crime scene

KN, p. 309 “Ammo Casings”

Ammo for Rifle

If there are no paragraph separations in this post, please double-click on the title in order to create a more readable version.

It was sort-the-photos week and instead of delete, delete, delete quickly, it took me hours to get through a few albums at a time. Memories and smiles popped up to slow the process. I had forgotten a few of the events, but one from two years ago became the basis of today’s post.

My cousin passed away two years ago next month. For a variety of reasons having to do with a donation his Estate made to a major charity, his possessions had to be inventoried, down to the quantity and types of boxes of bullets. His best friend (a firearms expert and my cousin’s shooting buddy) and I elected to inventory his gun paraphernalia ourselves, in order to expedite matters. In addition to the firearms and hunting gear, the lower level of the house contained equipment for making his own reloads (basically recycled shell casings to make new ammo). It was a hobby that fascinated him and helped reduce the cost of ammo he used at the gun range.

I took photos of everything for the lawyers. I discovered that he had boxes and boxes of shell casings waiting to be worked on, but they were not the same in color or size, since he had a variety of firearms he used in competitions.

This is what I learned: Ammunition casings can be made from five different materials and there are benefits and drawbacks to each.

  • Brass
  • Steel
  • Aluminum
  • Brass-plated or Nickel-plated Brass
Ammo for Handgun

Each casing material acts differently, so my cousin chose his ammo to fit his activity – practicing at the range, competition shooting, or hunting.

Brass Ammo Casings are known for their consistency in firing, but they are also the most expensive. They are easy to reload and resist corrosion.

Steel Ammo Casings are cheaper than brass and made in many calibers (diameter of the ammo)

Aluminum Ammo Casings are also cheaper than brass and are lighter in weight.

Plated Casings are ammo with a base metal which has been electroplated with nickel or brass. The nickel plating makes it corrosion resistant. Some competitors prefer this version because of its ease of use in a handgun at timed stand-and-shoot competitions.

As shown in the photo above, ammo casings are part of the cartridge – not the same as the bullet section of the cartridge. The shell casings separate from the bullet and are ejected from the firearm as the bullet propels forward to the target.

The casings are what law enforcement find on the ground (where a shooter was standing) after shots have been fired in a crime. Patrol Officers and detectives hope that fingerprints can be found on the casings, and that the shooter can be linked to the crime. Careful gun owners pick up their ‘brass’ so as not to litter a gun range, with easily a 100 rounds at a time for each session for each guy/gal. Snipers pick up their ‘brass’ so as not to leave a trace of their having been in that spot. Drug dealers or gun dealers may be involved in a shootout and don’t take time to search for the casings left lying around.

Since the 1990s, there has been a national data base devoted to shell casings: NIBIN – The National Integrated Ballistics Information Network. Run through ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) the information is available to most major metropolitan areas  in the USA.

Firearms techs enter shell casing evidence photos into the Ballistic ID System, which are then matched/integrated with the database. Local law enforcement is able to search for matches in the system throughout the country, looking for similar crimes, where the casings were found, fingerprints and other information connected with the casings. Over 1,400 law enforcement districts use the database and funding is expanding, as NIBIN continues to demonstrate its benefits.

 

*Photos of cartridges were taken at conferences.

KN, p. 309 “Ammo Casings” Read More »

KN, p. 283 “Twelve Calls from Dispatch”

Some light-hearted fun for the holidays – sing it to the tune of that famous song “The Twelve Days of…” and change the number of the Dispatch call to fit the verse. You know how it goes.    LOL

 

On the first call from Dispatch, our first assignment was…
A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the second call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the third call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the fourth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.


On the fifth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the sixth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.


On the seventh call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the eighth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the ninth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Nine chocolate donuts

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the tenth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Ten cops patrolling

Nine chocolate donuts

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the eleventh call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Eleven Techs collecting

Ten cops patrolling

Nine chocolate donuts

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the twelfth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Twelve lawyers advising

Eleven Techs collecting

Ten cops patrolling

Nine chocolate donuts

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

May 2022 be crime-free for you and yours!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

 

 

KN, p. 283 “Twelve Calls from Dispatch” Read More »

KN, p. 264 “Crime Scene Dioramas – ‘Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death’ “

 

F.G. Lee Diorama “Attic”

Miniatures have always intrigued and impressed me, whether individual glass creations or furniture/decorative pieces made for dollhouses. The detail and craftsmanship needed for the exquisite designs requires a steady hand, lots of patience, and really good eyesight. A great magnifier comes in handy as well.

 

Not long ago, I binge-watched an old police procedural show, Rizzoli & Isles, that usually got the details right and often featured interesting forensic tools used during the investigations. One of the episodes showcased crime scene dioramas, an item new to me, but not to the field of forensics.

 

I researched the method of replicating specific scenes as shown in R & I and found that the technique originated back in the 1940s with Frances Glessner Lee, a woman fascinated by, and well versed in, miniatures. The first woman police captain in the U.S., she devised the dollhouse sized true crime scenes to “find the truth in a nutshell,” and to assist in training investigators to search for details they might otherwise miss. Her work in this area earned her the name of “mother of forensic science” as well helping to found the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard University, where the dioramas were kept and studied.

F.G. Lee Diorama “Living Room” detail

 

The dioramas are so true to life that they contain details like teeny bullet holes, blood pools, headlines on newspapers, ‘rope’ made from thread, made-to-scale (one inch to one foot) bodies with accurately placed wounds, fully stocked kitchens, and much more. This fascinating way of studying grim crime scenes, preserved the information gleaned from the evidence in a way that no other method at the time did. Some crime scene photographs were taken back then, but not with the inch by inch digital coverage or video that we employ today. Lee took meticulous notes at the actual scenes and transferred that to her dioramas, sometimes taking five years to complete.

 

After Lee’s death in 1962, the nineteen remaining dioramas were transferred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, Maryland, and were on display at the Smithsonian in 2017-18. Modern day homicide investigation trainees can still benefit from these re-creations and in fact participate in classes where they study the dioramas and come up with solutions to the crimes depicted. Emily Rancourt, former police crime scene investigator now teaching at George Mason University, toured the Smithsonian exhibit with colleagues and said, “You don’t want your first time coming on a crime scene to be a real crime scene.” Trainees have an opportunity to develop observational skills before having to do so in the field.

 

The 21st century has brought a renewed interest to crime scene dioramas. One person in this specialized arena, Abigail Goldman, creates modern day ‘Dieoramas’ that have been featured in art galleries, on radio shows, and in newspapers in the United States. She has worked as an investigator for the public defender in Bellingham, Washington, re-creating murder scenes. Her larger dieoramas are 1:87 scale — the human figures in each work are under an inch tall. The scenes range from 8 inches square to more than 3 feet long.

 

A. Goldman Dieorama

 

Interested in making a diorama of your own? Some high schools and colleges assign the projects, requiring the work to be done with miniatures readily available in toy stores and to be presented in shoe boxes. If you do make one, let us know the challenges in doing so.

 

 

*Dioramas by Lee photos: courtesy of the Smithsonian

*Rancourt quote: Washington Post, November, 2017. “Can bloody dioramas show how to investigate a murder? These forensic experts say yes.” By Tom Jackman

*Abigail Goldman – check out her website http://abigailgoldman.com/

 

 

 

KN, p. 264 “Crime Scene Dioramas – ‘Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death’ “ Read More »

Scroll to Top