January 15, 2014

Happy New Year! As President of the Florida Division of the International Association for Identification (FDIAI) and on behalf of the FDIAI officers and board members, I would like to welcome you to our official website. On our website you will find information about employment and training opportunities, membership renewal, newsletter archives, and our annual forensic training conference.

For those of you whom I have not met, let me begin with a brief introduction. I began my career in fingerprints in 2003, and currently hold a management position at the Miami-Dade Police Department overseeing the Fingerprint Identification Section. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the FDIAI as both a member and officer, and have attended the FDIAI conference for the past 10 years. During that time, I have served as a tenprint and latent print practitioner, fingerprint instructor, fingerprint researcher, FDIAI committee member, and as an International Association for Identification (IAI) representative.  In the last decade, forensic science has seen significant challenges to traditionally accepted practices, particularly in the comparative sciences. These challenges have only served to strengthen the forensic science community by promoting more dialogue and research for the benefit of improving best practices. My goal is to keep our membership apprised of forensic related issues so we can engage in discussion concerning current events and progress as an association. We are each other’s greatest resource and effective communication will be imperative to achieving this goal. 

The FDIAI is the largest division of the IAI with over 900 members and hosts one of the most premier forensic training conferences in the country. On October 20-24, 2013, the FDIAI held its 54^th Annual Training Conference at the Hilton Miami/Downtown Hotel in Miami, Florida. In attendance was current IAI President Lesley Hammer and Key Note Speaker Judge Alex Ferrer, who joined 374 attendees from 17 states and 5 countries including England, Trinidad & Tobago, United Arab Emirates, and Mexico. There were also 42 vendors, and exhibitors filled 51 booths in the exhibit hall which was a focal point at the conference. The educational program featured 51 speakers presenting 52 lectures and 17 workshops. Lecture topics included the “Reliability of the ACE-V Process,” “What is the Standard for Making Fingerprint Identifications,” “Fire and Death Investigations,” “The Impartiality of Government Witnesses,” “Crime Scene Reconstruction for Novice and Beginners,” “Toolmark Examinations in the Lindbergh Kidnapping Case,” “Autopsy and Gross Specimen Photography,” and the “Documentation of Bloodstain Patterns at the Crime Scene.” Workshop topics included, “Panoramic Photography,” “Basic Evaluation and Comparison of Latent Prints,” “Crime Scene Certification Preparation Course,” “Post Blast Investigations,” “Using Adobe Photoshop Layers,” and “Cross Train in Footwear Evidence.” The conference was a huge success, and I want to extend a special thanks to all those who were able to attend and participate this past year.  This year, the FDIAI will be hosting a joint conference with the Georgia Division of the IAI. The conference will be held at the Edgewater Beach Resort in Panama City Beach, Florida on October 26-30, 2014. As the conference nears, more program information will be available online and posted in the FDIAI newsletter.

In closing, I encourage each of you to become active and certified in your respective disciplines. If you are interested in presenting a lecture/workshop in your area or wish to submit an article for publication in the FDIAI newsletter, please reach out to your region director or our editor. I look forward to serving the membership of this association and I welcome any comments or feedback you may have throughout the year.

Sincerely,

Igor Pacheco, FDIAI President

fdiaipresident@fdiai.org