June 17, 2014

Dear FDIAI Members:

FDIAI CONFERENCE

The Florida Division & Georgia Division of the IAI will be holding a joint Educational Conference in Panama City Beach, Florida the week of October 26-30, 2014. Conference registration is now open and the tentative program is posted on our website. Please click the 2014 conference tabs above for more information about our outstanding educational training conference! This year the FDIAI & GAIAI are honored to have keynote speaker Lt. Joe Kenda, star of Discovery Channel’s TV series “Homicide Hunter.” As always, the FDIAI/GAIAI conference will be hosting a variety of lectures, hands-on-workshops and vendor exhibits from which attendees can see the most current forensic technologies. If you are interested in conducting a lecture or workshop please contact our Speaker Coordinator Koren Colbert at kcolbert@knology.net.

FDIAI REGIONAL TRAINING

This year our FDIAI regional directors have been hard at work and held numerous FDIAI trainings and workshops, including Buried Body Techniques, Forensic Entomology & Clandestine Grave Detection Workshop, Low Light Photography, Understanding Shooting Events, and Crime Scene Documentation. On behalf of the FDIAI officers, board members and regional directors, I would like to thank all of the instructors who have volunteered their time, knowledge and experience for the betterment of Forensic Science and the Association. For future trainings, remember to check your email for FDIAI announcements, visit our website, or contact your local FDIAI regional director. Please also let your regional director know if you are interested in presenting your own lecture or workshop. We all benefit when we choose to share and impart our professional knowledge by teaching others.

DOJ/NIST UPDATE

On February 3-4, 2014, the National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS) held a meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss policy recommendations in the Forensic Sciences. At this meeting, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) proposed the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC), previously termed “guidance groups,” which would effectively replace Scientific Working Groups (SWGs) as the standard setting bodies in the forensic sciences. The OSAC seeks to have federally funded support and enforceable standards to improve quality and consistency of work in the forensic science community. The OSAC will be a collaborative body of more than 600 forensic science practitioners and other experts who represent all levels of the government, academia and industry. The OSAC will consist of five Scientific Area Committees (SACs) that report to a Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB). The five SACs are (1) Biology/DNA, (2) Chemistry/Instrumental Analysis, (3) Crime Scene/Death Investigation, (4) Information Technology/Multimedia, and (5) Physics/Pattern. A Human Factors Committee, Legal Resource Committee and Quality Infrastructure Committee will also provide input to the FSSB.

IAI UPDATE

In closing, if you are an IAI certified practitioner, remember to keep your email address current with the IAI for certification information. Please also remember to renew your certification on time, as there is no grace period once your certification expires.

Sincerely,

Igor Pacheco, FDIAI President

fdiaipresident@fdiai.org