association officers and appointed positions

FDIAI

association officers and appointed positions

biographieS

2010

CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD

KOREN COLBERT

Koren received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminology from Florida State University 1984. She has been a law enforcement officer employed with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office since 1991. Koren currently holds the rank of Lieutenant within the Criminal Investigation Division and supervises Crime Scene Investigations and Forensic Services. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office provides forensic services for all the local, state and federal agencies in the surrounding panhandle area. Over the years of working in the field she has developed a passion for buried bodies and surface skeletal remains and entomology. Koren is a Latent Print Examiner with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office since 1995 and is a certified crime scene investigator by the IAI. She has been a member of the FDIAI since 1996 and a member of the IAI. Koren is a certified law enforcement instructor by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and an adjunct instructor with the Gulf Coast Community College Crime Scene Technology Certificate Program. Koren was honored as the adjunct instructor of the year 2007. She has received numerous awards to include a Medal of Distinction for her work identifying a serial rapist and bringing conclusion to a cold case

PRESIDENT

erica lawton-mcwhite

Erica Lawton-McWhite is currently employed by the Broward Sheriff's Office in their Crime Laboratory as a Firearm and Tool Mark Examiner. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry with an emphasis in Criminalistics from Metropolitan State College of Denver in 2002 and is currently enrolled in Oklahoma State University’s Masters of Forensic Science Program. She is certified in Firearm Evidence Examination and Identification by the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE). Erica has taught at the FDIAI, the IAI, and the AFTE conferences and participates in training at the Metropolitan Police Institute. Erica also participates in teaching and designing an impression evidence class at Nova Southeastern University. She serves on the Shoe Print and Tire Track Evidence committee and the Firearm and Tool Mark Committee. Erica has also received the FDIAI Good of the Association Award in 2006

1st Vice President

king brown

King is the Crime Scene Supervisor for the West Palm Beach Police Department and has been in the field of Forensic Science for 25 years.

King attended Florida International University, Miami, Florida. He holds a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice and a Graduate Teaching Certificate.

King has been an Instructor at the IAI Educational Conferences, FDIAI Educational Conferences, IPTM, The Taylor Group, Benchmark Professional Seminars, North Alabama Law Enforcement Training Center, Evidence Photographer International Council and Gold Coast Forensic Association. Mr. Brown is also an Adjunct Professor at Brevard Community College, Crime Scene Technology Associates Degree Program, Palm Beach State College, Law Enforcement Program and in the process of developing the Latent program for Oklahoma State University.

King has been a member of FDIAI since 1997 and IAI since 1990. King holds the following certifications CFPH, CLPE, CSCSA, EPIC and Florida State Certified Instructor. King is Chairman of the Forensic Photography Certification Board for the Florida Division of the IAI. He is a Distinguished Member of the Florida Division and received the President’s Award in 2006. He is the Chairman of the Crime Scene Sub-committee for the IAI. In 2009 he received the Good of the Association Award from the IAI

2nd Vice President

HARIA HAUGHT, CLPE

Haria Haught is currently employed by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office as the Manager of their Biometric Identification Unit. She has a Bachelor in Arts degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Forensics from Saint Leo University in Florida. She also holds a Crime Scene degree from Saint Petersburg College in Florida. Haria is an Adjunct Instructor with Saint Petersburg College instructing Fingerprint Classification. Prior to her position at the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, she was employed with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office as a Fingerprint Technician. Haria has taught the Science and History of fingerprints at Saint Leo University as well as the National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC). Haria is an IAI Certified Latent Print Examiner.

3rd Vice President

JOEL SMITH

Joel H. Smith, has served in law enforcement as a civilian investigator for approximately eight years with a previous background in agricultural science and religion. He is married with two daughters and currently supervises the Crime Scene Investigation & Identification Section of the Port St. Lucie Police Department.

REGION I Director

BETH RANKIN

Beth is currently employed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a Latent Print Examiner in the Pensacola Region. She began her career with the FDLE in 1993 after receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from the University of West Florida. Beth has worked in the Latent Print Section since 1997. She is a Certified Instructor through the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission. Beth provides training both within the FDLE and to the local law enforcement community in Northwest Florida. She has been a member of the IAI since 2004 and the FDIAI since 1997.

region 2 Director

DAN GERARD

Sgt Gerard started his forensics career in 1979 when he was assigned as a Military Police Investigator. During his service as a Military Police Investigator (1979-1983), he was awarded four Army Commendation Metals, one Army Achievement Metal and received numerous other awards for his investigative service. In 1984 he joined the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office as a Deputy Sheriff while still maintaining his military career through the Florida National Guard until retiring as a 1SGT in 1996.

In 1986 he was transferred to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit. In 1989 he became a member of the IAI and in 1990 was certified as a Senior Crime Scene Analyst. During his assignment as a Crime Scene Investigator, he was declared at trial, an Expert Witness in the field of Crime Scene Investigations. In 1996 he was reassigned to the Crime Prevention Unit where he received his Practitioners’ Certification. In 1998, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and in 1999 received his Bachelors of Arts degree from Saint Leo University. In 2002 he was assigned as supervisor of the Forensic Unit. He is currently an Active member of the IAI and FDIAI and has attended the FBI Post Blast School. He is also assigned to the Regional Domestic Security Tasks Force Forensic Response Team (RDSTF).

region 3 Director

JOHN REES

John Rees joined the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office in July 2007 as a Latent Print Examiner (part time) following his retirement from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office in New York State with 27 years of service. He began his career in law enforcement following four years in the United States Coast Guard. In June 1980 he started as a Deputy Sheriff assigned to the road patrol division, followed by four years as a juvenile officer. He then transferred to the Identification Bureau where he started training as an Identification Officer in Fingerprint Comparison, Crime Scene Photography, Evidence Collection, Accident Reconstruction, and Composite Drawing. John received extensive training in Fingerprints, and attended the FBI Administrative Advanced Latent Fingerprint Course in 1989. He was promoted to Criminal Investigator in 1991 and in 1995 he completed his Associate of Science degree and a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree at Empire State College in Hartsdale, New York. In 1998 John was certified by the IAI as a CLPE. He attended the 207^th session of the FBI National Academy in September 2001. John was then promoted to Sergeant and became the supervisor of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officer program for the next three years. He was then promoted to Senior Criminal Investigator and supervised the Crime Scene Unit, Central Records, and Pistol Permit Bureau until his retirement in July 2007. John is a member of the International Association for Identification, The New York State division of the IAI, and the Florida division of the IAI.

region 4 Director

LISA FALK

Lisa Falk has been in law enforcement since 1981 starting my career at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Her husband, Tim and here live in Stuart, FL and have been married for over twenty-five years. They have two children, Justin and Daniel both of whom plan on going into the Navy. Lisa moved on to the Stuart Police Department where she was involved in getting her department accredited. She succeeded and received their certification which was a proud moment her our department. Lisa began working in crime scene with Stuart, attending classes and responding to callouts. Lisa took a week off from work using her own time to attend an FDIAI conference. Lisa never realized you could learn so much in just one week. A few months after returning to Stuart she applied for a full time Crime Scene Investigator position with the city of Port St. Lucie. Lisa has been with the department since February of 2007 and is very excited to be involved with the FDIAI as a representative.

region 5 Director

briaN cerchiai

Brian Cerchiai is currently employed by the Miami-Dade Police Department as a Latent Print Examiner. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with an Undergraduate Certificate in Demographics from Florida State University in 1997. He is a Certified General Instructor through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and has instructed Basic Fingerprint Classification & Comparison and Advanced Fingerprint Science Workshop for Tenprint Examiners at the Metropolitan Police Institute. Brian is also an Adjunct Professor for the Criminal Investigations Program at Everest Institute

region 6 Director

KAREN COOPER

Ms. Cooper is a Crime Laboratory Analyst Supervisor at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Fort Myers Regional Operations Center. She has been with the Department since May 1980 and during that time has been principally involved in crime scene analysis. She is a graduate of Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.

Ms. Cooper has provided instruction in the areas of collection and preservation of physical evidence, all aspects of crime scene processing, laboratory capabilities and services, and forensic archaeology for numerous state agencies. Karen is currently an adjunct instructor for the Institute for Police Technology and Management in the area of forensic archaeology. She has conducted several workshops in forensic archaeology for the International Association for Identification (IAI), the Florida Division of the IAI, the Georgia Division of the IAI, the Nevada State Division of the IAI, the Southern Association of Forensic Scientists and the Connecticut State Police.

Ms. Cooper is certified by the FDLE to perform independent casework in crime scene analysis and currently supervises the Latent Print/AFIS, Crime Scene and Photography Sections in the Fort Myers Crime Laboratory.

Secretary / Treasurer

M. FRANK SHONBERGER

Frank was employed with the City of Miami from 1967 to 1999. During his employment with the City of Miami Police Department he had progressed through the Identification Technician job family. Beginning as an Identification Technician I, then being promoted to Shift Supervisor, He was promoted in 1984 to Criminal Identification Unit Supervisor. He managed the operation of the functions of this Unit: Prisoner Processing, Photographic Laboratory, Video Studio, Latent Print, Automated Fingerprint Identification System and Crime Scene Investigation In January 1999, Frank retired to undertake the challenge of establishing a New Crime Scene Investigation Unit for the City of Coral Gables Police Department and currently works for that agency.

Editor

Igor pacheco

Igor received his bachelors of science degree in Biology in 1998 from Texas Tech University. He moved to Miami Florida in 2001 to attend Florida International University's Forensic Science Certificate Program. While attending FIU, Igor was hired in 2002 at the Miami-Dade Police Department Crime Scene Investigations Bureau Fingerprint Identification Section as a Fingerprint Analyst I in their MasterFile Unit. He finished his certificate program in Forensic Science at FIU in 2003 having taken post graduate classes in analytical chemistry, molecular biology, forensic chemistry, and forensic biology. He is now been employed as a fingerprint analyst for two years (at the end of 2004). Recently, he has been transferred laterally to the AFIS unit within the CSI Bureau's Fingerprint ID Section as a Fingerprint Analyst I AFIS administrator. In addition, he also has one year experience as editor of the South Florida Forensic Association newsletter

Historian

paula bolivar

Paula graduated from the University of Virginia in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Latin-American Studies. Thereafter, she taught high school biology at American Senior High School in Hialeah, Florida and was later employed by the Miami-Dade Police Department as a Fingerprint Analyst I in June 2006. Paula has provided presentations on the History of Fingerprints at the FDIAI Educational Conference, Advanced Ten-Print Class in 2006 and 2007. She has also presented at the Metropolitan Police Institute in Doral, Florida and the National School of Technology in Kendall, Florida. She devised and authored the MDPD Fingerprint Analyst I Training Program and is currently working on her Master of Science in Forensic Science from Florida International University with emphasis on Biology and Chemistry

Sgt. At Arms

DANNY FORMOSA

In 1979 after receiving an Associates of Art degree from Miami Dade Community College, he started his career with the Homestead Police Department. In 1980 he was assigned to the Identification Unit. It was then that he started his training in the Crime Scene and Fingerprint Identification. In 1983, he became a member of the FDIAI and after years of intense training and attending several FBI courses, he testified as an expert in the Latent field. In 1987 he received his Bachelors of Science degree from Barry University. In 1993 he was promoted to Sergeant where he supervised the Identification Section. In 2003, he retired from the Homestead Police Department and is currently working as a Crime Scene Investigator with the Coral Gables Police Department.