FRoM CoMMissioneR ATKinson - Queensland Police Service ...

colleagues, can be invaluable
to investigators.
In a recent case, Sergeant
North applied the technique
when investigating a skull
found at a waste facility at
Willawong, in Brisbane’s
south. An external assessment
revealed what looked like a
piece of metal embedded
in the bone. An x-ray
examination in the field
showed that the object was
a screw. Models made for
medical students use real
bones and investigators were
able to conclude the skull was
part of a discarded medical
model and not a victim of a
crime.
Sergeant North is one of
only four scientific officers
licensed and retrained
annually to adhere to the
strict safety guidelines that
apply to operating radiation
equipment.
The State Coroner has
authorised these officers to
conduct x-ray examinations
on bodies related to crime
scenes.
Sergeant North said one of
the greatest benefits of the
technology was the speed
and convenience in which
An external assessment reveals what looked like a piece of
metal embedded in a skull discovered at a waste facility. An x-ray
examination in the field reveals that the object is a screw, and
investigators are able to conclude the skull is part of discarded
medical model and not a victim of a crime.
suspicious deaths could be
ruled out.
“I was recently on a course in
Hobart when I was asked to
look at some bones that were
photographed by a Scenes
of Crime officer in Emerald,
Queensland.
“Using the Toughbook laptop
computer, I was able to
view the images and make
a determination. I could see
immediately they were only
animal bones. It was great to
have the opportunity to do
this visual examination from
another state. The wireless
digital system is great. In the
old days it would have taken
days. Now it takes seconds.”
Queensland Police forensic
officers are recognised as
experts in their field and
their services are often
requested to assist in
overseas operations. Last
August, the Australian Army
invited Sergeant Donna
MacGregor to be the forensic
anthropologist on a specialist
team to examine fragmentary
human remains located at
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.
The remains were located
during local excavation work
near Rabaul, along with
various artefacts believed to
belong to Australian soldiers.
The identification process
proved to be a daunting
task, as the fragments had
been mixed together and
packaged into three boxes.
The forensic team succeeded
in identifying the remains of
five young men of Caucasian
ancestry, however they were
not Australian, but rather from
the subcontinent of India.
Fingerprint Bureau
While the science of using a
person’s unique fingerprints
to prove identification and
solve crime has been in
use since 1904, the QPS
Fingerprint Bureau has greatly
improved the technology over
the past five years.
Livescan was introduced in
2006 and scanning equipment
is now installed at 25 locations
throughout Queensland, as
Technicians in the Electronic Recording Section enhance poor quality video and
audio recordings for investigative purposes and for presentation in court. This work
can include preparing CCTV footage for media release (left), and improving vocal
intelligibility of an audio recording by removing background noise (right).
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