Class Location:
California Criminalistics Institute / Sacramento or Los Angeles
Class Description:
This 2 1/2 day (20 hour) course will provide students with a review of the concepts and rationale of identifying striated and non-striated impression evidence. Recent challenges and relevant court decisions will be discussed. Each student will verify their rational, objective basis for making such identifications. Although new examiners can profit from this training, this course is limited to firearm and toolmark examiners who have either completed CCI's E201 course or have had extensive training in the comparison of striated toolmarks and about approximately one year of actually comparing toolmarks. Each class is limited to 30 students. This course is POST reimbursable, Plan IV.
Instructor:
John Murdock, Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office & Bruce Moran, Sacramento County DA's Office
Teaching Methods:
Classroom lectures, demonstrations, group discussions, and practical laboratory exercises.
Objectives:
Students will be required to complete a series of practical exercises, and to explain the related concepts of toolmark identification and their rationale for the identification to the satisfaction of the instructors.
Prerequisites:
Must have been performing striated toolmark comparisons in casework for at least a year and be familiar with accepted standards of casework documention and common equipment and terminology used in that discipline. Completion of Firearms and Toolmarks Introduction I and II (E102 and E103) and Toolmark Comparison Criteria (E201) is strongly recommended.
Preparation:
Pre-course reading material may be assigned.
Materials Fee:
A $50.00 materials fee will be charged to all non-BfS students. This charge will be due at the beginning of class. Make check(s) payable to California Department of Justice.
Tuition:
No cost to POST supported or State of California based Law Enforcement agencies. A $300.00 tuition fee will be required of all other public agency, private sector, or out-of-state applicants.
