CCJS 320 Assignment 1

1. You arrive at a missing persons residence to perform a search warrant to locate any evidence that may assist in determining the persons whereabouts. You identify a note pad and pen on the kitchen counter. There are some crumpled handwritten notes in the kitchen trash can that appear to have been from the same note pad. What personal protective equipment should be worn? What type of packaging would be used to preserve this evidence? Describe the types of document examination tests you would request for this type of evidence? What types of exemplars may need to be collected for the examination tests you requested?
2. What is an alternate light source? When would an alternate light source (ALS) be used at a crime scene and in the forensic laboratory? What type of evidence may be screened with an alternate light source? How does ALS react with the bodily fluid? What body fluids may be detected with an alternate light source? Discuss any limitations of ALS.
3. You have collected the following item during a crime scene search or search warrant of a residence(white shirt with blood). How would you package the item? Are there any precautions that you would consider for the collection of this item? Would you perform any presumptive/screening tests on this item at the crime scene, why or why not? What type of tests would you request for the forensic laboratory to perform on this item?

4.Why is a mobile phone an excellent source of evidence? Discuss and describe two challenges for the forensic digital examiner when examining a mobile phone? Digital evidence is a fairly new forensic discipline, describe the potential issues with presenting evidence that has been obtained from a mobile phone at a trial.

Format Instructions

• Your paper must be double spaced, in 12-pt font, and with 1 margins all around.
• All APA 7th edition format requirements must be followed (cover page, in text citations, references page). Refer to the APA information found in Content -> Course Overview -> Course Resources.
• You must have resources to support your thoughts/opinions/information. These must be cited both in the text as well as at the end of the document. You should use at least three (3) resources for this assignment. The resources you select should be from the course material, UMGC library, or course webliography; general internet searches should be avoided. Your paper should not contain direct quotes, all source material must be summarized or paraphrased.
• Your paper must be attached as a Word document. You have access to Office365 via your UMGC student account, at mail.umgc.edu. Papers or information typed into the Comments box will not be accepted or graded.
• Any papers needing to be resubmitted due to not following these instructions will be subject to the late penalty.
• Your professor may, at their discretion, consider the submission date as the date the assignment is submitted in the proper format. To avoid a late penalty being applied, you should be sure to submit your assignment in the proper format.
• Your paper should be written in flowing prose, using complete sentences and paragraphs. You should not submit your responses in a numbered format.
• Houck, M. & Seigel, J. (2015). Fundamentals of Forensic Science. Academic Press.
• Mahalik, H. (2022). Why Access to Digital Evidence is Tougher than Ever, And What You Can Do About It. Forensic on the Scene and in the Lab.
• Forensic Reader. (n.d.). Mobile Device Forensic: Ultimate Guide for Collection.
• Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). (2017). Overview of Digital Forensics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUqzcQc_syE

20 Questions for SPD – Computer Forensic Analyst Michael Costello

• SGFPolice. (2020). 20 Questions for SPD Computer Forensic Analyst Michael Costello. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3-n5LuJGJA

Crime Lab Tour: Digital Forensics

• St. Louis County Police Department. (2023). Crime Lab Tour: Digital Forensics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBsXwjqkUjI&list=PLW-dxS-7aff5rR_Sze7kHe4gdf2gi-jPt&index=4

Computer Basics: Inside a Computer

• Computer Basics: Inside a Computer. (2020). GCFLearnFree.org. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB4I2CgkcCo