ASCLD has been fortunate to be a partner with the Department of Justice’s International Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) on a variety of adventures. ICITAP is instrumental in assisting our foreign counterparts in strengthening their forensic services, including supporting the accreditation of regional laboratories. ASCLD members Jay Henry, Kermit Channell, and Laura Sudkamp had the opportunity to spend a week in Mexico evaluating ICITAP’s assistance to the Mexico laboratory system. The idea was to determine if the program that has been put into place is successful and sustainable. With comments from the team such as, “We learned a lot and were greatly impressed with the labs in Mexico and their incredible progress to meet accreditation standards”, “We see this as a successful program that could be implemented anywhere”, “Your mission is worthy”, and “I’m confident that your work and investment will pay dividends for many years”, are any indication of how good a job ICITAP is doing, than I say ICITAP is not just doing a good job, but they are doing an amazing job!
The next evaluation of ICITAP’s program will be taking place in Costa Rica in August, where I will be going along with ASCLD member Vince Figarelli.
The evaluation and partnership with our foreign counterparts will continue. As a matter of fact, if your lab is willing to help host one or more of our Latin American colleagues, to show them instruments, workflows, validations, spend time with your forensic scientists, and especially if you have someone who works for you who may have Spanish language skills, please contact
asclddirector@ascld.org
and we will get your information to ICITAP.
“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” – Sheryl Sandberg
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July 19, 2019
- Board of Directors Meeting - teleconference
August 16, 2019
- Board of Directors Meeting - teleconference
September 13-15, 2019
- Board of Directors Meeting - Utah (in person)
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Weekly News and Resources
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RECALL OF BD VACUTAINER FLUORIDE TUBES
FOR BLOOD ALCOHOL DETERMINATIONS
For more information, along with the catalog number and lot number of the product that was recalled, please
click here
.
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Community Research and Surveys
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Forensic Compensation Survey
The Kentucky State Police is conducting a national forensic compensation survey to identify salary and benefit trends across the United States. Upon completion, the aggregated results of the survey will be published as a resource for all crime laboratories. Please consider completing this short survey about compensation in your laboratory. If you have questions, please contact Jeremy Triplett at
jeremy.triplett@ky.gov
.
Foresight
Will your laboratory be among the 2020 FORESIGHT Maximus award winners? Click
HERE
to download the LABRAT form and for more information.
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ANAB - Upcoming training events
September 9-12, 2019, Springfield, VA
December 10-13, 2019, Emeryville, CA
September 24-27, 2019, Largo, FL
October 27-30, 2019, Austin, TX
December 9-13, 2019, Mesa, AZ
July 22-25, 2019 (11am-1pm ET)
September 17-20, 2019 (11am-1pm ET)
July 23-25, 2019 (2-4pm ET)
November 13-15, 2019 (11am-1pm ET)
August 28-29, 2019, Minneapolis, MN
September 12-13, 2019, San Jose, CA
Train the Director Webinar Series
Due to the overwhelming response to the first season, the FTCoE and ASCLD are pleased to bring you the latest collaborative installment in the
Train the Director Webinar Series
-
Quality Assurance in the Forensic Laboratory
This expansive series will highlight five different forensic disciplines: Digital Forensics, Fire Debris Analysis, Trace Analysis, Quality Assurance, and Crime Gun Intelligence. The subject matter experts that will be presenting on these topics are champions in their respective fields and will bring valuable information to the forensic community through their detailed and thorough research. The archived webinars are available by clicking the link above,
Digital Forensics Training
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), a component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice provides leadership and assistance to local criminal justice programs that improve and reinforce the nations' criminal justice system. Below is some information on digital forensics training opportunities (both classroom or virtual/online) and resources funded by BJA, including the Law Enforcement Cyber Center, and trainings organized by NW3C. NW3C is the training and technical assistance provider under the BJA Economic, High-Technology, White Collar, and Internet Crime Prevention National TTA Program. BJA has also encouraged online course offerings to save time/costs of travel, and included trainings for prosecutors, too. (Note: some NW3C courses sponsored apart from BJA funding may have a cost).
Click the links below for more information:
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Forensic Research Committee
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The goal of the Laboratories and Educators Alliance Program (LEAP) is to facilitate collaborative research between academia and forensic science laboratories. This joint effort between the American Society of Crime Lab Directors (ASCLD) and the Council of Forensic Science Educators (COFSE) identifies forensic science needs and provides a platform for laboratories, researchers, and students to seek projects aligning with their mutual research capabilities.
Read more...
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Newly Identified Novels Psychoactive Substances
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Recent Additions:
(click drug name for more information)
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The Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE) at the Fredric Rieders Family Foundation, have received funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to develop systems for the early identification and notification of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in the drug supply in the United States. The goal of the program is the early identification of these substances in seized drug and forensic toxicology casework samples through various high resolution mass spectrometry retrospective data-mining and sample-mining techniques. Information about these programs can be found on our
website
.
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Registration is now open for the NIJ/FTCOE:
When: July 18-19, 2019: 8am - 5pm ET
Where: Mariott Metro Center, Washington, D.C.
Click
here
for the agenda that includes a robust lineup of speakers and wide array of topics. Both in-person and virtual attendance registration is available.
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ASCLD's research efforts with respect to the OPIOiD crisis appear in the following article:
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BJA Updates
BJA Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program
BJA is awarding an expected $320 million to jurisdictions under BJA’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program (COAP), which provides financial and technical assistance to state, local and tribal jurisdictions to develop and implement efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by the opioid epidemic. Category 6 of this grant is most applicable to forensic science laboratories. Applications should focus on addressing the opioid epidemic (e.g. testing for drugs but not case management systems). Solicitations will be released Feb-March 2019, and can be viewed
here
.
The report from last year to give you some ideas for application are posted
here
.
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CDC Updates
CDC Announces Traceable Opioid Material Kits to Improve
Laboratory Detection of Synthetic Opioids
The CDC’s Division of Laboratory Sciences is pleased to announce the availability of the first of two
Traceable Opioid Material Kits
. The kits will increase the capacity of laboratories in the U.S. to identify current and emerging opioids that are contributing to our nation’s opioid crisis. The Fentanyl Analog Screening (FAS) Kit is available, effective February 1, from Cayman Chemical. CDC anticipates that the second kit, the Opioid CRM Kit, will be available for distribution from Cerilliant Corporation in March 2019. Both kits may be received free of charge.
· Can be from any sector — academic, public, or private.
· Must be located in the United States.
· Must comply with respective state and local regulations.
· Must submit requests directly to the respective vendor.
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DEA Updates
NFLIS Program for Toxicology and ME/Coroners Expansion
Emerging Trends Program
Reference Materials Program
Real-time Network
Fentanyl Signature Profiling Program
DEA Resources
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CBP Program Updates
The US Customs and Border Protection has alerted ASCLD to a monthly phone call about drugs being seen by CBP. As CBP provides a first line of defense for the United States, these calls present early warnings of what might be coming to state and local crime labs. This teleconference is called the Scientific Trends Online Network Exchange (STONE) and is organized through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) network.
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HIDTA Updates
ASCLD is currently forming stronger bonds with the HIDTA and specifically the HIDTA National Emerging Trends Initiative. A meeting is being organized in Cleveland in November to discuss ASCLD/HIDTA partnership on emerging drug data sharing.
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USDOT NHTSA Updates
NHTSA has a working group evaluating the existing
Recommendations for Toxicological Investigation of Drug-Impaired Driving and Motor Vehicle Fatalities
. The working group is going to put out the existing recommendations for public comment and possible federal endorsement, and work on related data collection issues.
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Click
HERE to review standards available for comment.
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May 2019 OSAC Standards Bulletin now available, click
HERE
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Crime Lab Minute Sponsors
For More Information, Click the LOGO below:
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A2LA WorkPlace Training (A2LA WPT) is a nonprofit organization established with a vision of being the leading management systems, conformity assessment, and measurement training company in the world. Our mission is to provide independent, world-class training programs that inspire confidence in the quality of service and acceptance of results from organizations.
Be a leader in your industry by building confidence and consistency in your product through A2LA WPT’s broad spectrum of instructor-led and online e-learning training courses. Move ahead of your competition by learning best practices on international standards, quality systems, technical tools, and soft skill
s.
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Donations to ASCLD can now be made online! This is a great way to honor the memory of a forensic colleague, to commemorate a life event for that person who has everything, or to otherwise assist in supporting the tireless efforts of the ASCLD organization in the pursuit of excellence in forensic science management. The donation page can be accessed by clicking
HERE
or by visiting the ASCLD website and clicking on "Donate to ASCLD" under the "Member Site" tab (this donation page is accessible even to non-members). Please consider donating and do share this information with anyone you think might be interested.
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The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
65 Glen Road, Suite 123
Garner, NC 27529
Phone: 919.773.2044
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