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Special Forces students put their training to the test in the capstone exercise.

Making a Difference

"One of the best instructors
I’ve ever had, highly knowledgeable, entertaining and realistic in terms of law enforcement."
(Essentials of Crime Scene Investigation)

~Lt. Nicholas Zeoli
Rockland (MA) Police Dept. in the Rockland Standard

Laboratory Audit CD-ROM

Evolution from On-Site Workshop to Technology Delivery CD

In 2001, the NFSTC trained 124 crime laboratory personnel to perform internal audits through a Cooperative Agreement with the National Institute of Justice. The first three workshops were held at non-accredited crime laboratories. The next two were held in conjunction with the Southern Association of Forensic Scientists and the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists. The final workshop was held at Marshall University, in cooperation with the Forensic Science Center. This was the first-ever project of partners of the NIJ Forensic Resource Network (FRN).

The workshop was offered in 2002 in conjunction with the following forensic science societies:

  • California Association of Criminalists (CAC)
  • Northwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (NWAFS)
  • Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (MAFS)
  • Mid-Atlantic Association of Forensic Scientists (MAAFS)
  • Association of Firearms and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE)
  • International Association for Identification (IAI)

CD-based Laboratory Auditing and Accreditation Workshop

Based on this series of workshops, NFSTC developed a CD-ROM toolkit, “Laboratory Auditing and Accreditation”, to help crime laboratories evaluate their performance against the standards of the ASCLD/LAB program. This toolkit was mailed to 366 public crime laboratories. A valuable resource, it provides information on the basics of auditing and examines the main accreditation criteria of the ASCLD/LAB program. This toolkit is intended as an overview of the accreditation process, but is not a step-by-step guide to preparing for the ASCLD/LAB certification.

The toolkit was developed by the NFSTC under Cooperative Agreement 2000-RC-CX-K001 with the National Institute of Justice. The general auditing principles presented are valuable when measuring laboratory performance against other recognized standards of performance.

To obtain a copy, visit the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) website at http://ncjrs.gov/app/Search/Abstracts.aspx?id=193750 for contact information.