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Instructor: Nikki Wagar, CLPE, CCSA

Course length: 24 hours

The Latent Analysis Without Paralysis course offers students an opportunity to get back to basics, and no matter how experienced, develop an efficient and methodical approach to their analysis practices. However, this isn’t your everyday ACE-V course.  This training is totally dedicated to analysis and nothing but analysis.  If applied correctly, the analysis phase of the ACE-V methodology can increase efficiencies throughout the examination process, and this course will explore those practices.  This course is dedicated to analysis…without the paralysis.

Join us for this highly interactive three-day course where we will delve into all things analysis. This Latent Analysis without Paralysis training will cover a gamut of analysis topics, from the assessment and preservation stage, to how to develop criteria for suitability for value determinations, to factors such as distortion which may impact the clarity of a latent impression. Students will learn about the history and purpose of analysis, distortion variables, clues for smart searching, and techniques for working through the murky areas of prints.

Students will methodically examine latent prints in detail, participating in practical exercises designed to enhance the learning experience.  All theoretical and practical activities throughout the training are designed to provide participants with a foundation to better approach topics such as preservation or value determinations, documentation, choosing target groups, recognizing distortion or red flags, and knowing when to pull the plug…because enough is enough.  By providing students with the opportunity to create distorted impressions, and analyze and document their observations, each participant will learn how to put all the pieces together to support sound decision making throughout the analysis phase.  Additionally, participants will establish techniques to better describe their observations to peers and jurors.  At the culmination of this training, students will be well equipped to recognize and describe various aspects of distortion, thoroughly and efficiently document their observations, and support suitability for value determinations with transparent data.

Course Outline:

DAY 1

  • Introductions and Class Survey
  • Brief History, Anatomy of Skin, and the Basis of Uniqueness
  • Major Court Rulings
  • Examination Methodology, Assessments, and Analysis Approaches
  • Practical Exercises; Assessment, Marking Latent Prints, Anatomical Source Determinations, and Creating Impressions with Variable Pressure

DAY 2

  • Analysis Documentation Methods and How to Describe Visual Observations
  • Suitability Determination
  • Factors Influencing Quality and Variables Impacting Distortion
  • Practical Exercises; Target Group Choice, Documenting Levels of Detail, Minutiae Marking, Creating Distorted Impressions, and Recognizing and Describing Distortion Factors

DAY 3

  • Day 1 and 2 Review and Discussion
  • Smart Searching
  • Benefits of Consultation
  • Describing your Process and Observations to the Jury
  • Tactics to Increase Efficiencies
  • Practical Exercises; Smart Searching Clues, Template Use, Group Analysis, Individual Analysis Exercise, Consultations, and Putting all the Pieces Together
Nikki Wagar, CLPE, CCSA

Nikki Wagar, CLPE, CCSA

Specialties

Crime Scene Investigations, Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, Recovery of Human Remains, Forensic Anthropology, Latent Fingerprint Processing and Examination

About Nikki Wagar

Holding a master’s degree in Forensic Science, a bachelor’s degree in Physical Anthropology, and a certificate in Forensic Identification, Nikki Wagar is a Certified Latent Print Examiner and Certified Crime Scene Analyst through the International Association for Identification (IAI) and has been practicing both specialties for over 12 years.

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