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12 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, November 28, 1979 Section Two Durham Regional Police Identification Branch ... a Team of Dedicated Experts Operating a photography enlarger used in his work as an identification officer, Constable Dave Kuchma, is one of a five member staff who is a trained expert at gathering criminal evidence for court purposes. By Donna Fairey Enclosures, lakes, loops, ridge endings, islands, and bifurcations. This list sounds like a geological description of the earth's surfacé doesn't it? However, in police terminology, these terms represent the physical characteristics which show up in a human fingerprint. Though each person's finger- tip contains some or all of these distinguishing properties, they neer occur in the sae sequence in any two people. In other words, your fingerprint is one of a kind. Not even identical twins share the same prints. Most of us are aware our "pinkies" can do us in if we are inclined to indulge in vice. Leaving a telltale print at the scene of a crime is almost like signing yourname to a confession. Among other qualifications, each of the five member staff of Durham Regional Police's Identification Branch is a fingerprint expert. Should any of them identify your finger- print in a court of law, their testimony is accepted as conclusive evidence. Durham Regional Police's five fingerprint experts work out of the Identification Branch at police headquarters in Oshawa. Under Staff Sergeant John Found are one Sergeant and three Constables. Although in Canada there is no rule of law regarding the number of matching characteristics required for a positive identification, among fingerprint technicians, generally 10 points are preferred. Staff Sgt. Found stated his department is often able to establish more than 10 like characteristics but are only required to legally present that amount. A criminal need not be so kind as to leave an entire print. Positive identification can be deterimined from a partial fingerprint or indeed a print from any part of the palm of the hand. In addition to the natural characteristics contained in a print, people usually have tiny scars which are only visible under a microscope. Their presence and indentification can provide as conclusive evidence as the natural ridges, lakes and loops, etc. Easiest of the fingerprints to deal with are the visible ones but the identification branch of ten have to dig for them. For this they use two methods of detection. The typical movie type search is done by dusting with graphite powder and the other method of lifting prints is a chemical procedure. An interesting detail learn- ed from Staff Sgt. Found was that a fingerprint does not denote age or sex of its owner. "We can make a fairly accurate educated guess as to sex but not a conclusive identification", said the Sergeant. According to Staff Sgt. Found, members of his department have undergone one of the most rigid training programs in the police force. E S RN CMEY '0 1 J-/J J//C J/J//JO // jCAT1ON SERVICE S USE - ~ À l-J F O r ER P D E ST / S E R V I / r/CE SOC /4 /i//CD L A G A candidate for tie identifica- tion course must have first logged a minimum of five years on the road as a police constable before he is even' given consideration. Following basic accpetance, a trainee is sent on an 11 week course at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer where he receives instruction in various phases of identification. The training program includes fingerprinting, photography, pathology, how to gather crime scene evidence, how to conduct a crime scene search and a course in basic drafting. Identification officers reconstruct crime scenes to scale drawings, hence the purpose of drafting as a requirement in their training course. Trainees are grilled in both black and white as well as color photography. While at Aylmer, an identi- fication trainee may repeat a failed examination in photo- graphy but if he makes one wrong fingerprint identifica- tion, he is automatically disqualified from the course. Following successful completion, a graduate takes his place in the department but under the constant super- vision of the officer in charge. Staff Sergeant Found stated an identification man can receive no better training than on the job practical exDerience. Services of the Identifica- tion Branch are available to every department within the force but their primary function is to assist the criminal investigations branch. Their identification expertise is also available to the Oshawa office of the R.C.M.P. Staff Sgt. Found classifies himself and his employees as exhibit officers who gather evidence to be tendered ln court. At a crime scene, in order of priority, their responsibilities are to attend, protect and search the area involved for the purpose of collecting evidence. Any physical evidence must then be preserved for court purposes and presented by members of the identification branch at a prescribed court appearance. Along with fingerprinting, police photography ranks as the department's other major operation forming the bulk of their workload. Standard court procedure involves the use of crime scene photos as legal exhibits and the identifi- cation branch is responsible for providing them. It's not unfamiliar within the region to see a police photographer taking shots of an accident scene and his pictures may be later used in court. The identification branch is equipped with two darkrooms, one for color development and one for black and white. "Most of the photography going into court today is color," said Staff Sgt. Found. Accidents, homicides, suicides and theft scenes are a few examples of their work involvement. In addition, this year alone, Staff Sgt. Found disclosed their department has taken mug shots of close to 3500 people charged with criminal offences within the Region of Durham. He pointed out that police identification is not strictly for the criminal. "We are also required to identify the inno- cent," stated the Sergeant. An unidentified body may be discovered and it is the responsibility of the identifi- cation branch to establish identity. The Sergeant related instances where the human aspects of the job can get to a person. "A homicide scene is the worst of all crimes and it is the force's policy that two identification officers attend," he stated. So far this year, Durham Region has had two. A fatal car accident involv-- ing children, or a particularly gory discovery can take its toll on the nerves of an identification officer. But according to the Staff Sergeant they learn to effec- tively handle the situation, psyching themselves up before they arrive on the scene. While performing their crime scene duties, they attempt to blot out it was once a living situation. "We have a job to do and we are the only ones there to do it," he said. An "ident" man learns tricks of the trade over the years which help him cope with a particularly disturbing situation, stated the Staff Sergeant. With regard to the collection of evidence, the motto of the identification branch is, "keep it simple." Staff Sgt. Found stated his advice to any "ident" man is to stick to the facts and don't flower it up. Superfluous detail can be challenged in court by an astute lawyer and an identifi- cation officer runs the risk of losing credibility as an indivi- dual and for his department. Included in the adjectives to describe the functions of the identification branch are, complex, exacting,interesting and demanding. A five man team doesn't seem like a large staff to respond to the needs of Durham Region, however, this is efficiently accomplish- ed by the fact they are highly trained professionals. Tn an outsicle observer, Staff Sergeant Found runs a tight ship and he credits its smooth sailing to his crew which includes Sergeant Mike Michalowsky, Constables Dave Kuchma, Dave Robinet and Bob Peacock. SPLASH Gets Green Light From 'board Bowmanville's indoor pool and fitness centre moved another step closer to comple- tion last week with approval from the Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Educa- tion. The school board gave the pool its blessing last week in a unanimous decision by all trustees. AI Strike, a representative of the SPLASH Committee, told trustees that he hopes they will all receive invita- tions to attend opening cere- monies by the fall of next year. The board was informal that satisfactory arrange- ments to build the pool adjacent to the Bowmanville High School have been made. The only outstanding issue is parking, said plant supervisor G.M. Holmes. However, he told the board that he believes a suitable parking plan can be worked out. The pool will require an additional 30 parking spaces at the Bowmanville High School. If you are charged with a criminal offense by Durham Regional Police. your fingerprints are taken and kept on record. This is an exhibit of a police fingerm- print file. INSULATION ATTICS-WALLS Sare and economical Application by professionals Residential Commercial 576-4020 24 Hour Service IGLOO INSULATION INC. Only CMHC-ULC Approved Materlals Government Grant Information FREE ESTIMATES Making a fingerprint comparison are two officers in the identification branch of the Durham Regional Police force. Head of the department is Staff Sgt. John Found, (standing) and Sergeant Mike Michalowsky. NEW SERVICES BEGIN DEC. 3 Oshawa-Bowmanville e Hourly service * Fifteen trips daily in each direction Monday through Saturday e Extra late-evening Friday departures Whitby-Oshawa e Many trips to choose from along Hwy. 2 for local travel within Whitby and between Oshawa and Whitby. Connections with ail points in GO Train and GO Bus systems For f uliinformation call 579-4224 Hon. William Davis, Premier Hon. James Snow, Minister A.T.C. McNab,Chairman VALEO FABRICS Valeo Fabrics is pleased and proud to announce the addition of three new departments to their already excellent list of products and services: DRAPERY Drapery is a very important part of your home decor and at Valeo we have the professionals to advise you, at no cost or obligation, in your choice of over 200 patterns and fabrics. We will do custom draperies or supply you with the material. WOOL Our new wool department has everything to keep our happy knitters busy! We have a full line of wool by Pattons & Scheepjes. CRAFTS Craft supplies galore! We have everything from stitchery to rug hooking. Come in and see the wide selection to choose f rom. Three more good reasons to corne to Valeo Fabrics. Don't forget that we still carry the largest selection of fabrics and notions and accessories in the Durham Region. VALEO FABRICS i 1415 King St. E. 576-1930 Christmas Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10.9; Sat. 10-6 Ample Free Parking Oshawa CHARGEX VISA -7- Four fimers printed simultaneousy Left Thumb Right Thumb Four fingers printed simultaneously Impression smutanée des quatre doigts Pouce gauche Pouce droit Impression simultanee des quatre doigts gnatureof off 1ai/, /f ngeprn O S gr pr /cn f1r nt/ PhoneNJrber 77 CLi a R- ,LlG4J/ N n0/ JO tv -N .,e O // /t or FOR RCMP IDENTIFICATION SERVICES USE A L'USAGE DES SERVICES DE L IDENTITE DE LA GRC Brt/hpl JO --/ru /0na/saC f F/rega Born /Ca/J/alOD nada si ne JerOn J. O J a 'O HEIGHT Ce//JnO/C/e h-,. 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