City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Police Department

The Identification Bureau conducts crime scene and evidence investigations for major investigations and other crimes where uniform officers and detectives need assistance.

The assistance may be for photographs, fingerprint search and collection, or other evidence search and collection. The range of equipment that the Identification Officers use includes such things as cotton swabs, cameras, metal detectors, vacuums, alternate light sources, magnifiers, chemical treatments, and computers.

The Identification Officers have an interesting and varied task to perform in the overall picture of the investigation of crimes. The tools and techniques are constantly improved and changed so there is always something to learn or study. The tools and methods must be adapted and adjusted to the investigation at hand, because the crimes and the crime scene investigations are about as individual and unique as a fingerprint.

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FINGERPRINT COLLECTION and COMPARISON

Three of the Identification Officers have been trained and certified by the State of Iowa for the court testing of Marijuana. Last year this amounted to over 300 tests for Cedar Rapids and other agencies. The testing can include weighing, microscopic, and chemical tests.

MARIJUANA TESTING

Each of the Identification Officers has training in the collection and comparison of fingerprints, and each has testified in court as to fingerprint identification. Some of the fingerprint comparisons are made with the use of the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification system) computer. The largest numbers are done by use of a magnifier. The fingerprints are collected either at the scene or further developed in the lab setting at the police station. Over the past two years the four Identification Officers have averaged better than one finger or palm match per day. The department has assisted numerous other agencies with fingerprint examinations from local, state, and federal levels.

DEATH INVESTIGATIONS

When a death investigation is in progress you will usually find the Identification Officer putting in long hours into the investigation of the scene and the evidence examination after it is collected. The scene investigations are conducted in all kinds of weather from well below zero to 100 plus degrees, rain or snow. The investigation often requires the Identification Officer to forward evidence to other crime labs to perform higher level tests to gain further information from the evidence.

CURRENT Staff

Officer Ron Johnson was promoted in 1994 and recently completed the Southeastern Police Institute course for Homicide Investigation.

Officer James Kelly was transferred to the Identification Bureau in 1997. Officer Kelly has completed several training schools and is looking forward to more in the future.

Officer Joe Clark has worked for the CRPD since 1991. He was assigned to the Patrol Division for 11 years and was a Field Training Officer. He was assigned to the ID Bureau in 2002. IHe has a BA in Sociology and a Masters in Business Administration. Since being assigned to the ID Bureau he's received training in Basic Criminal Investigation, Crime Scene Investigation, Fingerprint and Palm Print Analysis and Courtroom Presentation of Forensic Evidence.

Officer Rod Shifflett has been with the CRPD since March of 1997, and accepted his newest assignment as a Crime Scene Investigator in the Identification Bureau, June of 2005. Since his new assignment Officer Shifflett has attended schools such as Homicide Investigations, DNA Collection, Advanced Chemical Latent Print Development, basic Finger and Palm print analysis.