ultimately prevention.

Vanessa Lynch with General Phahlane and Colonel Shezi at the Pretoria FSL

Vanessa Lynch with General Phahlane and Colonel Shezi at the Pretoria FSL

I was also greatly relieved to hear that Colonel Shezi, who attended the meeting, will be accompanying the Portfolio Committee on their overseas study tour to the UK and Canada next year. The General confirmed that at least her trip had been approved, so I am assuming from that information, that the remainder of the Committee members must too have a final agenda. This reinforces the statement made by MP, Annelize van Wyk on SABC1 (“It’s your Right”) last week, that the tour has been scheduled for late January 2011 and that deliberations on the DNA Bill would commence in February on their return; and… that she anticipated that it would be finalised by mid 2011. We won’t of course be holding our breath that they will stick to those timelines, as reviewing legislation is not a cut and dry affair, BUT, at least it is finally being publicly spoken about and is now openly on the agenda.

The other person I met was the CEO of the Security Industry Alliance. The concept of introducing DNA Awareness Training as an industry standard amongst all private security personnel was discussed. In other words, we host “Train the Trainer” workshops so that all security companies are enabled to incorporate DNA Awareness Training as part of their standard crime scene management training. I am putting together a proposal this week which will formulate a plan to incorporate this type of awareness from the top down. This is very exciting, as it may well mean, that DNA Awareness becomes part and parcel of all first responding officers’ training — again, it underlies the objective we are very passionate about — and that is that you only have a limited opportunity to preserve crime scene evidence, without which all the laws in the land and fancy labs are rendered meaningless.

Let’s hope that our simple acronym DNA CSI becomes as well known in SA as Coca Cola!

Vanessa

Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Project, Latest News, Legislation, Links | No Comments »

Feedback from Interpol DNA User’s Conference

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

This time last week I was sitting at the Interpol Headquarters in Lyon, France listening to the Chief of the USA FBI CODIS Unit talk about International DNA Exchange methods. This was only one of approximately 35 fascinating presentations delivered by representatives from over 50 countries. As you may well imagine, participating in a conference of this magnitude was extraordinary, and the value of being able to interact with the other representatives: priceless. A special mention of thanks needs to go to our generous sponsor, The Open Society Foundation for South Africa, which enabled us to attend this incredible conference.

Members of the Interpol DNA Monitoring Expert Group at the Conference

The keynote speaker was a highly respected Australian Forensic Scientist by the name of Dr Simon Walsh. Dr Walsh is the Co-ordinator of the Australian DNA Database who spoke about, amongst other topics, ‘New Technologies & Techniques in the 21st Century use of DNA‘. We heard about what he termed “the triumvirate of interests” which is the critical interplay between the police,  forensic scientists and the justice system. If you absent one of these 3 critical components when trying to implement a DNA Criminal Intelligence Database, the success of any DNA Database will fail to reach its expected outcome. This needs to be considered in great detail in a country such as South Africa where both our justice system and SAPS are fraught with problems. These challenges however are not unique to South Africa, and the way in which other countries have dealt with this, is by the implementation of a DNA Expansion Board or body of people, represented by the various departments as well as ethicists and parliamentarians and any other group relevant to that administration who collectively oversee the development of the DNA Database. I have spoken about this type of overseeing body on many occasions in the past and still believe that this approach would work well in South Africa, which in fact has the benefit of an already established DNA database as well as a functional forensic laboratory. Whether the Portfolio Committee reviewing our current legislation recognises this critical requirement however, is yet to be seen….

Carolyn and I arriving at Interpol Headquarters on the first day of the Conference

On a more complex level, and probably more relevant to countries such as the UK, Australia and the USA who have developed and utilised their DNA Databases successfully as criminal intelligence tools, Dr Walsh’s presentation went further to explore an inferential model for DNA database performance using data from major national DNA database programs. The parameters that optimise desirable database outputs (matches) were isolated and discussed, as was his approach for maximizing financial efficiency and minimizing ethical impact brought about by the successful implementation of DNA databases. Dr Walsh’s research takes important steps toward identifying measures of performance for forensic DNA database operations and should you wish to know more about his formulas he has developed to measure DNA Database outcomes, feel free to email me at info@dnaproject.co.za and I will send you the paper he has recently written on this subject.

What struck me most at the conference was the extent to which the majority of the countries government’s represented at the conference, were willing to put in whatever resources were required to establish and maximise the effectiveness of their respective DNA databases. It was also sobering to see how seriously they took crime and in some countries a stolen car was considered to be headline news and worthy of 24/7 resources to catch the perpetrator. You can just imagine the reaction that followed my presentation where I described the current situation in South Africa, spoke about my experience when my father was murdered and ended off the presentation with the VUKA ad which highlights the severity of crime in our country. To say that the audience was left in stunned silence at the end of my presentation, is perhaps an

Vanessa Lynch presenting at the Interpol DNA Conference

understatement. I think we all know how de-sensitized we are to crime in South Africa, but when people came up to me afterwards and told me they had literally choked-up during my presentation, I realised how far removed we really are and how dangerous this can be as it moves us into a place of acceptance of an absolutely, unequivocally unacceptable situation. And people kept asking me – but WHY doesn’t your government do something about this and WHY is it taking so long to pass this legislation which will convert all those unprocessed rape kits I had shown them, into a DNA profile which may lead the CSI’s to the perpetrator to STOP them from re-offending. And the best question: but WHY doesn’t your government or your parliamentarians RESPECT these victims and future victims of crime enough in your country to do something about this? Yes, WHY indeed?

Carolyn and Vanessa in the Interpol Headquarter's Garden

On the other end of the scale we heard from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) how they  have been given 1 BILLION US$ to implement a population database in their region – their crime rate, I recall, is something in the region of 950 reported crimes over 10 years?! The reason – to prevent future crime from occurring! Whilst this is not a realistic option in most parts of the world, it sparked serious debate amongst the audience in respect of the value and ethical considerations a population database would bring about. For those not familiar with the term ‘population database’, it simply means that instead of focusing on putting the criminal population on the DNA database, it puts the entire country’s DNA profiles on the database which creates a larger reference pool for matching purposes when a crime occurs and a DNA profile is uplifted from a crime scene. Theirs is going to be the first population database in the world, and what I found most significant was that legislation was not listed as a ‘requirement’ for its implementation! This is because, and I quote, “Legislation will be taken care of by the Minister of Interior”! No questions asked.

We thoroughly enjoyed listening to some fascinating case studies presented by different countries over the course of the 3 days, all of which obviously showed how DNA was used to track the perpetrator of the crime, and in some cases, from as far back as the early 1970′s and throughout the world using Interpol’s International DNA Database.

We were also shown a very exciting new website called the  “Forensic DNA World Map Project “. The World Map Project provides forensic scientists, criminal justice professionals and lawmakers with access to the policy, legislative, legal and technical knowledge-base of the countries throughout the world that have operational DNA database programs.  It is a free service but is limited to those individuals pursuing the information for the purpose of developing and refining forensic DNA policy.  One can apply for a password and if given, those Users may request additional country-specific information, such as enabling legislation, DNA database reports, presentations, statistical data, technical standards and media.  The WMP can also connect users with forensic DNA databasing leaders throughout the world.  I am going to suggest to our Parliamentary Researcher that she apply for a password to access this database and that she disseminate same to members of our Portfolio Committee – this is probably what they really need to look at to inform themselves of  International Best Practice (IBP) – in other words, an armchair tour of the World’s DNA Policies may be all they need to learn the most about how this technology is being implemented internationally and the issues and challenges each of those countries has had to deal with!! I have looked at the site and it is arguably one of the most informative portals when it comes to looking at IBP in this arena.

There was also a lot of discussion around familial searching, which is used mostly for DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) but in a more regulated way, to establish a link to the perpetrator when they pick up a familial link on the DNA database between a crime stain and a profile which already exists on the database. Judge Arthur Tompkins presented some very sound and objective arguments on both the legal and ethical issues surrounding the use of familial searching. Having listened to these discussions I think it would be prudent for South Africa to consider inserting a provision in our new DNA legislation to regulate this area of the database.

Judge Tompkins also provided us with very valuable insight into the lessons learned from the outcome of the contentious S & Marper cases which reached the European Human Rights Courts. I so wished even ONE member of our Portfolio Committee could have been there to participate in these discussions, as they have stated on more than one occasion that they are considering the outcome of this case in the review of our legislation.  This case you may recall, centres around the retention of ‘innocent’ profiles on the database where the person is subsequently acquitted or the case is dropped. What you may find interesting, is that “S” is a person named Smith who was a minor at the time of his DNA profile being loaded onto the database. Smith was not subsequently convicted. But how ironic is this: Smith was recently linked to a crime he was found guilty of committing – how? Because his DNA profile found on the crime scene matched his ‘innocent’ profile on the database….

Carolyn and I left the Interpol Headquarters last Friday with our heads full of new information and new ideas; new friends and allies and more importantly renewed motivation. We received such wonderful support for the work we are doing in South Africa – everyone found it completely unique (and not surprisingly, somewhat strange!) that a non-government organisation was necessary in a country like South Africa where we provide DNA awareness, grass roots training, skills development and most importantly a public voice to try and convince the relevant governmental powers of the value of a criminal intelligence DNA database. Be that as it may, we will continue with our mission to ‘fight crime with science’, and whilst we are not advocating that this is the ‘silver bullet’ to resolve crime, it certainly remains a mystery as to why South Africa has not leapt at the opportunity to more fully use this phenomenal technology where accountability for crime has not yet been achieved.

Should you wish to know anything further about the conference, feel free to email me on info@dnaproject.co.za

Vanessa

Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Project, Forensic Career, Legislation, Links, Newsletter | 1 Comment »

Processing Burglary Scenes for DNA

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Read below a very Interesting Article that was published in the latest Evidence Technology Magazine:

Opinion: Processing Burglary Scenes for DNA
Written by Ralph Barfield
Processing Burglary Scenes for DNA:
Too Expensive for Many Agencies?

Many law-enforcement agency chief executives and managers believe they are caught between a rock and a hard place. Most feel pressured to make tough choices on where to expend their limited resources. Too often, in an effort to save money, agencies are not processing burglaries due to the sheer volume of incidents and the drain on manpower.

Crime-scene processing is a normal function of a law-enforcement agency’s responsibility. A 2008 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) study report, “The DNA Field Experiment,” pointed out clearly the effective results of recovering and processing DNA from burglary scenes. Every law-enforcement chief executive and manager should read the study and analyze the results. The study should be an encouragement to all agencies to aggressively process burglary scenes—especially for DNA.

Some chief executives are quick to point out they simply cannot afford to use this new technology. This is an indefensible position for any agency to take and offer the community. This argument is heard from agencies of all sizes and permeates all areas of law enforcement. What is actually occurring is a lack of interest and desire to enable an agency to effectively search crime scenes for DNA evidence. If the agency is set up to process routine burglaries, then the next logical step is processing for DNA. This requires a minimal amount of additional supplies. It will also require some additional specialized training in DNA recovery, obtaining control samples, storage, and laboratory submissions. This training is neither lengthy nor expensive! There is a higher cost to be paid by small and medium size agencies that make little or no effort to aggressively process crime scenes for DNA, especially burglaries.

As forensic hype in popular media begins to wane, many agencies have been quietly abandoning the processing burglaries and some never began processing burglaries to begin with. Between 1999 and 2003, a mid-sized Virginia agency proved beyond all doubt it was possible to effectively and aggressively process crime scenes for DNA. At the time, they were operating on limited resources. What they did have were crime-scene investigators, officers, supervisors, and managers that bought into the new DNA-processing program.

Some agencies honestly believe they need expensive forensic equipment and highly trained forensic specialists—“as seen on TV”—to recover DNA. In some cases that may be true. However, the majority of the time that is simply not the case. The routine day-to-day cases that small and mid-sized agencies generally face are larceny, burglary, and auto theft.

The key elements are training, knowledge, and aggressiveness in the approach to recovering DNA from crime scenes. Some managers have been heard to say, “We’ll just call the state if we have one of those cases.” The problem with this line of reasoning is that state and federal agencies are stretched to the financial breaking point. Smaller agencies can and should take more responsibility for processing their own routine, day-to-day scenes for DNA.

Four basics are needed in most cases: 1) training; 2) collection and packaging materials; 3) desire; 4) common sense. Assessing what suspects may have done at the scene can be very effective. Determinations such as How did he get in? or What did he touch, eat, drink or leave behind? can yield valuable DNA evidence. Teaching crime-scene investigators to work quickly and effectively can pay huge dividends in costs. However, as the 2008 NIJ DNA Field Experiment revealed, regular police officers can just as effectively collect DNA evidence as crime-scene investigators. The key is a basic four- to eight-hour basic training class on identification, documentation, and collection of suspected DNA evidence. All agency personnel, including supervisors and managers, should receive the training. The steps are not complicated and the results can be tremendous.

Normally, agencies get one opportunity to process a scene or collect a vital piece of evidence. Equipping all vehicles with latex gloves, paper envelopes, paper bags, sterile cotton swabs, collection boxes for the cotton swabs, and perhaps small amounts of distilled water is all that is needed.

A mid-sized Virginia agency had patrol officers, detectives, sergeants, and lieutenants who collected items on their own initiative. This later proved critical because they knew what to do in those situations where the items with potential DNA could have been lost or destroyed.

Here’s an example: A female police patrol sergeant who had received training on potential DNA identification and collection responded to the foot pursuit of two armed robbery suspects in a heavily traveled downtown area. While traveling the escape route, she spotted a ski mask matching the description worn by one of the suspects. She immediately stopped, obtained a clean paper bag, and collected the ski mask. Later, DNA analysis of the mask identified two of the suspects involved in a string of armed robberies in the downtown area. Both suspects were later convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
Supervisors and managers should not be expected to routinely process crime scenes. However, as anyone with extensive street experience knows, those situations can and will occur in which it is critical that they act to prevent the loss of valuable evidence.

The DNA databases available to agencies nationwide offer an opportunity to identify suspects previously unknown to law enforcement. A mid-sized agency was amazed at the number of suspects identified as the state’s DNA database of known offenders continued to grow. The results of identifications in burglaries, sexual assaults, homicides, and auto thefts convinced even the most critical skeptics in the agency. Granted, initially Virginia had the first and one of the largest DNA databases in the country, but numerous states have steadily grown their databases and many have passed Virginia’s volume. The increase of blind DNA database hits has resulted from the education of law-enforcement management and personnel, improved training on DNA collection, states adding additional known and suspected felons, and laboratory improvements in DNA processing.

These tough financial times will improve in the future. Those agencies that have processed scenes for DNA will reap the benefits when state laboratories begin lifting current submission restrictions due to manpower cutbacks.

The cost of failing to aggressively process burglary scenes for potential DNA is far greater than the cost of training and supplies. The citizens in many communities often display amazement and frustration with small agencies’ obvious lack of interest in processing crime scenes. Criminals in too many jurisdictions are getting a free pass from law enforcement agencies. The agency must put forth at least a limited effort if nothing else. The agency’s personnel are admitting defeat in combating the continual problem of burglary. This is a major hurdle many small agencies face. The issue is psychological, and until addressed, this will not improve. Officers and management share the responsibility of changing an agency’s attitude toward processing burglaries.

The cost of not processing burglaries shows up in a continual higher rate of reported incidents. Often the arrest of one or more burglars will have an immediate impact. Many burglars ply their trade in strings of thefts and will often be responsible for numerous incidents. Through the use of state DNA databases, previously unknown burglars from other states or jurisdiction have been identified. As more states enter juveniles into DNA databases, agencies are surprised by the number involved in burglary, larceny, and auto theft. By processing burglaries for DNA, agencies will often inadvertently identify suspects involved in numerous and more violent crimes such as rape, robbery, or murder.

Laboratories play a major role in cooperation with local law-enforcement agencies in analysis of submitted potential DNA items of evidence. The list of items from which laboratories can now recover DNA is almost limitless. Many laboratories have begun requiring agencies already effective in DNA collection to initially sift through items and submit those items of the highest probative value. This requires officers to become well-versed and knowledgeable on the laboratory’s DNA capabilities. Someone within the agency must be ready and willing to communicate openly with laboratory examiners. That person then becomes essential to educating and training agency personnel on updates, new techniques, requirements, policies, and procedural changes.

Burglary is sometimes referred to as the training ground for criminals and crime-scene investigators. Just as it often provides a gateway to other more serious crimes for the criminals, burglary aslo provides for the police officer and investigator the a high level of scene and evidence diversity in its sheer volume.

Law-enforcement agencies often fail to realize that criminal elements are watching and are aware of how much or how little processing is conducted. Agencies that neglect to utilize DNA and fingerprint processing of burglaries, larcenies, and auto theft are actually helping the criminals. This can become a serious problem in resort and college communities. Simply relying on old investigative techniques is occurring in amazing volumes much too often in a period of improved forensic technology.

Those small and medium size agencies that currently process scenes for DNA must be commended. Communities have a right to expect their law-enforcement agency to take the necessary steps enabling them to properly document, collect, and submit physical evidence that could identify criminals and protect their citizens.

The actual cost of processing DNA must be considered—no one disputes that. However, the cost of training, equipment, and supplies is not excessive. It can be done without enlarging facilities, hiring additional personnel, or purchasing expensive equipment. Agency size is not a deterrent to effectiveness. Current officers or civilians can be trained in the proper methods of DNA processing. The majority of law-enforcement agencies in the United States are small; yet they, mid-sized, and large agencies are reluctant to embrace this effective technology.

There are some bright spots among law-enforcement agencies. However, much remains to be done. Contrary to what many in law-enforcement management contend, the cost of not processing burglaries for DNA is far greater than the cost of conducting the processing.

About the Author

Detective Sergeant Ralph Barfield served with the Charlottesville (Virginia) Police Department for 27 years, the last ten as Forensic Unit Supervisor. The unit was recognized in 2003 by the National Institute of Justice for their success with DNA crime scene processing, DNA identification & elimination and use of DNA Data Banks. The unit’s success with DNA was featured twice on CBS and on NPR. He has instructed police officers across the country and taught at local colleges. He is also an author, writing the article “Small Police Department Forensics and DNA”. He can be reached at: rbarf@aol.com

Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Project, Links | No Comments »

DNA: The crime-fighting tool that needs to be used

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

This article was featured in The Witness, 3 Sep 2010 on Page 9.

DNA: The crime-fighting tool that needs to be used
03 Sep 2010

Dr Carolyn Hancock, a Director of The DNA Project

EARLIER this year Rudi Venter, who had been charged with the murder of his wife, walked out of court a free man. DNA evidence had determined he was innocent.

Venter’s wife was beaten to death with a baseball bat at their Johannesburg home in 2006. At the time, Venter said he had returned home after taking his children to school and seen two men running from the house before finding his critically injured wife. Venter was arrested for her murder a year later. Just before he was due to go to trial in February, his legal team asked an expert to interpret the DNA results from material found at the scene. It was found that DNA samples obtained at the scene contained the blood of Venter’s wife and two unidentified men. Venter’s blood was not present anywhere. Consequently, the state withdrew the murder charge.

If the DNA found at the scene had been processed at the time as a matter of routine, Venter would not have spent four years with a murder charge hanging over him.

“DNA does not only prove guilt, but it can also prove innocence,” says Dr Carolyn Hancock, a director of the DNA Project and a former genetics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

“In the United States, 258 people have been freed from prison on the basis of DNA results. The average time they had spent in prison was 13 years. Seventeen of them were on death row for crimes they never committed.”

Currently, this cannot happen in South Africa as the processing of DNA for forensic purposes by the South African Police Force Forensic Science Laboratory is prioritised according to five categories. Top of the list is a request from prosecutors when they have a suspect. The laboratory then undertakes to do a complete DNA analysis within 120 days or by trial date.

Bottom of the list are those cases with no known suspect. “This is what we believe should change,” says Hancock. “With a DNA database, reoffenders would immediately be identified.”

For this to happen, aspects of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977 need to be amended in order for the country’s police force to be able to routinely use DNA for forensic purposes. The act is out of date; back in 1977, nobody had started using DNA for forensic purposes and consequently the act doesn’t specifically regulate the use of DNA for criminal intelligence purposes.

To address this omission, the Criminal Law Forensic Procedures Amendment Bill was drafted in 2008. It deals with the use of DNA and looks to allow police access to fingerprint databases other than their own, such as those of the departments of home affairs and transport, which routinely take fingerprints for identification purposes.

The draft bill was subsequently divided into two parts — one dealing with fingerprints, the other with DNA. The fingerprint legislation has been adopted. As a result, in addition to about five million fingerprints recorded by the SAPF, the police will now be allowed to search the other databases and access around 33 million fingerprints.

The DNA part of the bill is on hold while the parliamentary portfolio committee overseeing the bill reviews presentations regarding the issue and travels overseas to see how DNA analysis is done in other countries. It is unlikely that any decision will be made on the bill until next year.

If the bill is passed, which seems likely, capacity issues will have to be addressed if it is to be implemented effectively. One solution, given the lack of capacity of the SAPF, would be to outsource work to private laboratories.

“The capacity does exist out there to make this work,” says Hancock. “The immediate demand could be met. The use of private labs for the analysis of reference samples taken from arrestees would be a short-term solution, but they are used everywhere else and it is regarded as international best practice.”

But there remains a need for more qualified personnel within the SAPF and to that end, Hancock, as part of an initiative funded by the sponsors of the DNA Project, has been instrumental in developing a post-graduate qualification in forensic DNA analysis so that the state will have access to well-qualified personnel. This degree is already being offered at the University of the Free State and will be offered next year at the University of Cape Town. “The course material is freely available to any South African post-graduate institution,” she says.

Although the draft bill might be on hold, the DNA Project is promoting and publicising the use of DNA analysis in the fight against crime. The DNA Project is a non-profit, public-benefit organisation lobbying for the expansion of a national DNA database and it proposes that DNA profiles be created from DNA samples collected from crime scenes and from all those suspected or convicted of a crime.

“In this country, such a database would be hugely beneficial because of the number of criminals who reoffend,” says Hancock. “If you get them on the database the first time they commit an offence, then if you don’t convict them for their first offence you will hopefully do so when they reoffend.”

The DNA Project has just launched a new campaign aimed at promoting DNA awareness in South Africa. “We are primarily targeting community police forums and security companies,” says Hancock.

“The latter are often the first on a crime scene. You press a panic button and they are the first to respond. We want to ensure that anyone who is first at a crime scene ensures that any DNA evidence is preserved as it can easily be contaminated or destroyed. This evidence should be collected by trained SAPF crime-scene investigators.”

This nation-wide campaign sees the DNA Project offering free DNA awareness workshops to educate people as to the benefits of utilising DNA evidence for crime detection and prevention, and the need to contain and not contaminate a crime scene. “We would like to offer these workshops, which are free of charge, to those who are likely to be the first to arrive at a crime scene. For example, first responding officers, security guards, police reservists and paramedics.”

The DNA project is hoping to get this message to 10 000 people this year and they also have government funding to reach as many schoolchildren as possible. “Genetics is part of the school curriculum,” says Hancock, “and forensics is something they study — and many of them watch CSI on TV.”

The workshops will provide a basic understanding of how DNA profiling can be used to assist in criminal investigations in South Africa and the importance of preserving DNA evidence which may be at a crime scene. “This is essential as no matter how good our legislation or our laboratories are”, says Hancock, “we need to have the evidence properly preserved and collected at the crime scene.”

FORENSIC DNA evidence plays a vital role in criminal investigations because it can identify and help convict a suspect who is guilty of committing a crime or prove the innocence of a suspect who has been wrongly accused of a crime.

WHAT IS DNA? WHERE IS IT FOUND IN THE BODY?

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. This is the name for the chemical which is found in almost every cell in the human body and which is the blueprint or recipe for that person’s characteristics. Everyone’s DNA is unique (unless they have an identical twin). A person’s DNA is also exactly the same in every cell of their body. For example, the DNA pattern, also known as the DNA profile, in a human’s blood is the same as the DNA in his or her skin cells, body tissue, semen and saliva, which makes it possible to compare crime-scene evidence such as semen stains, saliva on cigarette butts and blood on clothing, with DNA obtained from a blood sample or cheek scraping taken from a suspect.

WHAT IS A DNA PROFILE?

A DNA profile is simply a unique list of letters and numbers obtained from a person’s DNA that acts as a personal identifier. A DNA profile contains no information about a person’s physical characteristics, their mental predisposition or anything about their medical his-tory. In the same way as fingerprints link a suspect to a crime, DNA provides scientific evidence that can identify or exclude a suspect from a police investigation. It can also be used to identify a victim through DNA from relatives, even when a body cannot be found. DNA profiling can also link two or more crime scenes. When evidence from one crime scene is compared with evidence from another, the police can tell whether it was the same person who had committed two different crimes. Even very old cases, which the police thought would never be solved, may contain DNA evidence that can be used to identify the person who committed that crime.

HOW CAN DNA HELP TO IDENTIFY A SUSPECT?

Once DNA samples have been collected from a crime scene and processed at the Forensic Science Laboratory, the DNA profile, which is the identification number taken from the DNA sample, can be compared with the DNA profiles taken from a known suspect. If no known suspect exists, the DNA profile taken from the crime scene is still valuable, as when it is entered onto the national DNA database, the police can see whether that DNA profile links to another known DNA profile on the DNA database or perhaps it may even link several different crimes to each other.

— DNA Project.

DNA DOES NOT ONLY PROVE GUILT, BUT IT CAN ALSO PROVE INNOCENCE. IN THE UNITED STATES, 258 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FREED FROM PRISON ON THE BASIS OF DNA RESULTS. THE AVERAGE TIME THEY HAD SPENT IN PRISON WAS 13 YEARS. SEVENTEEN OF THEM WERE ON DEATH ROW FOR CRIMES THEY NEVER COMMITTED.

Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Detective, DNA Project, Forensic Career, Latest News, Legislation, Links, Newsletter, Press | No Comments »

Murder mystery in JHB

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

Many of you may have heard of our very own “DNA Detective”, Prof Valerie Corfield? Renowned for her innovative and inventive teaching methodologies, Prof. Valerie Corfield is one of our appointed DNA Awareness trainers, based in the Western Cape. If you haven’t seen her in action, you should put it on your ‘bucket list’. Prof Corfield has the ability to transcend all boundaries in such a way that you are not even aware that you are actually learning something at the same time.

Learning about 'ice breakers' in training from Prof Corfield

Prof Corfield in action

Next week the ‘Prof. of DNA’ will facilitate a murder mystery evening in JHB at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre to raise awareness about DNA technology in South Africa. If you can, I encourage you to go and play ‘CSI detective’ with this DNA Detective on Tuesday, 7 September at 6:30 pm. You will enjoy an evening full of plots, sub plots, intrigue and numerous contradictions as you determine the modus operandi and sift through multiple motives to identify the murderer. The Prof will make you interview witnesses and suspects, gather evidence and decide for yourself what really happened one dark night in Newtown.

But in all seriousness, the murder mystery evening at Sci-Bono has actually been designed to allow you to explore the science of DNA profiling and find out more about how forensic DNA databases can be used as a tool to catch criminals. You will be invited to join the discussion about the ethics of DNA profiling and decide for yourself if South Africa needs a criminal intelligence DNA database.

TITLE: MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF DR. NOALL X PLOR  – DNA profiling in South Africa.

DATE: Tuesday 7 September

TIME: 6:30 pm for 7:00 pm

VENUE: The Sci-Bono Discovery Centre

RSVP: speaktoascientist@sci-bono.co.za or call Refilwe Pico at 011 639 8448

In the meantime we have been extremely busy making contact with countless security companies, police reservist clusters, paramedics, CPF’s and any other groups whose personnel may arrive first on a crime scene – we have been offering FREE DNA Awareness workshops throughout South Africa in an effort to educate people about the importance of preserving DNA evidence at a crime scene and how that evidence can be used in helping solve crime. We have qualified trainers in most provinces and have printed materials which we hand out to trainees FREE of charge to facilitate these workshops.

Workshop in JHB at Tracker being filmed by SS1

Workshop in JHB at Tracker being filmed by SS1

We have raised the funds to create this awareness, yet it is amazing how slow organizations have been to take up this incredible opportunity. There is no catch. This is what we are about – we want to promote DNA awareness in South Africa and the more people who are aware of its amazing potential in crime fighting, the better. Please – contact us so that we can arrange a workshop for your organization or CPF – alternatively SPREAD the word. We can have all the legislation, scientists, facilities and equipment in place – but if we don’t preserve the evidence for proper collection – all that is worth nothing.

Please let us know if you or your organization would be interested in helping us host a training session/s and we will send you further information. Email Maya, our training coordinator at maya@dnaproject.co.za

with thanks

Vanessa

ps – below a few images from some of our workshops held in Gauteng and KZN.


Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Detective, DNA Project, Events, Latest News, Links | No Comments »

Where have all the police gone?

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

It seems that most things are back to  ‘business as usual’ post the world cup, which took not only SA, but the rest of the world by storm. We seem to have been left with a wonderful sense of goodwill, patriotism, and a realisation, that if our Government really wanted to, they could control crime…. The stats on crime levels over the World Cup period are going to be released at the end of the year, and it will be interesting to see whether the crime rates rose thereafter. We all know they decreased over Jun/Jul, so only time will tell if the ‘back to business as usual’ principle applies to our SA Government relapsing into not being able to control the crime spiral we have come to live with.

Basically it all boils down to VISIBLE POLICING! They implemented it in NYC to great effect; the Western Cape have been pushing for it over the last few years to good effect and it was used during the World Cup to demonstrate how effective it really is.  We should be pushing for visible policing as one of our basic rights in this country and must be careful not to fall down the slippery slope of complacency and acceptance the further we move away from the “Great World Cup”.

My last blog published a tender from the State Forensic Lab inviting private labs to bid for business to assist the state labs with processing capacity. I received a number of queries subsequent to this blog entry around why it is important and what it means for SA. The below questions and answers hopefully cover most of the issues raised, but please feel free to email me should any other issues surrounding this bid remain unclear:

Why is this bid important and what does it mean for The DNA Project and SA?
A dynamic common to most countries that implement forensic DNA databases is the necessary development of a private sector market.  This is a natural result of the passage of database legislation.  Few country laboratory infrastructures were designed with forensic DNA databasing in mind. And the passage of legislation results in an immediate and large volume of offender testing that needs to be accomplished in order for the database to be effective.  Also, offender sample testing is conducive to automation and doesn’t require the same level of “bench” expertise that law enforcement crime scene specialists should be doing.  Ultimately, private sector automation is a more cost effective way to approach such testing.  The development of a private sector market contributes to cost efficiencies.  In the United States, when databasing first began, offender samples were being analyzed at approximately $80 per sample.  Because of competition, samples are now analyzed at less than $30 per offender sample. The DNAP has engaged widely with private forensic labs throughout South Africa who are willing to assist the state labs with their throughput capacity. We welcome this move by the state forensic labs to explore future private-public partnerships in order to facilitate the backlog and implementation plan proposed by the police to the portfolio committee to ensure the ultimate success of the legislation.

There are  three parts to the tender (apart from the general laboratory requirements): Training of SAPS personnel to collect non-invasive samples; DNA extraction/non extraction and the actual profile laboratory service.   The difficulty for anyone submitting a bid will be the lack of detail and commitment from SAPS FSL.

Service providers are advised to submit their questions and concerns to the office of SAPS SCM (Ms Jacobeth Majola) where the bid documents were collected.

In order to make any commitment, a laboratory service provider would need guaranteed sample numbers before making the substantial instrument and infrastructure investments.   A one year contract is simply too short to recoup the investment.   By the time the tender is awarded some months would have been lost from the twelve month period.   Next will be the time required to train SAPS personnel to collect samples before a single sample can be run.   However, if the database is to include, for example, all current and future prison inmates, SAPS and military personnel this could be a starting point to submit potential sample numbers for profiling.   This would assist potential service providers drawing up a business plan and possibly submitting a meaningful bid.

(1) The training of police officials to take non-intimate samples is not dependent on the Forensic Amendment Bill. The new National Heath Bill regulations permit SAPS officials to take non-intimate samples— hence SAPS require that officials at all Police Stations are trained to take the non-intimate samples when the contract is awarded. Thus officials will not be required to take suspects to a medical practitioner anymore to take the non-intimate sample- provided they are trained in terms of the National Health Regulations.

  (2) It may be unlikely that the same service provider who will perform the DNA testing services will also be performing the training of officials to take the non-intimate samples.  
* the lab performing the testing will not be required to train officials to take samples
* until the legislation is finalised, there will not be large scale DNA testing services required by the private     laboratories- pilot projects will be run
* the bids do however provide SAPS an opportunity through a formal process to report to parliament on the interested     capacity of service providers 

. (3)  Service providers must bid on their existing DNA testing capacity (indicate what is the absolute minimum quantities that will justify them to provide the service) and   also indicate what expansion they are capable/willing to do and lead time to provide the increased sample typing service.

  (4) The fact of one year for a contract being too short has been noted by and communicated to the appropriate SAPS principals.

The Portfolio Committee will be looking closely at the private sector capacity on their return from their overseas tour of International Forensic Labs, and as such it is vitally important that the private sector come on board to assist the state labs with processing capacity – the more profiles that are processed and entered onto the database, the greater the chance of a match being made.

Finally, here is an opportunity for the good guys to make money out of crime! Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.

Vanessa


Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Detective, DNA Project, Latest News, Legislation | No Comments »

a complaint about the VUKA! ad

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

I received a letter from ASA (Advertising Standards Authority of SA) yesterday enclosing a complaint from one viewer who had watched the VUKA! ad last month….

Some of you may know that The DNA Project was the recipient of a VUKA! Commercial entitled ‘Leaving Something Behind’ – which was produced and donated to The DNA PROJECT by the media industry in Cape Town last year. It gives little warning to the audience of what they were about to see, suffice to say it is a very powerful piece. For those who have seen the commercial on their computer screen, the impact is a thousand fold when seen on a big screen. You can literally sense people draw breath as the opening scene begins, and when the minute segment has ended you can tell that people are visibly moved by this hard hitting production which highlights what we live with in SA and how we need to be reminded every now and again that crime is not OK. The VUKA Commercial won a place in the top 30% category and is being flighted by DSTV free of charge on its various channels for the duration of 2010. [ the VUKA! Awards ("Wake Up" in Nguni) were introduced in 1999 as a platform to reward and nurture South Africa's filmmaking talent while providing vital exposure to social causes and charities via Public Service Announcements (PSAs) as the competition genre. M-Net and the DSTV platform flights an average of 60 free charity commercials every year, with the top 30% of VUKA! Awards PSA entries being broadcast on M-Net and selected DStv channels. The on-going exposure of critical social issues via the M-net and selected DSTV platform has resulted in resources being directed towards needy causes whose messages are broadcast into over one million homes in South Africa, the African continent and Indian Ocean Islands.]

The complainants objections to the ad were that it was too explicit and graphic to be shown during family time [it is always shown after 8pm]. She went on to say that the advert is absolutely disgusting and in bad taste and too vulgar to show at any time of the day.

I have been asked to respond so that ASA may adjudicate on the objection and determine whether in fact the ad is appropriate for public viewing.

Interestingly, this is the first complaint and only the second negative response I have received about the advert. Every other response has been positive – yes, it has disturbed people, it has made them go ‘cold’ on viewing, but the conclusion has always been that unfortunately it is necessary, as this IS what we live with in this country and the ad shows that there IS something we can do about it.

I have no objection to people expressing their opinions and I believe that I too have the right to express mine – we obviously will not always agree with one another. However, I think the complainant has missed the point of the ad – it is not designed to disgust people, it is designed to snap people out of their complacency and acceptance of our crime riddled society. And I think it does just that. But I do think the message in the end is powerful – in our favour. It states that ‘no matter what they (the criminals) take, they always leave something behind’, and it is for that reason that we feel we have the upper hand at the end of the one minute ad.

The VUKA! ads are all based on emotive and hard hitting issues that effect our society, and it is pointless to wrap them in tissue paper and pretend they don’t exist. I know how it feels to have a family member brutally murdered, and there are too many others out there who have suffered at the hands of crime, whether by being a victim of rape, assault, hijacking or having lost a loved one at the hands of a criminal in SA. And this ad is NOTHING compared to how that feels. This is easy to watch compared to watching people suffering day in and day out due to crime.

I ask that you now watch the ad, and please, add your comment below as to what you think about it and whether you think it ought to be pulled or whether it ought to stay. Your input is valuable and I am interested to know whether I stand alone in how I feel, or perhaps whether I may have missed the point too?

Click here to view the ad: ‘Leaving Something Behind’ -

with thanks
Vanessa

Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Project, Events, Latest News, Press, Uncategorized | 10 Comments »

Ask me about ‘DNA CSI’…

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Why DNA CSI?

In order to make people aware of the value of DNA evidence left at a crime scene, we thought that the use of a basic yet catchy acronym would go a long way towards helping people remember what to do or rather what NOT to do, when they come across or are involved in a crime scene. By following the six simple steps contained in the acronym DNA CSI, we believe that we can help educate the SA public and key sectors of the community in being able to assist the police in containing vital DNA evidence left behind after a crime has been committed.

Simply put:

The Background behind DNA CSI

During the course of 2009, The DNA Project funded the production of what it calls the “DNA Awareness Training DVD”, which it aims to utilise to provide critical crime scene awareness training throughout certain sectors of the community as well as the general public in South Africa. The training DVD contains basic information about DNA profiling and the value of DNA evidence, how to contain a crime scene as well as information about the National DNA Database and current legislation which seeks to regulate this area of the law. This information will be of benefit to all first responding crime scene officers and trainees, paramedics, CPF’s and the like, regardless of their role or rank. It will also be useful to the general public as it will enable all these sectors of the community to ensure that any DNA evidence left at the crime scene, is properly contained and preserved for collection by the Crime Scene Examiners, who in turn will be able to use that DNA evidence to provide intelligence and corroborative evidence in crime investigation.

DNA CSI DVD

The DNA Project’s core aim for 2010 is to disseminate this information throughout SA as widely as possibly in an effort to create critical DNA Awareness. The rationale behind this objective is that without the proper preservation and collection of valuable DNA evidence left at a crime scene, the opportunity to link the perpetrator to with the crime committed, will be lost.

In summary, the DVD:

  • Provides a simple summary of DNA, the techniques of DNA profiling and the benefits of a National DNA Criminal Intelligence Database in crime investigation.
  • Identifies the responsibilities of the “First Officer Attending” the crime scene with potential DNA evidence.
  • Identifies the potential sources, locations and limitations of DNA evidence.
  • Highlights the importance of the correct handling and packaging of samples from crime scenes, suspects and complainants.
  • Provides information relating to the legislation that regulates the use of DNA as an evidential tool.

The DNA Project has convened a ‘DNA CSI’ Project Team Drafting and we have busy with:

  • drafting documentation to send out to potential recipients of training together with information about the DNA Awareness training being offered.
  • Creating feedback forms, post- and pre-assessment forms and other documentation which will be used during the course of each training session.
  • Developing a Trainers Protocol which sets out precisely what each Trainer must present at each workshop in order to ensure consistency throughout the program.
  • Finding and appointing appropriate trainers in the Western cape, KZN, Gauteng, Freee State and Mpumulanga
  • Co-ordinating a Trainers Workshop on 2 June 2010 where all the Trainers will meet and discuss in detail the Trainers Protocol which has been developed by The DNA Project in order to ensure consistency in workshops.
  • Developing the Information Booklet which will be given out at each training session to recipients of training.
  • Creating a spreadsheet which contains all the potential recipients of training such as province, location, sector, number of branches per sector, contact person and contact details per sector.
  • Co-ordinating training schedules and training workshops with the recipients and trainers.

The information contained on the DVD is going to be available free of charge as will the information booklets and a DVD’s per session. Each organisation/group receiving training would be required to arrange a venue for the training presentation and the trainer would provide the projector, laptop and other training materials. Each workshop will be approximately 1 and a half hours. A minimum of ten and maximum of twenty five people per session is recommended and no more than 4 workshops in any one day are to be given per venue/trainer.

Do you want to get involved?

If you or your community/group/workforce are interested in receiving training or know of any group who would benefit from this information, please contact us via kusha@dnaproject.co.za and she will send you the necessary information.

with thanks

Vanessa

Posted in Crime Scenes, DNA Detective, DNA Project, Latest News | 3 Comments »

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