Field Guide To Clandestine Laboratory Identification And Investigation

Clandestine labs that manufacture drugs or explosives may be encountered virtually anywhere. They can range from complex operations employing scientific equipment and exotic chemicals or simply kitchen utensils and chemicals purchased at a local grocery or hardware store. Regardless of their form, the key to detecting clandestine labs is the ability to recognize the combinations of equipment and chemicals that constitute the lab in the first place. The first line of defense against the manufacturers—who supply the drug trade and terrorists with their tools of destruction—is law enforcement, the fire services, and other emergency responders. Field Guide to Clandestine Laboratory Identification and Investigation, Second Edition provides the information necessary to recognize operations that produce these deadly brews. As with the prior edition, the book has sections covering the chemicals and equipment commonly used in the manufacture of drugs and explosives. They are grouped in a manner that allows the emergency responder to quickly identify common combinations of equipment and chemicals that could potentially be used to manufacture drugs or explosives. Since many clandestine manufacturing operations use commonly available materials that have legitimate uses, the author outlines how to quickly assess and recognize key indicators associated with clandestine laboratory operations. Sections within the book address information concerning both the hazards associated with those chemicals involved and the personal protective equipment needed to abate the hazards. In addition, documentation requirements, field-testing, and sampling procedures are detailed for use once the operation has been seized and secured. Reproducible worksheets are provided to be used either as, or to supplement, the on-scene investigators’ field notes and assist in providing a standardized manner to objectively record information about the crime scene. The ability to identify the tools used to manufacture contraband drugs and explosives is a key element in the battle against drug abuse and terrorism, making the Field Guide to Clandestine Laboratory Identification and Investigation, Second Edition an indispensible resource for responders and investigators alike.

The key to clandestine laboratory detection is the investigator's ability to recognize the equipment and chemicals that constitute the lab. This requires a ready reference that clearly explains how to identify the hazards, provides the proper measures for safely addressing them, and features a format that allows the information to be taken directly into the field for quick reference and easy access. Field Guide to Clandestine Laboratory Identification and Investigation provides concise information for field use along with reproducible worksheets for crime scene investigators. As the companion to the training manual Forensic Investigation of Clandestine Laboratories, this guide features visual representations of the scientific equipment used to clandestinely produce drugs and explosives. It presents a list of the chemicals commonly encountered in clandestine laboratories and includes information about chemical hazards and the personal protective equipment required. The book also discusses proper processing of the lab site for the physical evidence necessary for prosecution. Providing the methods and materials necessary to successfully identify clandestine lab activity in the field, this guide belongs in the hands of anyone involved in the investigation, examination, and prosecution of clandestine labs. Crime scene technicians, emergency responders, forensic scientists, law enforcement personnel, and attorneys will reach for this valuable resource time and time again.

The key to clandestine laboratory detection is the investigator's ability to recognize the equipment and chemicals that constitute the lab. This requires a ready reference that clearly explains how to identify the hazards, provides the proper measures for safely addressing them, and features a format that allows the information to be taken directly into the field for quick reference and easy access. Field Guide to Clandestine Laboratory Identification and Investigation provides concise information for field use along with reproducible worksheets for crime scene investigators. As the companion to the training manual Forensic Investigation of Clandestine Laboratories, this guide features visual representations of the scientific equipment used to clandestinely produce drugs and explosives. It presents a list of the chemicals commonly encountered in clandestine laboratories and includes information about chemical hazards and the personal protective equipment required. The book also discusses proper processing of the lab site for the physical evidence necessary for prosecution. Providing the methods and materials necessary to successfully identify clandestine lab activity in the field, this guide belongs in the hands of anyone involved in the investigation, examination, and prosecution of clandestine labs. Crime scene technicians, emergency responders, forensic scientists, law enforcement personnel, and attorneys will reach for this valuable resource time and time again.

This book provides information for field use along with reproducible worksheets for crime scene investigators. It presents a list of the chemicals commonly encountered in clandestine laboratories and includes information about chemical hazards and the personal protective equipment required.

Clandestine lab operators are not the mad scientists whose genius keeps them pent up in the laboratory contemplating elaborate formulas and mixing exotic chemicals. In fact, their equipment is usually simple, their chemicals household products, and their education basic. Most of the time the elements at the scene are perfectly legal to sell and own. It is only in the combination of all these elements that the lab becomes the scene of a criminal operation. Forensic Investigation of Clandestine Laboratories guides you, step-by-step, through the process of recognizing these illegal manufacturing operations. Then it shows you how to prove it in the courtroom. In non-technical language this book details: How to recognize a clandestine lab How to process the site of a clandestine lab How to analyze evidence in the examination laboratory What to derive from the physical evidence How to present the evidence in court The identification and investigation of a clandestine lab, and the successful prosecution of the perpetrators, is a team effort. A collaboration of law enforcement, forensic experts, scientists, and criminal prosecutors is required to present a case that definitively demonstrates how a group of items with legitimate uses are being used to manufacture an illegal controlled substance. Providing an understanding of how the pieces of the clandestine lab puzzle fit together, this book outlines the steps needed to identify and shut down these operations, as well as successfully prosecute the perpetrators.

Forensic Investigation of Clandestine Laboratories, Second Edition is fully updated to address all aspects of the forensic investigation of clandestine laboratories. While, the first edition focused on the domestic clandestine manufacture of contraband substances, this edition expands the scope to more fully address the clandestine manufacture of explosives that have become a threat that is global in nature. In clandestine laboratory operations, equipment is often simple, household chemical products are utilized, and the education of the operators basic. In fact, most of the time these elements individually are perfectly legal to sell and possess. However, the combination of all these elements is what becomes the scene of illicit activity and a criminal operation. In response to the increase in use of homemade explosive mixtures by terrorists, both domestically and internationally, the section clandestine manufacture of explosives is greatly enhanced. Topics are presented in a manner which, while detailed, will not compromise the tactics, techniques, or procedures utilized by law enforcement and military personnel in their ability to combat the clandestine manufacture of contraband substances and the battle against domestic and international terrorism. Key features: • Examines tell-tale signs to look for in recognizing a clandestine lab • Outlines how to safely process the site of a clandestine lab • Details how to analyze collected evidence in the examination laboratory • Provides guidelines as to what to derive from the physical evidence • Offers specific tactics to effectively present the opinions associated with evidence that has been collected during the investigation in a written report, military style briefing or to a jury in a legal proceeding. Forensic Investigation of Clandestine Laboratories, Second Edition guides the reader through the process of recognizing these illegal manufacturing operations. Then it examines the methods as to how to compile the volume of associated evidence into a package that can be presented in a court of law, or to military commanders for decisive action. It is an invaluable resource, that will prove useful to chemistry lab technicians, forensic investigators, fire and first responder professionals, military personnel, police investigative agencies and narcotics units, and lawyer trying cases involving clandestine labs.

Forensic science has come a long way in the past ten years. It is much more in-depth and much broader in scope, and the information gleaned from any evidence yields so much more information than it had in the past because of incredible advances in analytic instruments and crucial procedures at both the crime scene and in the lab. Many practices have gone digital, a concept not even fathomed ten years ago. And from the first collection of evidence to its lab analysis and interpretation to its final presentation in court, ethics has become an overriding guiding principle. That’s why this new edition of this classic handbook is indispensable. The Forensic Laboratory Handbook Procedures and Practice includes thirteen new chapters written by real-life practitioners who are experts in the field. It covers the tried and true topics of fingerprints, trace evidence, chemistry, biology, explosives and arson, forensic anthropology, forensic pathology, forensic documents, firearms and toolmarks. This text also addresses an array of new topics including accreditation, certification, ethics, and how insects and bugs can assist in determining many facts including a margin of time of death. In the attempt to offer a complete and comprehensive analysis The Forensic Laboratory Handbook Procedures and Practice also includes a chapter discussing the design of a laboratory. In addition, each chapter contains educational requirements needed for the discipline it covers. Complete with questions at the end of each chapter, brief author bios and real crime scene photos, this text has risen to greet the many new challenges and issues that face today’s forensic crime practitioners.