Yujiemi Chisholm, Author at Forensics TTA

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County of Monterey

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni receives a $535,000 federal grant for her cold case task force for use of DNA technology in violent crime investigations and prosecutions

District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Task Force a $535,000 grant for the use of DNA technology in cold-case investigations and prosecutions. With the support of the grant, the Cold Case Task Force proposes to identify and actively investigate 45 violent-crime cold cases over the next three years where suspect DNA has been identified or where there is DNA evidence that could be used to identify previously unidentified human remains. The grant funding will enable the Task Force to hire an annuitant investigator to exclusively work on qualifying cold cases, as well as to pursue advanced DNA testing at accredited private laboratories.

January 2022

FTCOE

Medical Examiner And Coroner Outsourcing Study – A Qualitative Study And Cost-Benefit Analysis

This report includes a summary of the qualitative study performed to examine the context of outsourcing amongst medical examiner/coroner (ME/C) agencies across the U.S. as well as a cost study component outlining the cost-benefit of toxicology outsourcing.

January 2022

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices, 2018

This report provides data on the personnel, budget, workload, and policies of medical examiner and coroner offices in the United States. The report details the number and type of personnel employed, staff certification, and training. It includes the number of cases referred to and accepted by medical examiner and coroner offices, the number of autopsies conducted, and the number of decedents with unidentified remains on record, including the percentage from which DNA evidence has been collected. Findings are based on data from BJS’s 2018 and 2004 Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices [Description provided by the BJS website].

November 2021

FTCOE

Just Workforce Resiliency For MDIs

In the first episode of the FTCOE’s Workforce Resiliency season, the presenters discuss the responsibilities of medicolegal death investigators, difficulties in retaining qualified staff, and their findings on work-related stress within the profession as it related to resiliency.

October 2021

FTCOE

DART-MS Data Interpretation Tool And Other Resources For Seized Drug Analysis

This webinar provides an overview of the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ’s) and National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS) Data Interpretation Tool (DIT). The presenters discuss how to use the NIST/NIJ DART-MS DIT, how to use the Library Search Algorithm function, and other resources available for implementing DART-MS in laboratories.

October 2021

FTCOE

ABMDI Continuing Education Credits

This page is dedicated to detailing FTCOE virtual events that can be used to apply for American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigator (ABMDI) Continuing Education (CE) credits.

July 2021

FTCOE

Perspectives On Addressing The Collection, Tracking, And Processing Of Lawfully Owed DNA Samples

This report examines the potential barriers related to the collection, tracking, and processing of arrestee and convicted offender samples, while highlighting recommendations to address challenges and needs to ensure national databases are appropriately populated to comply with corresponding legislation.

April 2021

FTCOE

Forensic Workforce Resiliency: Vicarious Trauma & Workplace Stress Webinar Series

This webinar series explores a phenomenon known as vicarious trauma, which can be caused by exposure to distressing or disturbing situations and trauma through the course of one’s work. This series provides common strategies, resources, and guidance to combat vicarious trauma, with recommendations on how to maintain workforce resiliency.

March 2021

FTCOE

Just The Innocence Project

In episode four of the FTCOE’s 2020 Improving the System season, the presenter provides an overview of the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to putting an end to wrongful convictions, and the impact the Innocence Project has had on the criminal justice system.

February 2020

FTCOE

ASCLD Train The Director – Toxicology: Instrumentation, Methodology, And Workflows

This webinar provides an overview of the logistics required for transitioning to liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC/MS-MS) and quadruple time-of flight (QTOF) technologies in laboratories, with topics such as budgeting and equipment needed; available funding sources; method transitions; integrating data systems; personnel; trends in the processing of post-mortem (PM) and driving-under-the-influence (DUID) toxicology casework; current and future Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) recommendations; and challenges with resources, reporting requirements, and Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) integration.

February 2020

Author: Yujiemi Chisholm