4 December 2008
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By Mr. Peter Watt (Chairperson), UNITED KINGDOM
This document outlines methods and procedures for the introduction of a basic European modular Forensic Photography course, in order to promote a high-standardized level of photographic practices and policies throughout the EU. It has been composed as a result of close co-operation with very experienced and qualified experts in the field of Forensic Photography from several European countries and may serve as a recommendation for good practice. The primary goal is to raise the profile of the photographic/image making disciplines within the law enforcement arena and to ensure that best practice is encouraged, monitored and sustained. A basic outline of a proposed course is included. It should be noted that this is intended to be modular based, thus allowing the flexibility to meet the needs and policies of all participating countries. I would finally like to thank the Interpol General Secretariat for inviting me to chair this unprecedented working group and the support from those countries that have provided the essential input from their delegates. Peter Watt
Delegates Peter Watt: United Kingdom - Chairperson General Secretariat Jose Lopez-Fernandez Outline Concept The working group, considering the differences that exist in training standards, recommends that all trainees in photography should have access to a training which meets minimum standards defined by the EWGSPT, a European working group under INTERPOL supervision. In the absence of a conforming national structure, the trainees should have the possibility of access to Training Centers that guarantee training respecting the minimum standards as defined. The working group invites all European countries with training centers and who wish to do so, to accept and support a uniform European forensic photography-training program. Thus recognized centers may operate to provide photography training for: Their own individual country's national needs. The benefit of students from countries unable to provide their own training establishments. In both cases, the centers are asked to work a standardized curriculum and be subject to a standardized system of accreditation. The overall aim of accredited training centers is to standardize initial/basic training. In order to achieve this aim, the group feels it is necessary to create a supervising body. The duty of this body will be to: Circulate a questionnaire to all European countries, designed to find out which countries are willing and able to take foreign students and train them according to the standards described in this report. (completed) To monitor and accredit examinations that all initial students must undertake. Receive and monitor feedback from students collated by the training centers and annually condensed into an overview. Further refine and develop the standards set out in the report. Facilitate the exchange of information, R & D and specialized training. The group envisages that a standing committee could fulfil this role. Such a group would probably need to meet at least once a year whilst maintaining contact via an electronic forum and would require administration, translation and accommodation facilities to be supplied by the General Secretariat. We recommend additional members to the group are recruited to ensure a wider European coverage. As with the current group, countries sending delegates would be expected to bear attendance costs. The group has designed a course content and a modular timetable. Major teaching topics covered are: Basic theory, Practical training and darkroom experience. General theory and practical crime scene photography. Health and safety issues. (a more detailed content list will appear later in this report) Due to the modular nature of the course content, courses may vary in length, however it is envisaged that the basic course would last three weeks. The group will design questionnaires to provide feedback for the benefit of students and their managers and for the development of courses. The group has designed a conceptual outline, however the monitoring group should approve existing assessments. It is envisaged that the theory exam will be in the form of written questions, however a multiple choice question approach should provide: Efficient and fair marking procedures that can be easily compared between centers. Easy translation and understanding of the questions. The group is not able to quote definitive costs, as these will depend on which countries offer facilities for students from other countries and what their training costs are. The Phare Program is a European Union initiative that supports the development of larger family nations within a prosperous and stable Europe. Details of the scheme can be obtained from the General Secretariat. Whilst this report contains some details, it is essentially an outline concept. It is recommended that, if the concept is approved, an implementation team be set up to bring the suggestions to the status of operational reality.
All countries should be encouraged to standardize photography training. All new recruits to the forensic photography discipline should be required to undergo training to a level at least to that determined by a standard curriculum. The curriculum describe in the report should be adopted as the minimum standard training curriculum. Those countries, which are unable to provide training facilities to cover the standard curriculum, may undertake to send students to an accredited Training Center within the European INTERPOL Community. Those Training Centers which accept foreign students should provide tuition in at least one of the INTERPOL languages, or the mother tongue of the student, or undertake to provide translation to the student's own language. (This latter option will entail additional cost to the recipient of the tuition). A Monitoring Standing Committee should be formed to monitor training centre standards and examinations. Formal feedback of student course performance and training center performance should be obtained through completion of questionnaires and this information made available to the training center, monitoring group and INTERPOL. A monitoring group should progress the concept outlined in this report to a workable system. INTERPOL should facilitate the provisions of the Phare Program, for use by appropriate countries to help with funding implications. The monitoring group - under INTERPOL supervision, should be responsible for the authorization of the accredited Training Centers and further develop the issues concerned.
The EWGSPT was formed at an initial meeting on 19th-20th September 2000. This meeting comprised of representatives from the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Finland and the General Secretariat. Peter Watt (United Kingdom) was requested to undertake the role of Chairman. Various aspects of forensic photography training were discussed, with a view to establish minimum standards applicable by European Centers for the training in forensic photography, especially those accepting trainees from European countries. Initially it was obvious, through discussion, that there already exists a common standard throughout Europe in the discipline of forensic photography. The group's aim was to progress the concept of standardized training through a series of meetings. To produce intermediary 'update' reports and to submit its conclusions by March 2004. The discussions are focussed on the following main topics: Training centers. Objectives and content of training. Design of a Basic Forensic Photography course. Equipment to be used. Practical aspects. Assessment of training. It will be necessary to rely on the training centers that already exist in the various European countries. A questionnaire has been sent to each European INTERPOL member to assess their willingness to submit to the INTERPOL standard and additionally train students from other countries. This questionnaire and the results may be seen on pages 22 to 25. The group decided that a minimum standard of facilities was also required. Every participating Training Center should provide evidence that it's photography training facilities meet or exceed the following recommendations: Two instructors and preferably one technician per course. Classroom facilities. Access to multiple locations/rooms that may be used to provide 'realistic' crime scenes. Access to multiple motor vehicles. Preferably on-site colour and Black & White film processing and printing. Quick image viewing system for either negatives, slides and/or digital. Preferably Single Lens Reflex (SLR) type digital camera, to be used for demonstration purposes. Preferably various camera formats. A general questionnaire should be sent by the General Secretariat to all participating training centers, to provide a survey of facilities. This should be available in the main INTERPOL languages and should provide the following information: Address and means of access to the establishment. The number of course places available each year or at each session. The duration and contents of their training. The working language(s) used during courses. Accommodation facilities and living conditions for the trainees. Cost of training. The level of facilities required will depend on the nature of the training to be delivered. The General Secretariat will collect the questionnaires and make them available to the NCB's of countries requesting INTERPOL's help with Forensic Photography training for their officers. It will put the NCB's of the countries looking for photographic training courses in touch with the institutions most likely to meet their needs, on a basis of linguistic, geographical or financial criteria. The services offered by the training centers should be assessed with the help of a questionnaire filled in by trainees after the completion of a course. This is a key feature of the process, designed both to assess each course, to ensure the maintaining of standards and to confirm accreditation. This questionnaire should comprise several sections relating to living conditions, course content and teaching methods used, finishing with an evaluation of the quality of the course and proficiency of instructors. The monitoring group will study the following points: Various evaluations of training courses that have been run and where feedback has been provided. This should ensure that INTERPOL standards are being met. Compatibility between the demand and training courses offered. Any difficulties encountered in connection with training centers' proposals. The development of training courses and standards, in order to meet the requirements of law enforcement agencies, organizations and departments.
It is also obvious that the standards that are being recommended may be altered as more knowledge and experience are acquired in the field, or as requirements change or as technology changes. COURSE AIM It was decided that the aim of the course would be: To produce competent scenes of crime photographers who are able to work unsupervised and produce quality results under a wide range of different conditions. The training given COURSE OBJECTIVES Depending on course content. COURSE CONTENT Breakdown of 'Basic Theory' modules Photographing at crime scenes
BASIC THEORY LIGHT
TYPES AND FORMATS OF CAMERAS
LENSES
FLASH
FILM
MAKING A PHOTOGRAPH
DIGITAL IMAGING (Awareness)
VIDEO (Awareness)
PROCESSING IMAGES
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY (Awareness)
PHOTOGRAPHING CRIME SCENES
Fire scenes
Marks/trace evidence
Bloodstains and patterns
Erased numbers
Terrorist incidents/scenes
Photogrammetry (awareness)
PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES
Injuries
Post Mortems
Night photography
PRACTICAL TRAINING IN GENERAL USE OF THE CAMERA AND DIFFERENT LENSES Perspective Depth of field The students will then photograph a fingermark on a bottle to 1:1 using a macro-lens. Tripod and cable release Light measurements Use of colour filters with black and white film Use of flash AUTOMATIC FLASH: Close-up photographs of a coin, a shoe mark and a credit card will be taken using the flash on it's automatic setting. Secondly the students will take photographs in a low-light scene. DEDICATED FLASH (TTL): Students will take three photographs using the spot metering and white and grey card. They will repeat this using the center-weighted metering and finally photograph a colour chart using matrix metering. A variety of lenses and distances may be used. FILL-IN FLASH: A subject will be photographed in standard light and shadow. Secondly the students will re-photograph, eliminating the shadow only. BOUNCE FLASH: A person will be photographed using ambient light only, direct-on automatic flash and the flash bounced off a reflector or ceiling. BALANCED FLASH: The students will photograph an interior room in daylight, showing windows. Firstly using ambient light only and secondly using flash to balance the interior scene with the windows. OPEN FLASH: A large dark scene will be photograph using only flash. REMOTE FLASH: The students will photograph a variety of scenes and objects, firstly using one flash and secondly using two flash guns (one with a remote sensor). MEASURING FLASH: A person will be photographed using two flashes. Firstly the student will only measure the ambient light using the in-built camera meter and secondly a hand held flash meter will be used. Darkroom experience The working group recommends a minimum standard of equipment that is to be used on the training courses. Trainees would be expected to provide their own equipment unless the training center was in a position to provide such equipment. It was generally agreed that different organizations use varying (yet similar) equipment and that the trainee would benefit from being trained with the equipment they were to use 'operationally'. EQUIPMENT LIST (minimum requirements)
Various practical aspects must be considered in the light of the fact that the objective is to train people in order for them to apply their knowledge to operational police tasks. TEACHERS They are the key figures in the process. They must have a mastery of the subjects they teach and they must have been trained in teaching techniques. This implies that:
NUMBER OF HOURS SPENT TRAINING This must be decided in the light of the complex nature of the subjects, teaching methods used and any cultural, national or organizational restrictions and policies. TEACHING AIDS Training centers should make use of appropriate equipment for the practical exercises and of modern teaching aids. The group stresses the importance of systematic assessment of trainees on completion of the courses. The same rating scale, applying the standards recommended by INTERPOL, should be used by all participating training centers. The assessment process will make it possible to:
Two types of assessment are needed; one relating to the training course as perceived by the trainees and one relating to each trainee's ability and what they have learnt from the course. Assessment of trainees should be based on two examinations. One section will consist of either a multiple choice or written question paper, designed to check the theoretical knowledge acquired. The second will involve practical exercises.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Questionnaire Acrobat file
To establish whether or not there is a need for standardised forensic photography training throughout Europe, last year the working group invited all European countries to complete a questionnaire. 31 countries replied the following answers.
CONSOLODATION
Referring to former meetings of EWGSPT and the results of the questionnaire, the working group concludes:
During the 5 meetings at Interpol Lyon, the EWGSPT has established a good basis for developing a standard European training course on forensic photography. The members of the actual working group are all motivated to continue the work they have started. Most of the work to be done to complete the course handout material can be done by the members in their respective habitats. The internet is providing a good instrument to exchange ideas. This method has already been successfully utilized between the Estonian and Belgian members. The group indicates that 2 meetings a year are sufficient to share ideas, initiatives, prepared parts of the course; to exchange information on photography, to discuss evolution in imaging and influences on forensic applications. Photography always has been of uttermost importance in police work. New techniques and automation have made it possible for anyone to take photographs of crime scenes. Nevertheless, a good basic knowledge of photography is needed to raise the level of accuracy and quality. Basic theory of photography is the same all over the world. Digital photography has made the exchangeability of images very easy. More than ever, there is a need for the standardisation of 'imaging' when exchanging images of trace evidence that are needed for comparison purposes; certainly when exchanging between different countries. All this implies a need to standardise the 'taking' of evidential images. Recommendations towards a 1-day conference on forensic photography
The EWGSPT members are willing to assist with the organisation of such an event and recommend that Interpol, Lyon is an ideal venue. Recommendation for a future monitoring group If the work of the EWGSPT is allowed to continue, it is recommended that a monitoring group is established pan Europe. This group should be responsible for the management of an Interpol supported website and providing accreditation. It is prposed that this group will include existing EWGSPT members for continuity. Should this be agreed upon, the group recommends that a limited number of additional members be invited to join, preferably promoting a wider European coverage. The Greek Hellenic Police and the GARDA from the Republic of Ireland have already expressed an interest. This new group would require an initial establishing meeting, followed by further annual meetings. A 'Statement of commitment' should be sought from the delegates respective authorities and should be reflected in their job descriptions. Accreditation on standardised training will be given by Interpol under guidance of the monitoring group, which shall specialise in forensic photography, imaging and training, initially throughout Europe. Interest in such a proposal and the work of the EWGSPT has already been shown from non-European countries. The EWGSPT suggests the following title for such a group: S. C. R. I. P. T. Interpol Specialised Committee Responsible for International Photography Training All information should be internet based. This is depending on approval by Interpol and will be addressed by the group at a later date. The group will seek commitment from Interpol to manage the website. The website information should be restricted to approved subscribers and should include:
Any updates of information should be agreed by all members of the monitoring group.
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